Buttigieg Comes Home
by: PAIGE CONNERS content editor
Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Pete Buttigieg (one of the democratic presidential candidates) and WSHS alumni, spoke to students in September, and here’s what he had to say
“These are the hard hitting questions no one asks: chicken nuggets with ranch across the board.” This comment from Chasten Buttigieg was greeted with thunderous applause from the audience of high school students seated in the auditorium in front of him. Buttigieg came to West Senior High School on September 16th to talk to students about everything from his favorite dipping sauce on chicken nuggets to the struggles of being a part of a presidential campaign. He spoke to an auditorium full of teenagers for an hour, managing to keep them interested for the whole 60 minutes — a feat many teachers struggle to accomplish. The BGQ asked a number of students why they chose to come see Buttigieg speak. Samantha Elder, ‘21, said, “I just love the Buttigiegs. I love that they’re moderate but socially liberal, and I think that’s what we need to depolarize our country.” Sophia Haas, ‘20, had a more personal reason. “A lot of my family on my father’s side died in the Holocaust, so it’s important for my family to stay involved with politics,” she said, “I’m excited to vote in the 2020 election, and I think it’s really cool that he’s from here when not many nationally known politicians are.” Leah Doezma, ‘21, thinks “it’s important to be educated on not only what the candidate themselves believes but also what the people involved in their campaign think.” She came to see Buttigieg speak because she wanted to be able to form an opinion of him and his husband. Buttigieg graduated from WSHS in ‘07, and the last time he was in the building was in ‘09. “It’s weird to come back,” he said, looking around the auditorium with awe. He talked about his passion for theater and how it was his safe haven in high school. He said that everyone has that one teacher who changes their life forever and for him, that was Mrs. Bach, the theater teacher at WSHS. After graduation, Buttigieg became a theater teacher too, although he left the classroom this spring to support his husband on the campaign trail. While this may by the first time he’s come back to his old high school in ten years, this isn’t the first time he’s come back to Traverse City. He spoke at the pride parade in June and deemed it one of the most remarkable moments of his life. “Traverse City’s pride event was actually a march... it was a demand for 8 // BGQ // October 2019
justice and equality.” And although LGBTQ+ rights are an issue that matters to the Buttigiegs, Chasten made it clear that that was not the defining characteristic of Pete. “He’s not running for president of gay America, he’s running for president of all of America,” he said. “We are more than our identity, it is a part of us but it doesn’t identify us.” Regardless, being gay has been an important part of Chasten’s life. His high school career was not easy. “When I went to West, it was unsafe to be out. I got beat up in the locker rooms, I got called a lot of terrible names... you couldn’t be gay in Traverse City.” For this reason, Buttigieg is passionate about the bettering of public schools. “Public education’s messed up and that’s because we don’t value it,” he said. He proceeded to detail ways America could do better in their superintendence of public schools. And then, he spoke directly to the audience. “I can’t tell you how much weight your words have... life would have been so much easier had a couple more people stood up for me,” he said slowly, choosing his words carefully, “make sure other people feel like they belong in this world.” Pete did that for Chasten. “Before Pete, I had given up on love,” Buttigieg said wistfully, “but Pete is so patient, so kind, so loving... Every American deserves a president who makes them feel whole and accepted, and Pete would be that president.” There were smiles, laughs, tears, but most of all, there was an atmosphere of hope. Buttigieg made it clear that the point of the campaign was not as easy to explain as ‘a bid for the presidency.’ “One of the most gratifying things of this process is meeting people who have already been positively affected by this campaign, by Pete simply running,” Buttigieg said. He recounted a story about a mother that came up to him at one of his husband’s rallies. The mother told him, with tears in her eyes, about her daughter who came out to her and told her that she contemplated taking her own life, but when she saw Pete running for president, she decided to stick around. “And I think about that every day,” Buttigieg said, his voice full of emotion, “This campaign is a symbol of hope and a reminder that it does get better.” So even if Chasten’s husband doesn’t get elected president next November, at least he’ll know he made an impact on the teenagers of Traverse City. //
