CNN Newsroom host Jim Sciutto interviewed Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday and as he was wrapping up the interview, opened up the floor to Buttigieg to accuse Florida Republicans and their Parental Rights in Education bill of contributing to LGBTQ youth suicides.
Sciutto lobbed the softest of softballs towards the Biden cabinet official, asking Buttigieg if he agreed with his own husband's opinion on the bill: "I do want to ask you about Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill. Your husband, Chasten, is speaking out against legislation, he says in particular that it could lead to more suicides among LGBTQ youths, President Biden has slammed the bill as well. In your view, is this dangerous legislation?"
Of course, Buttigieg agreed: "Absolutely. Yeah. And the reason is that it tells youths who are different or whose families are different that there is something wrong with them out of the gate. And I do think that contributes to the shocking levels of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among LGBTQ youth."
He also worried: "Chasten, my husband, pointed out that, you know, if our kids someday, some Monday morning come into class and, and, you know, kids are sitting around, teacher’s got the morning circle talking about how everybody's weekends went and of them one says 'I had the best weekend with my dads,' is the teacher supposed to say 'no we don't talk about that here?'
The bill's section that Buttigieg alluded to reads: "A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students."
Florida seeks to let kids be kids by keeping discussions on sexuality in the appropriate age levels and believes that children should not be "learning" which of the supposed 58 genders they are. If Sciutto was a real journalist and not a liberal operative, he would have read Buttigieg that passage and pointed out that his fears are ill-founded.
Instead, Buttigieg concluded by declaring that, "at any age where it is appropriate to talk about, you know, a kid's mom and dad, it should be appropriate to talk about a kid's mom and mom or dad and dad or whatever family structures we live with. That's part of what it means to be pro-family, is to be pro-every family."
Sciutto and Buttigieg's "you either agree with me or you're responsible for suicides" argument is an attempt to push left-wing gender politics on susceptible youths, so of course they have to mispresent the bill's actual contents.
This segment was sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.
Here is a transcript of the February 9 show:
CNN CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto
2/9/2022
9:37 AM ET
JIM SCIUTTO: I do want to ask you about Florida's “Don't Say Gay” bill. Your husband, Chasten, is speaking out against legislation, he says in particular that it could lead to more suicides among LGBTQ youths, President Biden has slammed the bill as well. In your view, is this dangerous legislation?
PETE BUTTIGIEG: Absolutely. Yeah. And the reason is that it tells youths who are different or whose families are different that there is something wrong with them out of the gate. And I do think that contributes to the shocking levels of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among LGBTQ youth. You know, Chasten, my husband, pointed out that, you know, if our kids someday, some Monday morning come into class and, and, you know, kids are sitting around, teacher’s got the morning circle talking about how everybody's weekends went and of them one says “I had the best weekend with my dads,” is the teacher supposed to say “no we don't talk about that here?”
SCIUTTO: Yeah
BUTTIGIEG: If it’s, at any age where it is appropriate to talk about, you know, a kid's mom and dad, it should be appropriate to talk about a kid's mom and mom or dad and dad or whatever family structures we live with. That's part of what it means to be pro-family, is to be pro-every family.
