Sec. Pete Buttigieg speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention Photo: Jasper Colt / USA TODAY NETWORK
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was inducted to the LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame on Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention during the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s “Victory at the DNC” event.
Buttigieg is the first openly gay Cabinet secretary and was recognized not only for his public service but also for his accomplishments in LGBTQ+ representation in government and advocacy for the queer community.
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The ceremony took place at the Wit Hotel’s rooftop in Chicago.
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At the ceremony, Buttigieg said to the cheering audience, “Thank you so much. Thank you for humbling me with this honor,” according to The Chicago Tribune.
He thanked other prominent LGBTQ+ politicians in the audience, saying, “Thank you, [former Chicago Mayor] Lori Lightfoot, for your leadership of Chicago and for welcoming us to this town. Thank you [former Houston Mayor and current CEO and president of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund] Annise Parker – I don’t even know where to begin – it would take me an hour. Let’s just say that Annise Parker has been a pillar of leadership for the LGBTQ+ community, for the community of mayors, for the American people.”
With his induction into the Hall of Fame, he joins the ranks of celebrated LGBTQ+ politicians such as Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.
“Everything that I’ve had a chance to do, not just in politics but in life, is possible because of the committed activism of people like the people in this room and people who came before us,” Buttigieg said. “It wasn’t that long ago you couldn’t be a geographer in the federal government if you were gay. Think about how much has changed in one short lifetime.”
Buttigieg reflected on his experience as mayor of South Bend in “Mike Pence’s Indiana” and his current role as a father and husband.
“Just so you know what wake-up is like for us, it used to be we woke up to an alarm clock. Now we wake up to a three-year-old… who will disappear downstairs and reemerge exactly one minute later with a tambourine in his hand,” he shared.
Buttigieg didn’t just celebrate his own accomplishments or the accomplishments of those who came before him, he also discussed the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ laws that are sweeping the nation. “Just because we have gained some ground does not mean we’ll ever get comfortable with the gains that have been made or the work that lies in front of us.”
In his own speech at the Democratic National Convention, Buttigieg doubled down on that message, saying, “The existence of my family is just one example of something that was literally impossible as recently as 25 years ago, when an anxious teenager growing up in Indiana, I wondered if he would ever find belonging in this world.”
The hard work that it took so that Buttigieg was able to grow up from that anxious teenager to one of the most visible queer politicians with a family of his own is not lost on him. “This kind of life went from impossible to possible, from possible to real, from real to almost ordinary in less than half a lifetime,” he said.
“It was brought about through idealism and courage, through organizing and persuasion and storytelling and yes, through politics, the right kind of politics, the kind of politics that can make an impossible dream into an everyday reality.”
