Bearded pics of openly gay White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg hit the internet on Thursday and immediately went viral along with the hashtags #Bearded Buttigieg and #DaddyPete.
A trio of photos was shared by longtime New York City gay blogger kenneth-in-the-212 with the headline “Mayor Woof for President.” Kenneth added the caption, “I’ll bet the gays wouldn’t be complaining about this candidate.”
Kenneth was referencing that, even though Buttigieg is the first openly gay viable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, he hasn’t been universally embraced by the entire LGBTQ community.
Kenneth revealed they were the creative genius of Jim Fall, film director best known for the classic gay movie romp Trick and the upcoming Trick 2.
Fall told The Advocate he was inspired to beard-up Buttigieg after being “impressed with [Buttigieg’s] ability to stay cool and smart” during Wednesday night’s “fiery debate in Las Vegas.”
After coming across a pic of Buttigieg with a mustache Thursday morning, Fall decided to get creative with FaceApp on his own with the former South Bend mayor’s pics. “And damn, he looks good with a full-on beard!” he told The Advocate.
Falls says he doesn’t have a favorite in the Democratic primary race just yet, although he admits “both Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren have stayed at the top of my list.”
There was no FaceApp time for Warren though. “Elizabeth doesn’t look so good in a beard or mustache, so I didn’t post those,” Fall added. Fall does hope, though, that perhaps the bearded images might help some folks take fresh look at the 38-year-old candidate.
“It’s like, dang, he’s smart and sexy,” says Fall. “That’s an intoxicating combination.”
“It’s amazing to me that we are living in a time where an out gay married man is a serious contender for the presidency,” explained Fall. “No matter what you feel about his specific politics, the LGBTQ community should be celebrating. I see so many gay men on social media knocking him down, and it’s disheartening.”
“You don’t have to love him or even support him, but don’t disrespect him,” added the director. “Don’t eat your own.”
I heard #BeardedButtigieg was a thing. I’m on #TeamBeard pic.twitter.com/aDVJOQR62H
— Garret Brubaker (@ItsGarret) February 21, 2020
I photoshopped Tom Selleck's mustache onto Buttigieg during the commercial break. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/QRRXVGPIQo
— Kris (@Articulate_indy) February 20, 2020
i think we are once again living with history before our very eyes and it’s important that we embrace the importance of this moment. From Stonewall to vietnam, From suffragettes of england to get the vote for women and the aristocrats of london that marched to end slavery to now. All these things and the events of this very moment must be shared and discussed because when you open your mind to other points of view we have a chance to make the world a better place for all and not just for some.