Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Atlantic Article: "Yes, It Matters That Pete Buttigieg Is Gay"

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/it-matters-pete-buttigieg-gay/586618/?fbclid=IwAR226hDLbkHl56zABgHyLMQYlnFhF-fCNk0mQXlnMWgp5BXv6lYZ3ZAE25M

This piece was a really powerful analysis of electoral representation. As the title argues, the author describes why it is so important to have political representation for the queer community. One statement stood out to me: 


Sims told me that being gay put Buttigieg in “learning situations” that give the candidate “heightened insight into issues far beyond human sexuality.” Sims believes that a “multidimensional identity can help educate, enlighten, and ultimately solve many of our most pressing cultural problems.”
In a crowded Democratic presidential primary, this article points to representation - and this case gay representation - as a key consideration. I found it to be a really powerful article, and I hope you guys give it a read! 

2 comments:

  1. I think that this article resonates with the Milk speech that we read about how important representation is and that a friend of a gay person is not the same thing as having a gay person in government.

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  2. This is really interesting, and I also think the passage you quoted is cool because Sims is appealing to this standpoint theory argument that being gay or occupying some other marginalized social position gives you an advantage in terms of what you can learn and know. (https://www.britannica.com/topic/standpoint-theory)

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