Lauren Boebert slammed for ‘homophobic’ jibe at gay dad Pete Buttigieg
Republican Lauren Boebert has been criticised for making a ‘homophobic’ jibe about ‘chest-feeding’ directed US transportation secretary and gay dad Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg was labelled a daddy after being pictured with a beard in 2020, but secured the more-usual use of the title after adopting twins Joseph August and Penelope Rose with husband Chasten the following year.
The Democrat politician, who made history when he became the first gay US cabinet secretary in 2021, had criticised Boebert after she took credit for the financing of a bridge over the Roaring Fork River, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Buttigieg responded a X/Twitter post from Boebert in which she is pictured standing with city councillor Jonathan Godes and celebrates a $51.4 million (£42.9 million) infrastructure project for South Bridge.
“Congresswoman, in what way do you believe that your support helped this project? We chose it because it’s a good project, and funded it using President Biden’s infrastructure package, which you voted against,” Buttigieg asked.
Boebert then made a jibe about Buttigieg ‘chest-feeding’ – a word predominantly used by some trans men, non-binary and gender-non-conforming people to describe the act of feeding their children with milk made by their own bodies.
“Mayor Pete, maybe you were out chest-feeding and missed my letter, but I personally wrote you about this in June 2022,” she responded.
Social media users have criticised her comments, with one person posting CCTV footage of her being caught fondling her date during a theatre production of Beetlejuice.
Another comment read: “Your choice is to be homophobic. You did not vote for the funding. You are a liar, deceitful and an embarrassment.”
Someone said: “All parents do skin-to-skin at the birth of their children. It’s normal. It’s very important for parents of adopted children. Maybe if you paid attention to yours, they wouldn’t be going to jail.”
Earlier this month, Boebert was sarcastically hailed as “mother of the year” after she attended Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in New York, but not her own teenage son’s court appearance.
Someone else who seemingly isn’t a “fan of Mayor Pete at all” still took his side and hit out at Boebert’s “homophobia”, calling on the Republican to “evolve”.
Boebert has switched from the third congressional district in Colorado, where she has served since 2021, to seeking re-election in more Republican-friendly fourth district, which will be vacant after fellow Republican Ken Buck announced he would not be seeking a sixth term.
Following the switch, she has seen her fundraising drop significantly.