South Bend, IN Mayor Comes Out As Gay In Editorial

Buttgieg said the Supreme Court's impending gay marriage ruling compelled him to come out.​

The mayor of Indiana’s fourth largest city came out as gay in an editorial for the local newspaper Tuesday.

“I was well into adulthood before I was prepared to acknowledge the simple fact that I am gay,” wrote South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in a piece for the South Bend Tribune. “It took years of struggle and growth for me to recognize that it’s just a fact of life, like having brown hair, and part of who I am.”

Buttigieg, a Democrat, said that he was initially reluctant to come out publicly because he considers himself a private person, but because the Supreme Court is set to deliver a ruling on the legal status of gay marriage across the country later this month, he felt compelled to discuss the subject openly.

“Being gay isn’t something you choose, but you do face choices about whether and how to discuss it,” he wrote. “[It]’s clear to me that at a moment like this, being more open about it could do some good. For a local student struggling with her sexuality, it might be helpful for an openly gay mayor to send the message that her community will always have a place for her. And for a conservative resident from a different generation, whose unease with social change is partly rooted in the impression that he doesn’t know anyone gay, perhaps a familiar face can be a reminder that we’re all in this together as a community.

Buttigieg, a U.S. Navy veteran, grew up in South Bend before attending Harvard University and later Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He was first elected South Bend’s Mayor in 2011 and this may won the primary election in his bid for a second term.

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