Let’s thank Gay Twitter for Pete Buttigieg’s new beard
Pete Buttigieg may be out of the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary, but the Indiana mayor appears to still care about the will of the people. Mayor Pete did an Instagram Live chat Wednesday sporting a new bearded look. Now, this could just be his quarantine beard, or it could be the result of a months-long campaign by Gay Twitter to get the veteran to add some stubble to his baby face.
This whole thing apparently started in late February when director Jim Fall—whose filmography ranges from 1999's little gay indie rom-com that could, Trick, to 2003's Disney-friendly The Lizzie McGuire Movie—used FaceApp to add a beard to photos of Buttigieg and posted them on Facebook.
From there, Gay Twitter got a hold of them and it kinda spiraled until #BeardedButtigieg was trending.
There was even a change.org petition started. “We find that a beard adds immense wisdom, manliness, and warmth to your persona. This look would help you become the truly formidable leader we need to win the presidency and heal the United States of America,” reads the petitioner’s open letter to Buttigieg. Good luck, we believe in you. P.S. Please don’t go for the mustache look…”
Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten, approved of the photoshop jobs—though he stopped short of mandating the new look in person.
The campaign for the beard died down alongside Buttigieg’s presidential campaign, but hope for change was renewed on Mar. 18 when Chasten posted shots of his husband sporting a little stubble.
Pink News even found a subreddit devoted to scruffing up Baby-Faced Buttigieg, which went crazy about the possibility of the stubble growing grassroots-style into a full-fledged beard.
And then, today, Bearded Buttigieg took the stage—or at least social—when Mayor Pete did an Instagram Live, hosting a live coronavirus Q and A with Dr. Dara Krass, with a jawline full of scruff.
Of course, it’s not just Gay Twitter that was excited.
But a win for #BeardedButtigieg is just the beginning of the movement as Twitter now calls for beards on Chasten and even Bernie Sanders.