Like @PeteButtigieg, I too remember resenting the idea of having to come out.

And as a gay member of this campaign, I sometimes feel a need to defend myself for choosing the candidate with whom I share a common identity- that yes, there are other reasons for why I’m here. 1/ https://twitter.com/chas10buttigieg/status/1197983300830281735">https://twitter.com/chas10but...

But to gloss over that fact, to deny that the shared pain of the coming out journey, or the common joy of discovering the freedom to finally be yourself, is also to deny one of the principle reasons why I believe he would prove to be a great president. 2/

Our shared experience as gay men, and the similar ways in which we have processed our respective identities, gives me the utmost confidence that he possesses an enormous empathy for those dissimilar to himself, a quality critical for any leader seeking to represent America. 3/

He understands the universal challenge of navigating a world that does not see you the way you want to see yourself.

He has felt the powerlessness of trying to confront a world that you think doesn’t want you on your own. 4/

He has discovered the hope and the faith it requires to embrace your identity in the face of those obstacles anyways.

Pete wants you to belong in America, because he knows what it’s like not to.