In a recent interview, Democratic
presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South
Bend, Indiana, said that he feels a responsibility to the LGBT
community but is not running to be president of “gay America.”
Speaking to ABC News from the
candidate's campaign bus, Buttigieg welcomed former New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the presidential race. Bloomberg, who has
yet to formally announce his campaign, has reportedly filed paperwork
registering as a presidential candidate in at least one state.
“Welcome him to the race,”
Buttigieg said. “Always good to see another mayor stepping up.”
“Do you feel a sense of obligation
that if you were to become president that you would have to be an
ambassador or an advocate of sorts when it comes to issues that
matter to the LGBTQ community?” ABC News asked.
“You know, every time someone comes
up to me, sometimes a teenager who says, because of your campaign I
feel like it's okay for me to come out and be myself, or sometimes
somebody my parents age with tears in their eyes because they never
thought it would be possible to have a married gay man running for
president, I feel the responsibility that I have,” Buttigieg
answered.
“That being said, I'm not running to
be president of gay America; I'm running to be president of the
United States of America. And my responsibilities are to make sure
that there is a better life for everybody,” he
added.
Buttigieg is the nation's first married
openly gay presidential candidate.
(Related: Pete
Buttigieg surges in Iowa; closes in on Elizabeth Warren, Bernie
Sanders, Joe Biden.)