November 26, 2019

"Critics of Mayor Pete’s demeanor don’t recognize that his persona reflects the consequence of living in the closet, or 'packing away his feelings,' as he put it...."

"Despite eventually coming out, getting married, and being the first openly gay man on the Democratic presidential primary stage, the coping mechanisms that he developed from being in the closet did not immediately vanish. When people criticize him for being calculated or robotic, I see the familiar traits of a gay man who had desperately tried to live in both worlds. Often, homophobia is easy to spot.... It’s harder to name the prejudice and discrimination when critics indict Mayor Pete for a deportment that he cultivated in order to survive. During Tuesday’s debate, one critic on Twitter suggested that someone should just give him another Boy Scout badge so he would sit down. But appearing as a Boy Scout was how he likely survived. It’s evidence of how he straddled a painful divide, of how he felt he was forced to choose one career and life over another. When critics make these gibes, they intend to be clever, even humorous—but what they don’t realize is that they are attacking the shields that many gay men have fortified to defend themselves. And when other gay men—ostensibly familiar with best little boys in their own circles—participate in the pile-on, they are unfortunately fueling a slippery kind of homophobia."

Writes Jim Downs in "Queer Like Pete/Buttigieg is getting slammed for being a type of gay man America doesn’t understand" (Slate).

94 comments:

eric said...

After marching in parade after parade and demanding we all celebrate homosexuality, and even participate, or be called homophobic, I'm pretty sure this is complete trash.

Christian's are treated way worse than homosexuals in America today and you don't see them acting robotic as a defense.

And let's not even talk about Jews and how awful they're treated.

Give me a break with these stupid victim Olympics.

Shouting Thomas said...

What a load of shit and lies.

Being gay is a quota advantage in the workplace, in academia and in the Democratic Party.

These lies are tedious.

Hell, if I wanted to get ahead in any of those arenas, I’d pretend to be gay. This guy’s primary qualification is that he’s gay.

The term, homophobia, in itself, if just a damned lie.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

Or, maybe Mayor Pete's personality was fixed well before whatever youthful trauma triggered his same-sex attraction and that personality is exactly as he presents on stage. It's not like his "learned behaviors" to "survive" the closet are independent of his innate personality. The author speculates in order to conclusively opine on what he does not know.

Bay Area Guy said...

It'd be better to not focus on Pete's gayness, and instead focus on:

1. What he has accomplished in this world;
2. What his plans and policies would be, if elected President.

Rick said...
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Rick said...

Pete was born in 1982. By the time he understood what sexual attraction meant it was the 90s. But apparently we're going to pretend he grew up 1955 Alabama because it's always 1955 Alabama in Slate writers' fantasies.

Sal said...

"Buttigieg is getting slammed for being a type of gay man Democrats don't understand"

Fixed it.

eric said...

Bay Area Guy said...
It'd be better to not focus on Pete's gayness, and instead focus on:

1. What he has accomplished in this world;
2. What his plans and policies would be, if elected President.

11/26/19, 4:21 PM

Now you're just being silly.

The entire purpose of hiring a minority is so you never have to have accomplished anything or explain your policies.

Allow me to demonstrate.

Q: What are your accomplishments?
A: Bigot! You wouldn't ask this question of a cis white male!

Q: It seems your policies won't work, are you willing to try a different approach?
A: Bigot! You only say they won't work because you're a homophobic racist!

This is why it's always better to elect Republicans.

Because then we get to question our government and mock them.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...
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Laslo Spatula said...

"... the coping mechanisms that he developed from being in the closet did not immediately vanish. When people criticize him for being calculated or robotic, I see the familiar traits of a gay man who had desperately tried to live in both worlds...."

I'm not sure how going on about his "coping mechanisms" like this make him seem Presidential.

It sounds more like why he would be a good candidate for therapy.

I am Laslo.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Big fucking hero. He grew up in a college town and came out in 2015. Yeah, that must have been real difficult.

madAsHell said...

Just swap out homosexuality for race, and then change the name to Obama.

It's 2007 on the phone, and they want their victimhood story returned.

Narayanan said...

Does Oval Office have Panic Closet?

Will be remodel add-on!

Mattman26 said...

Remember when Geraldine Ferraro got shunned for observing that if Obama wasn’t black no one would have thought of him as a presidential contender? Substitute Pete and gay.

The mayor of South Bend, Indiana? What else ya got, kid?

Shouting Thomas said...

The terms “homophobia” and “sexism” are damned lies.

Both terms attempt to describe alleged bigotry (not fear) in the same terms as once applied to Jim Crow racism.

Rich white kids invented this game in order to promote themselves to victimhood status on the same level as blacks under Jim Crow.

This game, which the professor plays with zeal, is and always has been a damned lie.

There is, in reality, no such thing as homophobia or sexism. Being traditionally religious and opposed to the social and political engineering of people by government and academia is not a form of bigotry. Insisting that these terms have any validity is flat out lying of the most egregious and deliberate sort.

whitney said...

BS

Ken B said...

Sounds like unevidenced speculation based on stereotypes and prejudices.

Lots of politicians are kinda robotic. When Al Gore wasn’t bellowing angry lies he was famously robotic, and not gay. Bob Dole was a decent guy but wooden, and not gay.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

So leftists are homophobic. Yep.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Pete might be gay, but he's one of the more normal people up there.
In The clown show of totalitarian punitive socialist D-weirdos - Pete is kinda normal.

Francisco D said...

Jim Downs

Desired Profession: Armchair psychologist without training.

Actual Profession: Creative writer masquerading as a journalist.

I don't know if Jimmy ever took Psychology courses, but if he was in my class, he would have failed.

tim in vermont said...

I don’t judge him for his demeanor, I just found out that he started working in 2007! Is he sure that at this point in his career he even wants a job with no room for advancement?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"maybe Mayor Pete's personality was fixed well before whatever youthful trauma triggered his same-sex attraction and that personality is exactly as he presents on stage."

Bingo! Except for the youthful trauma part. I've known gay folks of a variety of demeanors. Sometimes that demeanor is a reaction to their families, often it's because that's how they all (in the family) act. God, White progs love to stereotype.

Quayle said...

Correlation. Causality. Culture. Character.
Pretty complex stuff to render in a simple explanation of linearity.

iowan2 said...

Bay Area Guy nails it.
It'd be better to not focus on Pete's gayness, and instead focus on:

1. What he has accomplished in this world;
2. What his plans and policies would be, if elected President.


Talk about anything but accomplishments

Maillard Reactionary said...

As usual, I agree with Shouting Thomas.

"...Buttigieg is getting slammed for being a type of gay man Americans don't understand..."

The real problem is that Americans do understand him. His lamentable disability makes him a laughingstock among normal men (if only in private), and a figure of contempt to all of our enemies. (How are homosexuals treated in China, Russia, and Iran? Do they get special privileges and consideration for their little tiny feelings?)

A President who projects personal weakness, fear, and defensiveness (e.g., Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama) is bad for the People of the United States. As we have seen all too recently.

You don't have to be a homo to be a wretched president, but it can only help.

If Buttigieg were comfortable in his skin and an otherwise healthy and well-integrated man, the whole topic of his sexual life would never even come up. But like so many homosexuals these days, they insist on making an issue of it for the rest of us.

Like we care, or even want to know! Ye gods, these people need to get a life, and soon, for the sake of the rest of us.

The foregoing tirade goes for lesbians too, before they pipe up about being left out.

JAORE said...

Let's assume the Slate slavering is accurate. So f'in what?

Hey this guy has a REASON he comes across as.... fill-in-the-blank.

OK, but, baring years of therapy that is who he IS.

If who he is makes you not want to vote for him it just does. If the opposite is true, it is true.

But accomplishments? Special skills or talents?

So far gay and not COMPLETELY nuts is all he's got.

Big Mike said...

Writes Jim Downs in "Queer Like Pete/Buttigieg is getting slammed for being a type of gay man America doesn’t understand".

I don't care why he has no real accomplishments (besides pissing off his black constituents and presiding over a city that has a very high crime rate relative to its population). Like Bay Area Guy and others upthread, I only care that he has no positive accomplishments to his name.

tcrosse said...

It's still Hillary's turn.

n.n said...

Transgender is trendy.

Jim at said...

It was never about equality, was it?

n.n said...

It'd be better to not focus on Pete's gayness

He's not particularly cheerful. That said, but diversity.

n.n said...

It was never about equality, was it?

Yes, and no. It was about political congruence ("="), specifically, sociopolitical constructs, generally, and leverage.

Martin said...

I will guess that Downs has never met Buttigieg, or if their paths crossed it was very briefly at a campaign event.

So, sure, go psychoanalyze someone you've never met and all you know is a public persona of a political candidate. Makes perfect sense.

rcocean said...

That's very touching. Except we're not electing a Victim-in-Chief, but a Commander in Chief. He's supposed to be someone who inspires us, not someone we feel sorry for.

Automatic_Wing said...

Is he supposed to be wearing a Village People outfit or something?

gilbar said...

the coping mechanisms that he developed from being in the closet did not immediately vanish. When people criticize him for being calculated or robotic, I see the familiar traits of a gay man who had desperately tried to live in both worlds...

So... what he's saying (mind you, I'm not saying it; HE IS), is that Gays (at least Gays that were in the closet) aren't fit to be President; because their gayness (and their coping mechanisms to their gayness) caused their minds to be irreparably warped?

Good to know, Good to know

rcocean said...

The D's are even crazier than i thought. The incredible swings in who's in 2nd or 3rd place. And old Joe at the top with his usual 25-30%. Why are people still supporting Bernie? Warren is plenty Progressive and she's a young chick - only 70! And why are peeps going for Mayor Pete? He's an 38 y/o Mayor of South Bend. He's never going to get nominated. Crazy like a Democrat.

Tommy Duncan said...

Why do people exhibit "fear of the same"?

"...desperately tried to live in both worlds." Did they discover another planet recently?

n.n said...

So leftists are homophobic. Yep.

A projected condition that trans/homo will be tolerated, but not normalized, thereby denying leverage to special and peculiar interests, and sociopolitical constructs, specifically political congruence ("=").

narciso said...
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narciso said...
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narciso said...
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rcocean said...

This has to be the loopiest Presidential Field ever:

The old folks: Bernie 78, Biden 76, Bloomberg 77, Warren 70.

The Inexperienced Nobodies: Buttigig, Yang, Tulsi G, Steyer

The Dull and the Crazy: Harris, Booker, Klobablob, Patrick.

narciso said...

well I pointed out his affiliation in the Truman project in the past, which ties to Ukraine through burismas defense team, and to the Obama administration, he's an independent an actor as Emmanuel macron, and he's a tool of the qataris and Iranians needless to say,

JaimeRoberto said...

Isn't it homophobic to say he's packing!

Anyway, it's not his turn. First gay is supposed to come after first woman and maybe first Hispanic.

traditionalguy said...

Dealing with gay men soon alerts a straight man that as accepting as you maybe, there remains a barrier. Since I was helping them with legal cases and disputes , it became evident there was the pattern that seemed to be from their need to live a lie . Call it being closeted or call it relying on deception , their legal troubles mainly arose from that angle of their choice of life style. It is like being a secret agent in straight culture handicapped them.

FTR, I like gay men’s personalities. Their creativity is off the charts. But we still live in different cultures.

narciso said...

well steyer and Bloomberg have been catalysts, through their foundations, skydragons and amnesty, trying to move into power position, one of buttigegs aide, lis smith was the brief paramour of client no 9

Deevs said...

It's kind of funny to me that when I've heard so often, "Anyone is better than Trump." that the Democratic party isn't rallying behind Tulsi Gabbard. She's all kinds of intersectional (She'd be the first Hindu, POC, woman president! The back patting would never stop!), Army National Guard, and quite a few folks who like Trump don't find her half as odious as the other candidates. Buttigieg only has the gay and veteran thing going for him.

madAsHell said...

First gay is supposed to come after first woman and maybe first Hispanic.

Maybe I didn't get the memo, but wasn't Obama our first gay president??

uummmmm.....asking for a friend.

madAsHell said...

$100 says first gay president will be jewish...

$100 says you won't get any takers!! /just_kidding_about_the_bet

Birkel said...

Journ-O-Listers are not amateur psychiatrists.
Cool.

Why do we care about this small town governor who will never be president?

Seeing Red said...

It’s nit a kill thread. It’s a later tonite topic in the open thread.

robother said...

I imagine the Deep State especially appreciates a Presidential candidate whose platform is their identity (the First Gay President, the First Black President, the First Woman President...) Sort of like a Legacy President, they seem reliably content to rubber stamp the Deep State agenda (Iraq has WMD! We can't prosecute Wall Street for promoting the biggest bubble in history! Lets overthrow Quadaffi/the Ukraine President/whoever!)

I can imagine the Democrat equivalent of Dick Cheney saying, "I like the cut of this boy scout mayor's jib!"

narciso said...

he's a gay leftist, who regards Catholicism up with Wahhabism, I guess he's their version of the candidate, on what planet,

David Begley said...

Does being gay excuse him being a terrible mayor of a small town? Crime is through the roof in South Bend.

No Dem can win the nomination without Black support. Pete has zero Black support.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Doesn't Slate daily slam Trump for being the kind of straight man that they do not understand?

Guildofcannonballs said...

America understands men who sell and slam meth.

Women who sell and slam meth are a different, unto-themselves, story indeed.

All in all, image what Ed Buck knew and knows that we don't. Then picture the highest levels of politicians. Buwaya had many descriptions of problems correct.

I could tell right away that John Heillerman, or whoever, what was that guy about the Hillary campaign, Mark Helperin???, anyway, they were tweakers out for a score, whether through book sales or Hillary love via Epstein who knows?

Jason said...

When the howling mob of happy-face fascists came with arson and death threats against an ordinary pizza shop in Indianapolis, his own state, did Mayor Pete stand up to the mob at the time, when it counted?

No?

Fuck him.

The funny thing is, he and his followers are so stupid they think he's liberal.

narciso said...

Halperin, who turned out had a #metoo problem is the son of uberlefty Morton Halperin, formerly from the Johnson-Nixon state department, who went to the institute for policy studies, and defended agee burning intelligence operatives, for his dgi boss, while at the aclu, his tome on the subject, the lawless empire, should sound familiar,

BUMBLE BEE said...

Fuck Me Agnes.... sober up It's gonna be MOOchelle in 2020. You know that's true.

Yancey Ward said...

This article is hilarious. This article would have been less hilarious if the subject had been about Senator Booker who is still in the closet, and didn't grow up in a college town like South Bend.

Laslo Spatula said...

"And when other gay men... ...participate in the pile-on..."

Party time in the Lincoln bedroom?

I am Laslo.

walter said...

It's really prejudiced to pathologize his smug and unlikeable "deportment".

daskol said...

Yeah, I'd like to spend some time with his dad, who he resembles, before giving any credence to this theory of Pete's personality. I bet he's a lot like his dad.

narciso said...

The maltese connection back home.
Which has a panama type problem that threatens to topple the govt.

CWJ said...

Laslo beat me to it.

We're going to elect a person as they are President. Speculating why that person is the way they are is irrelevant.

daskol said...

I would say, narciso, that what they have in Malta right now is a rather extreme version of the Streisand effect: killing the journalist made her reporting more famous.

Doug said...

Not considering any candidate for president who defines him/herself by what he/she does with his/her genitals.

Ken B said...

I think you can make a pretty decent case Buchanan was the first gay president.

Ken B said...

Doug
So no “flasher President” for you then.

Roughcoat said...

I am so tired of gay.

FullMoon said...
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SGT Ted said...

Isn't it a bit homophobic to suggest Petes ordinary white dude demeanor is a result of being closeted, as opposed to just being himself?

rhhardin said...

Don't mock: scoff.

Nichevo said...


BleachBit-and-Hammers said...
Pete might be gay, but he's one of the more normal people up there.
In The clown show of totalitarian punitive socialist D-weirdos - Pete is kinda normal.


As long as he can keep fooling people into seeing him that way, he's viable for *something.*

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

It makes sense. Downs got it right

Gk1 said...

Great, another minority hire we can't fire or criticize because of "bigotry", not because of his incompetence and lack of experience.

Sebastian said...

"When critics make these gibes"

I.e., "when lefties turn on people who aren't left enough"

Doug said...

Ken B: depends. Does she have nice tits?

Sharc 65 said...

But appearing as a Boy Scout was how he likely survived.

Yes, his "survival" depended on it. Right.

Mr. D said...

His sexuality is of no concern to me. His sanctimonious worldview is of great concern.

tim in vermont said...

If the argument is that he’s damaged goods, well, there is no right to be president.

gilbar said...

not listing Buchanan as the first Gay President?
What? are we looking for the first Gay President, of the "modern era"

Kinda like how they talk about Jeff Gordon, as the "Best Stock car driver" of the "modern era"?

Ever notice, that whenever they use the words "modern era" it means, "the era that arbitrarily starts Right after someone that we don't want to consider?

ps.
I AM more than willing, to consider Jeff Gordon as the first Gay stock car driver, of any era


stats for someone that is NOT Jeff Gordon:

the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times
winning a record 200 races during his career
winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times
winning a record 27 races[1] (10 of them consecutively) in the 1967 season alone
Statistically, he is the most accomplished driver in the history of the sport,
collected a record number of poles (127)

Leslie Graves said...

I have no reason to doubt that as Jim Downs writes, there's a persona in the gay world known as "best little boy". He chalks the development of this persona up to the consequences of living in the closet/suppressing one's feelings.

But c'mon. Many people experience events and challenges in their pre-pubescent and early teen years that cause them to feel as if they are not like everyone else and that they have to hide. Sexual molestation is one such event. Violence in the home is another. The list goes on.

But most of these folks don't go on to develop a calculated or robotic demeanor. They might be and often are in a huge amount of pain and they might be presenting an inauthentic demeanor to the world. But only once-in-awhile does that inauthentic face manifest as "calculated and robotic". There are lots of other ways to hide.

Some people just naturally tend to present to the world in a somewhat restrained, starchy way. This isn't because they were stuck in a closet.

mtrobertslaw said...

In addition to all his other problems, Mayor Pete a bears a strange resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman. This is probably his biggest obstacle.

Fr. Gregory Jensen said...

Donald Trump spent his life in the rough and tumble world of NYC real estate development dealing with unions, union bosses, government officals and, yeah, probably mobsters. If Mayor Pete gets a pass for his often "robotic" personality, does POTUS get a similar pass for his own aggressive and rude personality?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's funny and kind scary to watch the deep state react to outsiders gaining traction.

The Brennen-Hillary deep state will not be denied.

up next - Mayor Pete is a.... RUSSIAN ASSET!

Lewis Wetzel said...

So his problems with popularity are because he's gay, and that is America's fault.
It's kind of like how the men who think they are women are rational, and the people who think that saying you are woman does not make you a woman are irrational ("transphobic").

Rae said...
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bagoh20 said...

In the modern world, you don't just come out of the closet into the shared room and mingle. You bounce out, stand on the table, and imitate Pee Wee Herman dancing to "Tequila", but you never stop dancing, becuase they keep cheering you on.

Skippy Tisdale said...

"victim Olympics"

Wow! that's a darn fine phrase.

Lazarus said...

If you are 37 and running for the presidential nomination of a major political party, odds are you are a very controlled and unspontaneous character. If you were loose and natural and easy-going, you wouldn't have risen so far so fast, so I don't think gayness is to blam for Pete Buttiegieg's awkwardness and unnaturalness.

Tom Dewey had the same problem. He was young and put all his energy into rising in the world. No time to learn how to be natural, human, likeable and relatable. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if Dewey had a height problem, like Buttigieg. To be sure, Teddy Roosevelt and Jack Kennedy were young and weren't stiff and awkward like Dewey and Butti, but they had family money in the background.

Unknown said...

summary

Big Lair is now OK

Unknown said...

and its your fault he's a Big Liar