Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg clarified his criticism of queer media after he said he could not “even read the LGBT media anymore, because it’s all, ‘he’s too gay,’ ‘not gay enough,’ ‘wrong kind of gay.’”
Buttigieg, who is openly gay, said he did not mean to be dismissive of the queer media and blamed the remark on a “grumpy moment.”
“Just to be clear: LGBTQ media plays an increasingly important role, especially at a time like this. I had a grumpy moment where I was thinking about some of the coverage that I do get frustrated with that seems to tell people how to be gay. And that’s, to be fair, happening in a lot of different sources and places online and in others, and it’s one reason why, as a candidate, it’s healthy just not to read too many clips about yourself to begin with. But I don’t want to take away from the very good work that’s being done in the queer media right now,” he told BuzzFeed News’ AM2DM.
Mayor @petebuttigieg tells @AM2DM that he was having a “grumpy moment” when he criticized LGBTQ media and said his frustration was about coverage that “seems to tell people how to be gay” pic.twitter.com/Daxd9KFADC
— AM2DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) September 21, 2019
The South Bend, Indiana, mayor’s original comments came during a radio interview when he was asked about criticism of his sexuality and how he fits into the gay community.
“I’m sure you’ve heard this before in LGBT circles, that more masculine-presenting men have more access. How different would it be if you were quote-unquote, ‘more effeminate?’” SiriusXM host Clay Cane asked.
“It’s tough for me to know. I just am what I am, and, you know, there’s going to be a lot of that. That’s why I — I can’t even read the LGBT media anymore, because it’s all, ‘too gay, not gay enough, wrong kind of gay,’” Buttigieg said. “All I know is that life became a lot easier when I just started allowing myself to be myself and I’ll let other people write up whether I’m ‘too this’ or ‘too that.’” Buttigieg, 37, said the criticism over his remarks “were fair game” because he’s running for public office.
“Everything you say has an impact,” he said.
[Also read: Buttigieg explains how Kevin Hart saying ‘so what’ about Lil Nas X being gay is problematic]
