Is America ready for a gay president? Iowa casts first votes

Pete Buttigieg

Iowa: The question posed to Pete Buttigieg - gay, married and running for president - came from a supporter at an Iowa campaign stop: What should he tell friends who say America isn't ready to elect a gay man as president?

That prompted a woman in the crowd to object with an expletive, igniting cheers from hundreds. On Friday at an LGBTQ forum in Cedar Rapids, Buttigieg framed his experience as a gay man as an advantage.

"One of the reasons I'm so proud to be a member of this community is because I think we have the power to reach into our own experiences, belonging to a part of America that also cuts across all the other different categories. We could help be that glue."

He also spoke about his own experiences facing discrimination as a gay man, noting the "weight lifted" when the government's policy barring gay men from serving in the military was reversed. He also described how it felt to host South Bend's first blood drive and not be able to participate, due to the ban on gay men donating blood.

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