Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on
Wednesday explained that he decided to come out gay because he wanted
to know what being in love was like.
The 37-year-old Buttigieg made his
comments while speaking at Northeastern University in Boston.
Buttigieg came out in an op-ed while
serving his second term as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He
explained at the time that he struggled with his sexuality.
Last year, he married Chasten Glezman,
a teacher.
“I was already mayor when I came
out,” Buttigieg
said. “It took me a long time to get there. I’d been
dragging my feet on coming out, because my two careers were military
and elected office in Indiana, neither of which is super
gay-friendly.”
“But while I was deployed, I realized
that I was in the really humiliating situation where my life could
end in my early 30s and I could be a reasonably accomplished person –
mayor of a city, grown man, homeowner – and have no idea what it
was like to be in love.”
“But what I found was that the
community was really supportive. I’d be invited on some charity
dinner and I’d show up and my date would be a dude, and everyone
would get it and then they’d shrug and move on,” he added.
Buttigieg on Wednesday teased a special
announcement to be revealed on April 14.