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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."
Queer Broadway producer slams 'deeply disturbing' questions about whether Pete Buttigieg is gay enough https://t.co/I9nTZd3Emuβ PinkNews (@PinkNews) 1582506720.0
@CapehartJ @kurtbardella here we go again! Was he black enough? Is he gay enough? Is she likable enough? Is she/heβ¦ https://t.co/tpPTF74Hbsβ Orange P. Awe (@Orange P. Awe) 1582292972.0
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.
@PinkNews We need people who are loud, who provoke & who focus on π³οΈβπ issues. But we also need people high up whoβ¦ https://t.co/N5XNodFZyzβ π‘ππ₯ππ£ π‘ππππ£π€ππ (@π‘ππ₯ππ£ π‘ππππ£π€ππ) 1582507607.0
@CapehartJ He's plenty gay. Not taking a series of professional photographs with @Chas10Buttigieg and their pets drβ¦ https://t.co/F0nYK2kKIBβ Jethro (@Jethro) 1582287675.0
@CapehartJ These βgatekeepersβ need to consider the harm thatβs done when the closeted youth still afraid to come oβ¦ https://t.co/w5oURmY6mQβ Jeffery Anderson-Burgos π (@Jeffery Anderson-Burgos π) 1582293386.0
@CapehartJ https://t.co/EbE2gFxhpeβ Twins for Pete (@Twins for Pete) 1582314879.0
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."
@Eugene_Scott Peteβs candidacy is life saving for young people seeing they can be themselves and have a successfulβ¦ https://t.co/qCYQPXQOliβ CherylsRule πππ (@CherylsRule πππ) 1582301108.0
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.