U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's husband, Chasten, leads children in a modified pledge of allegiance to the rainbow flag at what he described as a "not-so-typical gay camp" in a viral social media video.
On Wednesday night, the Log Cabin Republicans in Richmond, Virginia, posted a video showing Pete Buttigieg's husband Chasten, leading an LGBTQ youth group in a pledge of allegiance to the rainbow pride flag rather than to an American flag. Chasten had the children repeat after him as they each held their right hand over their hearts.
"I pledge my heart to the rainbow of the not-so-typical gay camp. One camp, full of pride, indivisible, with affirmation and equal rights for all."
At the end of the pledge, Chasten waved the rainbow flag to the cheers of the LGBTQ youth group.
The clip originally comes from "Mayor Pete," an Amazon Prime documentary released in 2021, which catalogs Buttigieg's failed 2020 presidential campaign.
At a campaign event for LGBTQ youth in Iowa, Chasten is shown in the documentary working alongside children and young adults to decorate "drag-taters," potatoes dressed to look like drag queens. In another clip from the documentary, also posted by the Log Cabin Republicans of Richmond, Chasten dramatically pulling back a foldable rainbow fan to reveal his drag-tater.
"Its [name is] Cherry," said Chasten in a deep voice, apparently in imitation of a drag queen.
In the clip, Chasten added, "Being out on the trail gives me the opportunity to come do things like this. I mean this stuff just like, puts the wind in my sails. It just reminds me of the importance of the job."
President of the Richmond Log Cabin Republicans, Casey Flores, told Fox Digital that he "can't believe this [video] hasn't gone mainstream with conservatives until now. When I saw it, it didn't sit right with me, and virtually all of my Log Cabin Republican friends agreed. Figuring life out is hard enough for youth — they don't need adults pushing them one way or another on things like sexuality. Some would call that grooming."
In September 2021, it was revealed that Pete and Chasten Buttigieg became parents after adopting twins – a boy and a girl – Joseph August and Penelope Rose, respectively. However, Transportation Secretary Buttigieg faced heavy criticism after reportedly going on paternity leave for at least two months as the nation's ports faced a shipping bottleneck and the U.S. struggled with a shortage of truck drivers. Buttigieg reportedly failed to name an acting transportation secretary while he was on leave.
Secretary Buttigieg was not immediately available for comment on the clip of his husband.
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Chasten, 32, recently appeared on ABC News to voice his criticisms of Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, which has been dubbed by opponents, largely on the left, as the "Don't Say Gay Bill."
"As a recent father, I've been thinking a lot about what it would be like to be living in the state of Florida as an LBGTQ family," said Chasten, "I think this bill is vague on purpose because it is trying to silence or push families, students, and LBGTQ individuals back into the closet."
The bill requires public schools to "reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children." It also prevents classroom instruction — not casual discussion — on "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" with children from kindergarten through third grade, "or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.