For today’s daily dose of Twitter tomfoolery, consider this piping-hot take from law student Ryan Wheeler: “Mayor Pete may be gay but he sure as hell ain’t queer.”
Mayor Pete may be gay but he sure as hell ain’t queer
— Ryan Wheeler (@rywheels) April 10, 2019
The “Mayor Pete” Wheeler’s referring to is none other than openly gay Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, who made headlines nationwide after launching an exploratory committee for a 2020 presidential run earlier this year.
Since he announced his plans to run for president, Buttigieg has already made huge strides, securing donations from enough individual campaign donors to earn a spot at the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) first 2020 presidential debate.
He’s also gaining in popularity in recent Iowa polls, trailing behind prominent Democrats like Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
LGBTQ Twitter users came out of the woodwork to question the controversial opinion, including Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims, who engaged with Wheeler at length:
I am 1000% certain that you are not the arbiter of gayness or queerness. If you knew even the first thing about either, you’d also know how painfully stupid this post is. Usually I see this kind of crap from our opponents, it’s worse when it comes from us.
— Brian Sims (@BrianSimsPA) April 10, 2019
Ryan, can you center yourself in this any more than this? Holy hell. What you “love about queerness” has absolutely nothing to do with what queerness is or, more importantly, what queerness is for others. Repeat after me: You don’t get to define others’ queerness.
— Brian Sims (@BrianSimsPA) April 10, 2019
Others joined the conversation to point out that “queerness” isn’t exactly something one can measure or police—and a candidate like Buttigieg might be the best shot the LGBTQ community has at getting a queer person into the Oval Office.
How are you qualified to make this determination and restrictive definitions?
— Lyndele is so over this year. (@bookloverva) April 10, 2019
Who died and made you the Queen of Queerness?
— Kathleen Harold (@kdunnachie) April 10, 2019
he's not queer enough for your *queer-o-meter*? aside from the troll-like caliber of your tweet, there's more than a hint of projection. gay enough. queer enough. wth is that? when it's essential for our community 2 feel safe @ all, seriously??
— justicechick ️ (@EnnuiMalaise) April 10, 2019
From an Ivy League 3L. I absolutely have to laugh. I honestly don't even like him, but the half-baked takes on Pete might actually make start to. What kind of gay president y'all thought we was gonna get? Michael Alig? Angel from RENT? https://t.co/YH0P4UvsOM
— Phillip Henry (@MajorPhilebrity) April 10, 2019
Others still were far more blunt with their responses:
I would reccomend deleting this.
— Lucas Suter (@LVS1932) April 10, 2019
— sarah (@babyblumood) April 10, 2019
That ain’t it, chief.
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) April 10, 2019
This Twitter user isn’t the first person to scrutinize Buttigieg’s sexuality, either. Late last month, a Slate writer sparked an outcry on social media after she questioned whether Buttigieg being gay even constituted “diversity” because of he’s also a white, cisgender man from a privileged background.
What we really want to know, though, is this: Has he tuned into RuPaul’s Drag Race yet?
