Noted Broadway producer Richie Jackson took members of the LGBTQ community to task for questioning whether Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is "gay enough."
Jackson is the author of Gay Like Me in addition to being an award-winning Broadway, television and film producer.
The rebuke was made on The Washington Post's Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart podcast. Jackson said LGBTQ people who question Buttigieg or anyone's gay identity is "absurd."
Jackson said:
"The whether he's gay enough, I find deeply disturbing."
"First of all, definitionally, he's gay. He's married to a man."
"He served under 'don't ask, don't tell.' That's gay."
The author and producer added:
"Here's an easy question. Would LGBTQ hate groups consider Pete gay enough to discriminate against? Yes."
"Would our adversaries consider him gay enough? Yes."
"Could he be fired in all those states? Yes."
"Can he give blood? No."
"Does he have to be careful where he's holding [his husband] Chasten's hand? Yes."
"So he is definitionally gay because everything that's stacked up against us is stacked up against him."
People agreed that stereotypes are not reality or qualifications.
Jackson outlined the benefits to the LGBTQ community of Buttigieg as a candidate:
"Think about all the conversations that are going on about him now in classrooms, in homes and all these young people who may not understand all their feelings, who may not have told anybody about their feelings."
"But here is this gay man, who is a top-tier contender for the presidency, who is traveling around the country campaigning with his husband."
"That is life-saving for young people to see that there is possibility for them in this world."
Buttigieg is the first openly LGBTQ person to run for President in the United States. There have been elected openly LGBTQ leaders in other nations including Iceland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Serbia.
Jackson's book Gay Like Me is available here.
Buttigieg's book Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future is available here.
