*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
Educator and activist Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, became the target of Republican furies after he led children in pledging allegiance to the Pride flag instead of the American flag.
Footage of the moment is readily available, coming from the Amazon documentary Mayor Pete... that came out last year.
It shows Buttigieg speaking to LGBTQ+ youth at Pride Camp, which uses the rainbow flag as its banner, and leading them in the pledge to the camp as part of their daily activities.
You can watch the footage below.
Pete Buttigieg\u2019s husband leads kids in a pledge of allegiance to the gay pride rainbowpic.twitter.com/bYyNvt1ush— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh) 1646879370
The youths in the video can be heard reciting:
“I pledge my heart to the rainbow of the Not So Typical Gay Camp. One camp, full of pride, indivisible, with affirmation and equal rights for all.”
The footage attracted the attention of conservative political commentator Matt Walsh, who took the clip out of context and suggested that Buttigieg was teaching children to prioritize the Pride flag over the American flag.
Pete Buttigieg\u2019s husband leads kids in a pledge of allegiance to the gay pride rainbowpic.twitter.com/bYyNvt1ush— Matt Walsh (@Matt Walsh) 1646879370
Walsh, who has claimed that same-sex marriage "doesn't exist" and regularly denigrates transgender people, was swiftly critcized, as were The Log Cabin Republicans, who shared the footage and further disseminated it within conservative circles.
No, there is no LGBTQ agenda. It is in your mind.https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1501747042955272196\u00a0\u2026— Carmine Sabia (@Carmine Sabia) 1647027109
I fail to see the issue here\u2026. Unless your a bigot of course.https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1501957896116051971\u00a0\u2026— AlbertaPolitico \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udfd4\ud83c\udfd9 (@AlbertaPolitico \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udfd4\ud83c\udfd9) 1646929712
I fail to understand what content of this video is a threat to children and society. Oh wait... "with affirmation and equal rights for all" I 'forgot' that brainrotted republicans and religious pearl clutchers want to disappear the lgbtq community.https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1501747042955272196\u00a0\u2026— \ud83d\udd6fVelka\ud83d\udd6f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f FIGHT FOR TRANS KIDS \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@\ud83d\udd6fVelka\ud83d\udd6f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f FIGHT FOR TRANS KIDS \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1646933836
A maternity hospital was attacked by Putin but this is what the right is outraged about.https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1501747042955272196\u00a0\u2026— David Weissman (@David Weissman) 1646881599
The Log Cabin Republicans was always a shady group, but there was a time when the organization was willing to draw the occasional line in the sand standing up for gay rights. Now, they\u2019ve been reduced to defending blatantly antigay policies and have become basically a parody.https://twitter.com/LogCabinRVA/status/1501741129808728069\u00a0\u2026— Charles Boyd (@Charles Boyd) 1646922303
Call me when you've done something about your friends that stormed the Capitol.https://twitter.com/LogCabinRVA/status/1501741129808728069\u00a0\u2026— Category Is: Depression, but Sexy (@Category Is: Depression, but Sexy) 1646997495
Wtf are LOG CABIN republicans, besides bigots?https://twitter.com/logcabinrva/status/1501741129808728069\u00a0\u2026— \ud83d\udc9b Cortney Miller \u2650\ufe0f (Taylor\u2019s Version) \ud83d\udc1d (@\ud83d\udc9b Cortney Miller \u2650\ufe0f (Taylor\u2019s Version) \ud83d\udc1d) 1646884696
The craziest part of this clip circulating is that @LogCabinGOP is who started it. The supposedly gay Republican group doesn't even want queer kids to have places to hang out with each other anymore. Are they just pure Trumpian AstroTurf at this point?https://twitter.com/LogCabinRVA/status/1501741129808728069?t=mVFaYsDy1FSbpyD28H_F2A&s=19\u00a0\u2026— Zack Ford (@Zack Ford) 1646921306
Buttigieg has drawn the ire of conservatives in recent weeks by speaking out against legislation he says would harm LGBTQ+ youth.
In January, Buttigieg said that Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which recently passed in both chambers of the state legislature, isn’t about “parental rights” at all but about discrimination and control. Buttigieg acknowledged LGBTQ+ people and their families have often been used as scapegoats throughout history and said the legislation would "push LGBTQ families away and into the closet."
Adding the bill would "kill kids," he went on to cite statistics from The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.
Buttigieg noted suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 24 and that 42 percent of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.
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LGBTQ+ Youth can get help through:
- TrevorChat — 24/7/365 at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/#services
- TrevorLifeline — phone service available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386
- TrevorText — Text “START” to 678678. Available 24/7/365.
- TrevorSpace — online international peer-to-peer community for LGBTQ young people and their friends at https://www.trevorspace.org/
- Trevor Support Center — LGBTQ youth & allies can find answers to FAQs and explore resources at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/trevor-support-center/#sm.0000121hx9lvicotqs52mb1saenel