The swift rise in rank and power of formerly obscure House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), a Christian conservative who has called homosexuality a “dark harbinger of chaos,” has elevated concerns that old prejudices will further threaten to derail a government that is already often paralyzed by differences.
With those concerns ascendant, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg — a military veteran, married gay man with two children, and perhaps the most prominent LGBTQ community figure in the government — was asked by late night host Stephen Colbert about potential divisiveness caused by Johnson’s beliefs.
“His record on LGBTQ issues is awful,” Colbert said, referencing Johnson. He asked Buttigieg: “How do you work with a guy who argued that same sex relations are the ‘dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic’?” (Johnson issued that quote a decade and a half ago.)
Buttigieg gave an answer that drew applause from the audience as he tried to diffuse the fear of the “other” with the common humanity of American families. There’s little more humanizing, after all, than the diaper change Buttigieg references.
“Look, I will work with anybody who can get us good transportation available to the American people,” Buttigieg said, emphasizing the duties of his job above his personal position, before continuing:
“But, I don’t know, maybe we will just have him over because our little house is not far from the Capitol and if you could see what it’s like when I come home from work and Chasten is bringing the kids home from daycare, or vice-versa, and one of us is getting the mac and cheese ready and the other is microwaving those little freezer meatballs…they won’t take their shoes off and one needs a diaper change. Everything about that is chaos but nothing about that is dark. The love of God is in that household.”
One commenter called the Secretary’s words a “perfect response to the hateful remarks” from Speaker Johnson.
I couldn't possibly have higher respect for Secretary Pete Buttigieg for his perfect response to the hateful remarks from Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson about his same-sex marriage.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) November 3, 2023
I STAND WITH PETE BUTTIGIEG.💙🏳️🌈pic.twitter.com/msUeKjgWjG
Reactions varied, but notably even some harsh critics of Buttigieg’s job performance conceded his rights should be protected, including one libertarian and former Marine who on other issues believes the Biden administration is too far left.
No one should be criticized for loving whom they love or marrying whomever they wish to marry. While I'm no fan of Pete as a Transportation Sec due to his ineptness during supply chain crisis, Ohio Train Derailment, & Airline fiasco this summer, I stand with him on this issue.
— 🇺🇸 Icecommando 🇺🇸🎖️( う-´)づ︻╦̵̵̿╤── (@SwtSwtVengeance) November 3, 2023
