Buttigieg coming to Bookery this month
Chasten Buttigieg, husband of U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, is coming to the Bookery on July 21 at 7 p.m. as part of a book tour to promote the young adult version of his memoir, “I Have Something to Tell You.”
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Most of America knows Mayor Pete, and later this month Manchester will get a chance to talk with the man that is the love of his life.
Chasten Buttigieg, husband of U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, is coming to the Bookery on July 21 at 7 p.m. as part of a book tour to promote the young adult version of his memoir, “I Have Something to Tell You.”
The book details Buttigieg’s life during childhood and early adulthood, discussing what it was like to grapple with feelings of homosexuality in the late ’90s and early 2000s in northern Michigan before a foreign exchange trip to Germany helped him understand who he is and how he wanted to live his life.
In the eyes of Buttigieg, northern Michigan has seen a lot of progress when it comes to discussion around LGBTQ+ issues, but throughout the country the fear he faced as a kid has resurfaced for many teenagers coping with their sexuality due to shifting political climates.
“The reality is that in many parts of this country, LGBTQ people are simply unsafe to be themselves,” he said. “That fear and danger is ever present in parts of rural America where you might not have an LGBTQ organization or role models or a safe place to go to. This is only exacerbated in areas where there are limited economic resources and opportunities.”
Buttigieg’s book also deals with related political issues he faced during that journey such as the cost of healthcare, college tuition costs and the expectation for many young Americans that college is a prerequisite for success and the disconnect between rural America and the halls of power.
Buttigieg’s current book tour spans approximately 30 cities, many of which are in rural areas comparable to where he grew up where LGBTQ+ people may feel isolated.
The original version of the book, published in 2020, debuted at the New York Times Best Seller List at Number 12 for hardcover non-fiction books. According to Buttigieg, this new version is a complete rewrite, focusing less on his time on the campaign trail and more on his earlier years in the hope that a younger person reading the book might be able to see part of their own story in his tale and realize they are not alone.
While Buttigieg wrote the book partly as a guide for parents, teachers, and teenagers today who are learning more about how to be supportive of LGBTQ+ people, it’s also a story that he could have given himself or his parents when he was growing up and there were no LGBTQ+ role models available.
“This book is specifically a conversation about what it’s like to grow up steeped in that fear, but it’s also a conversation about identity and learning to love yourself,” he said.
