Chasten Buttigieg: GOP Created ‘Dangerous Atmosphere for LGBTQ People with Their Language’

Husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and author Chasten Buttigieg said Friday on “CNN This Morning” that Republicans have “created a very dangerous atmosphere for LGBTQ people with their language.”

Co-host Don Lemon said, “Can we talk about the rhetoric surrounding it because listen, especially lately, a lot of people have been using gay people, not just lately, but it ramped up during the midterms, using gay people as political pawns in their messaging and their ads and things they’re trying to get accomplished and trying to roll back certain issues. How do you respond?”

Buttigieg said, “Certainly, it’s uncomfortable watching them try to have it both ways. They spent the entire midterms, and for many of them, they spent their entire time here in Washington attacking the LGBTQ community, attaching awful, terrible labels to any LGBTQ person, attacking trans people specifically, and then something like Club Q happens, and they want to send us their thoughts and prayers. I know these Congress members understand that words have meaning, there is power in the way we use our words for good or for bad, and they have created a very dangerous atmosphere for LGBTQ people with their language. And then something like this happens, and they quickly jump on social media and say thoughts and prayers. How awful. They can’t have it both ways, and they need to wake up and understand that their ideology and their rhetoric and their language is hurting people.”

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