Pete Buttigieg, the first homosexual in the presidential cabinet of the United States confirmed by the senators, made a remarkable appearance Wednesday evening in Montreal. The current US Secretary of Transportation has accepted an award from Fondation Émergence for his work in educating about LGBTQ struggles.
“I am the beneficiary of a tradition of activism that spans the globe and generations before I was born. And the results of these struggles, in our lifetime, are borderline unbelievable — including the very fact that I can stand before you today,” he told a captivated audience.
Brief, but eloquent, the 40-year-old politician began his speech with a few words in French.
The former Democratic Party primary candidate was the perfect candidate for this prize – the Laurent-McCutcheon prize. The honor goes to a personality who educates the general public about the struggles around sexual and gender diversity. Buttigieg was one of the stars of the Democratic primaries for the 2020 presidential election and appears regularly and without complex with her husband Chasten Glezman. They have two children together.
Pete Buttigieg thus pleaded in front of a full room for a political discourse that joins both the left and the right, including “conservative values” such as family, faith or freedom. “After all, being truly family-friendly means ensuring that all families have the same rights,” he said. “Talking about freedom implies talking about the freedom of all. »
The president of the Fondation Émergence, Patrick Desmarais, very moved to have been able to convince Mr. Buttgieg to accept such a prize, congratulated the latter on his courage within an American society crossed by reactionary currents. “He is one of the only members of the Biden administration to go on the sets of Fox News, or others, to defend his point of view! »
Mr. Buttigieg is also passing through the metropolis to participate in the assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) which is taking place there at the moment.