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Meet Chasten Buttigieg, ‘almost’ first gentleman and LGBTQ advocate: the husband of US 2020 presidential candidate and transport sec, Pete Buttigieg, fled home as a newly out teen and is now speaking out

Chasten Buttigieg is the spouse of former US presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and an LGBT advocate. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram
Chasten Buttigieg is the spouse of former US presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and an LGBT advocate. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram

  • Chasten Buttigieg, the spouse of former US presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, hails from rural Michigan, where he now lives with his husband and their adopted twin girl and boy
  • The LGBTQ advocate – whose ‘lifestyle’ was publicly denounced by his evangelical pastor brother – wrote a bestselling coming out memoir, and traded barbs with Chaya Raichik, an anti-LGBTQ TikTokker

He was once homeless – couch surfing with friends just to have a bed to sleep on. Now, Chasten Buttigieg has become a powerful voice in the LGBTQ community, advocating for those who are bullied and shamed for their sexuality.
Chasten Buttigieg accepting the Dennis Dougherty Award for Community Leadership at the Matthew Shepard Foundation gala in Denver, Colorado, in October 2023. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram
Chasten Buttigieg accepting the Dennis Dougherty Award for Community Leadership at the Matthew Shepard Foundation gala in Denver, Colorado, in October 2023. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram
He soared to superstardom after his husband, Pete Buttigieg, who is the current US secretary of transportation, decided to run for president back in 2020. While Pete didn’t win, he and Chasten have together become a political face of the LGBTQ community, using their influence to make a difference.
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Meet Chasten Buttigieg, would-be first gentleman.

Chasten Buttigieg and Pete Buttigieg’s love story

Chasten and Pete Buttigieg celebrating Easter 2023 with their children at the White House, Washington DC. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram
Chasten and Pete Buttigieg celebrating Easter 2023 with their children at the White House, Washington DC. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram

Then Chasten Glezman met Pete Buttigieg on the dating app Hinge in the summer of 2015. After dating for three years, the pair were married in June 2018. In August 2021, they announced that they had become parents.

Chasten and Pete Buttigieg’s son and daughter, pictured in August 2023. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram
Chasten and Pete Buttigieg’s son and daughter, pictured in August 2023. Photo: @chasten.buttigieg/Instagram

After struggling to adopt, Pete wrote on his Medium account that he and Chasten were contacted out of the blue by the adoption agency about a mother who had given birth and wanted her twins to be adopted. Per Advocate, the couple were told that the babies had been born prematurely and had potential health issues. Pete detailed the anxious weeks that ensued, with baby girl Penelope suffering from severe reflux and breathing issues, and baby boy Joseph being intubated at one point. Happily, both children are now healthy and present in their dads’ very public lives.

How active is Chasten Buttigieg on social media?