There’s nothing conservatives love like a trending name or hashtag to get people riled up and distracted from issues that matter. Like, for example, the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. In recent days, one such subject is the U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s parental leave. Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, are new parents to twin babies, and with this life change underway, he took advantage of a paid parental leave policy starting in mid-August. Within the last week, Buttigieg has already returned to taking calls and making media appearances. But conservatives can’t let it rest.
As Daily Kos covered, Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently made snide comments about Buttigieg and breastfeeding. Recently, Newsmax host Greg Kelly went down the similar route of misogyny and homophobia to smear Buttigieg, as covered by Media Matters.
In the span of roughly two minutes, Kelly described “Mayor Pete” and his husband as “happy fathers” before suggesting it’s “incredibly strange” that Buttigieg would take time off for parental leave. He added that Buttigieg took time off last year to have a “grand old time” after running for president, growing a beard, writing, and hanging “around the house.”
“That’s our time,” Kelly told viewers, as though Buttigieg and his family don’t deserve his time. “You and me.”
Somehow, Kelly’s rant went from bad to even worse. And all of this, mind you, doesn’t get into the fact that two months’ leave is really not that long at all compared to norms in other countries.
“Pete Buttigieg is a man, and so is his husband,” Kelly said. “They did not have to have these kids now. They’re not up against any biological clock. Let’s be real here. All right? This is a big job. The biggest that Pete Buttigieg has ever had. And now he decides to take the leave, have the kid. He doesn’t have to do it. But it’s bizarre how the fake news is so on his side.”
Implicit in Kelly’s rant is the idea that same-sex parents don’t deserve the same rights and assistance as opposite-sex parents. His point also ignores the reality that many heterosexual couples choose to have children for many reasons that don’t involve the “biological clock,” a vague standard that feels pulled from the 1950s more than the current day. And there are, of course, both heterosexual and queer couples who have children by fostering, adopting, or partnering with someone who already has children, for example. Basically: There are countless variables outside of the simple “biological clock.”
Based on Kelly’s rant, it’s also easy to remember that many conservatives fundamentally don’t want or support queer parents raising children. They’re happy to make it as hard as possible for LGBTQ couples to foster, adopt, or get the necessary time off or assistance that heterosexual couples get as the norm. Conservative pundits feel it’s important to make snide remarks about figuring out how to breastfeed or hanging out at home because they want to make queer parenting seem foolish, inexplicable, and as difficult to understand as possible. Anything to “other” marginalized folks—and anything to distract from the actual, real issues at hand.
Thankfully, Buttigieg is no stranger to handling hecklers. In fact, feel free to revisit some of Buttigieg’s finer zingers on Fox News, as well as how personal he got when it came to discussing his historic nomination.
As Daily Kos covered, Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently made snide comments about Buttigieg and breastfeeding. Recently, Newsmax host Greg Kelly went down the similar route of misogyny and homophobia to smear Buttigieg, as covered by Media Matters.
In the span of roughly two minutes, Kelly described “Mayor Pete” and his husband as “happy fathers” before suggesting it’s “incredibly strange” that Buttigieg would take time off for parental leave. He added that Buttigieg took time off last year to have a “grand old time” after running for president, growing a beard, writing, and hanging “around the house.”
“That’s our time,” Kelly told viewers, as though Buttigieg and his family don’t deserve his time. “You and me.”
Somehow, Kelly’s rant went from bad to even worse. And all of this, mind you, doesn’t get into the fact that two months’ leave is really not that long at all compared to norms in other countries.
“Pete Buttigieg is a man, and so is his husband,” Kelly said. “They did not have to have these kids now. They’re not up against any biological clock. Let’s be real here. All right? This is a big job. The biggest that Pete Buttigieg has ever had. And now he decides to take the leave, have the kid. He doesn’t have to do it. But it’s bizarre how the fake news is so on his side.”
Implicit in Kelly’s rant is the idea that same-sex parents don’t deserve the same rights and assistance as opposite-sex parents. His point also ignores the reality that many heterosexual couples choose to have children for many reasons that don’t involve the “biological clock,” a vague standard that feels pulled from the 1950s more than the current day. And there are, of course, both heterosexual and queer couples who have children by fostering, adopting, or partnering with someone who already has children, for example. Basically: There are countless variables outside of the simple “biological clock.”
Based on Kelly’s rant, it’s also easy to remember that many conservatives fundamentally don’t want or support queer parents raising children. They’re happy to make it as hard as possible for LGBTQ couples to foster, adopt, or get the necessary time off or assistance that heterosexual couples get as the norm. Conservative pundits feel it’s important to make snide remarks about figuring out how to breastfeed or hanging out at home because they want to make queer parenting seem foolish, inexplicable, and as difficult to understand as possible. Anything to “other” marginalized folks—and anything to distract from the actual, real issues at hand.
Thankfully, Buttigieg is no stranger to handling hecklers. In fact, feel free to revisit some of Buttigieg’s finer zingers on Fox News, as well as how personal he got when it came to discussing his historic nomination.