Topline
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay presidential Cabinet member to be confirmed by the Senate, announced Tuesday he and his husband, Chasten, have become parents, making them the most high-profile LGBTQ couple in U.S. politics to welcome a child.
Then South Bend mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks beside husband ... [+]
Key Facts
“We’re overjoyed to share that we’ve become parents,” Buttigieg tweeted, announcing the first child for both him and Chasten, who is a writer and teacher and worked on his husband’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Buttigieg did not confirm if the couple had a child through surrogacy or adoption, but Chasten told the Washington Post last month that the pair had been trying to adopt for a year without success.
Buttigieg said, “The process isn’t done yet,” but added the pair plan to reveal more about their family’s new addition soon.
Crucial Quote
“We’re thankful for the love, support and respect for our privacy that has been offered to us,” Buttigieg said on Twitter Tuesday.
Tangent
During their adoption quest, the Buttigiegs listed themselves as available to adopt a baby who had “been abandoned or surrendered at very little notice,” according to the Post, and were signed up as candidates to adopt a child before birth based on the choice of the birth mother, though their identities would be kept anonymous in the selection process. The couple had been close to adopting a child several times, Chasten told the newspaper. “It’s a really weird cycle of anger and frustration and hope,” Chasten said in July. “You think it’s finally happening and you get so excited, and then it’s gone.”
Key Background
Besides being the first openly gay Senate-approved Cabinet member, Buttigieg is also the youngest Transportation secretary in the history of the position. He’s just one of the “historic firsts” on President Joe Biden’s Cabinet. Biden nominated members with the aim of building a diverse team that “looked like America,” he said. Before landing his role in Transportation, Buttigieg ran against Biden in the 2020 presidential election and served as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a city of roughly 100,000 people.
Further Reading
