"I can tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade." Pete Buttigieg is the most prominent openly gay politician to seek the U.S. presidency. He got personal about his struggle towards self-acceptance.
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00:00It's hard to face the truth that there were times in my life when if you had shown me exactly what it was inside me
00:06That made me gay
00:07I would have cut it out with a knife
00:20You may be religious and you may not but if you are and you are also queer
00:26and
00:27You have come through the other side of a period of wishing that you weren't
00:32Then you know that that message that this idea that there is something wrong with you is
00:37a message that puts you at war not only with yourself, but with your maker and
00:43Speaking only for myself. I can tell you that if me being gay was a choice
00:48It was a choice that was made far far above my pay grade
00:52And
00:54That's the thing I wish the Mike Pence's of the world would understand
00:58That if you got a problem with who I am your problem is not with me your quarrel sir is with my creator
01:05You
01:20Because it has made me more compassionate
01:23more understanding
01:24more self-aware and more decent
01:28my marriage to Chaston has made me a better man and
01:32Yes, mr. Vice president it has moved me closer to God
01:35So next time a reporter asked me if America is ready for a gay president. I'm gonna tell the truth
01:42I'm gonna give him the only answer that I can think of that's honest and it's this I
01:47Trust my fellow Americans, but at the end of the day
01:51There is exactly one way to find out for sure