Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg and
his husband Chasten appear on the cover of this week's TIME magazine.
The profile, by Charlotte Alter,
describes Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, as
the polar opposite of President Donald Trump.
“In many ways, Buttigieg is Trump's
polar opposite: younger, dorkier, shorter, calmer and married to a
man. His success may depend on whether Democrats want a fighter to
match Trump, or whether Americans want to 'change the channel,' as
Buttigieg puts it,” Alter wrote.
Chasten came out to his parents after
his senior year of high school. His parents at first rejected his
sexuality and Chasten moved out for several months, crashing on
friends' couches.
“His parents ultimately changed their
minds, welcomed him back home and now fully support their son and his
marriage,” Alter wrote.
Alter describes their marriage as “at
once banal and extraordinary.”
“Chasten handles the dogs, the
shopping, the cooking. Pete does the dishes, laundry and garbage.
Chasten hates taking the bin out to the curb. Pete hates the way
Chasten folds T-shirts. Chasten gets grumpy when they go too long
without food, and Pete doesn't get it,” she wrote, adding that Pete
Buttigieg's solution is a handful of nuts.
“I want a meal, and he's like, 'Well
just have a handful of nuts,'” Chasten said.
Buttigieg said that he came out
publicly at the height of his re-election campaign because he wanted
to date.
“He feared it would cost him
re-election, but he won with 80% of the vote,” Alter
wrote.