Pete Buttigieg’s husband Chasten reveals struggles with sexuality and coming out

Husband of 2020 hopeful says he never saw a place for him as a young gay man living in America

Chasten Buttigieg has opened up about his struggles with coming out to his family in a new interview, revealing his brothers “never got over” his sexuality as a gay man.

The husband of 2020 hopeful Pete Buttigieg said he first came out to his family after graduating high school in Michigan, where he said nobody openly identified as LGBTQ.

“I remember my mom crying,” he told the Washington Post in a wide-ranging interview about his life and the 2020 campaign trail. “The first thing she asked me was if I was sick. I think she meant, like, did I have AIDS?”

As the mayor of South Bend, Indiana has skyrocketed in the polls and proved to be an effective fundraiser nationwide, his husband has also become a noteworthy fixture along the campaign trail.

The 29-year-old has an ever-increasing social media following and could become “first gentleman” of the US — an unprecedented role that would forever cement his name in history. But Mr Buttigieg often suggests he was not about to see a future for himself as a young gay man in America.

Mr Buttigieg was homeless for a period of time after coming out to his family, telling the Post, “I felt like I just could not be there … So, I left.”

“He brought his bags to a friend’s apartment, then bounced around on people’s couches, trying not to wear out his welcome,” the newspaper reported. “Sometimes he slept in his car at the far edge of the parking lot of the community college where he was taking classes.”

When his mother eventually called months later and asked him to return home, Mr Buttigieg said “I cried and I went home immediately.”

Though his parents attended his wedding to the Indiana mayor and even walked him down the aisle, the Post reported his brothers continue to reject his sexuality.

“I want the best for him,” Rhyan Glezman, a brother of Mr Buttigieg and a Christian pastor in Michigan, told the newspaper. “I just don’t support the gay lifestyle.”

Mr Buttigieg also revealed he was sexually assaulted at a party the year he came out, which led to “baggage” and “hurt” he brought into future relationships.

He described his husband, who has polled as one of the leading Democrats to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 elections, as “so patient,” adding, “I’ve never felt so seen.”