Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg gave some personal and emotional advice to a nine-year old boy who asked for advice on how to be brave and tell the world he is gay.
The boy said in a question he wrote out in advance at a Buttigieg town hall in Colorado Saturday night: ”Thank you for being so brave. Would you help me tell the world I’m gay, too? I want to be brave like you,’ the boy told him.
Buttigieg, who is openly gay and who made history in his campaign by winning the most delegate equivalents out of Iowa in his presidential campaign, responded by complimenting the boy on his own bravery.
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks to 9-year-old Zachary Ro, center, of Lone Tree, Colo., as Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold looks on at a campaign rally late Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, in Denver. The boy questioned Buttigieg on how to tell people that he is gay
‘I don’t think you need a lot of advice for me on bravery. You seem pretty strong to me,” Buttigieg told him, in a question-and-answer captured on video.
Buttigieg then spoke about his own decision to come out as gay while serving as the mayor of South Bend. He was on the campaign trail with his husband, Chasten.
The Colorado Sun identified the boy as Zachary Ro. He said after the event it was ‘exciting’ adding, ‘I felt really happy. ‘I was glad I was able to tell everyone in the audience that I’m gay,’ he said, speaking alongside his family.
Buttigieg spoke about his own experiences, in an exchange that CNN and other outlets captured on video.
Buttigieg lauded Ro’s bravery for speaking about the issue in front of a crowd full of people
Supporters hold placards for Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg as he speaks at a campaign rally late Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, in Denver
Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg stands on stage with his husband Chasten Buttigieg, right and his mother Anne Montgomery, center a primary night election rally in Nashua, N.H., Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020
Ro told a local Fox News affiliate reporter he felt ‘inspired’ by Buttigieg for being gay and running for president at the same time
‘It took me a long time to figure out how to tell even my best friend that I was gay, let alone to go out there and tell the world and to see you willing to come to terms with who you are in a room full of 1,000 people, thousands of people you’ve never met that’s, that’s really something.’
‘I can’t promise it’ll aways be easy. I can promise you that i’m going to be rooting for you, and I think there’s a whole bunch of people here who are going to be rooting for you every step of the way,’ he said, to applause from the crowd.
After telling the boy it ‘won’t always be easy,’ Buttigieg said: ‘But that’s okay, because you know who you are. And that’s really important, because when you know who you are, you have a center of gravity that can hold you together when all kinds of chaos is happening around you.’
“When I was trying to figure out who I was, I was afraid that who I was might mean that I could never make a difference. And what wound up happening instead is that it’s a huge part of the difference I get to make. I never could have seen that coming –and you’ll never know whose life you might be affecting right now, just by standing here. There’s a lot of power in that,’ he said, to applause from the audience.
He made Buttigieg a bracelet, which the candidate wore. CNN reported that later he went backstage and met with Chasten Buttigieg, who presented him with a special challenge coin.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold read Ro’s question during the discussion, and stood on stage during the emotional moment.
The boy told a Fox News affiliate reporter he felt ‘inspired’ by Buttigieg for being gay and running for president at the same time.