In a world where Sunday school often comes with side-eye and queerness is too often labeled a theological asterisk, Pete Buttigieg and Father James Martin are, quite frankly, doing the Lord’s work—with grace, nuance, and a bit of flair.
This week, the former Transportation Secretary and the ever-controversial Jesuit priest Father James Martin teamed up on a podcast that was part theology, part therapy, and wholly radical in its gentle decency. The topic? Faith, fatherhood, and the exquisite awkwardness of being a queer person trying to love both God and your husband.
Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, rose to national attention during his 2020 presidential run as the first openly gay major party candidate. He came out publicly in 2015 while still in office, and married his husband, Chasten, in 2018. These days, he’s not just a political trailblazer—he’s a dad, a Christian, and unapologetically gay.
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In a moment that might go down in LGBTQ+ Christian history, Father Martin described Buttigieg’s gay parenting as “beautiful”, drawing a bold theological line straight to the Holy Trinity itself. Yes, the same Trinity often invoked in stained glass and whispered Latin. Not your average Tuesday chat.
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The conversation unfolded over an hour-long dive into Buttigieg’s spiritual life, his coming out, and what it means to be both a gay man and a dad in a country still learning how to spell “Episcopalian,” let alone “inclusive.”
“As a friend of mine put it when he was going through this process, there’s two things I’m really sure about: one is that God loves me, and another is that I’m gay,” Buttigieg said, with the disarming calm of a man who’s already weathered a Fox News chyron.
That unapologetic clarity isn’t just refreshing—it’s vital. Buttigieg went on to say, “There are things you can just put … into perspective when you have put yourself in a position of being ready to accept God’s love and the unconditional nature and the infinite nature of God’s love that is taught in the best of the Christian tradition.”
It’s the kind of quote that belongs on an Instagram tile and a theology syllabus.
Fatherhood, Buttigieg added, has brought him into closer alignment with the Divine. When he and his husband Chasten adopted fraternal twins in 2021, the internet, predictably, had Opinions. But for Buttigieg, the experience opened a window into the emotional reality of God’s love.
“Maybe this is just the way the world, but now I’m in my 40s, and I’m a father, and I’m starting to better align, maybe, with the style that is presented, the style of love and the style of concern that we associate with God the Father,” he said.
To which Father Martin responded simply and without irony: “That’s beautiful.”
He elaborated that Buttigieg had found “an entree into the Trinity, into that relational aspect of the Trinity.” Try explaining that to the guy protesting outside a drag story hour.
Of course, not everyone is lighting a candle in Buttigieg’s honor. His brother-in-law, Rhyan Glezman, an Evangelical pastor in Michigan, once accused him of “weaponizing” the Bible and likened him to “a modern-day Pharisee.” Which, to be honest, just sounds like a character from The Chosen with really good hair.
Glezman took particular issue with Buttigieg’s defense of abortion rights during his 2019 presidential run, specifically when Pete invoked the biblical idea that “life begins with breath.”
So yes, there’s family drama. Yes, the culture wars rage on. And yes, Father Martin has his own critics. In 2021, he was criticized for reposting a tweet that referred to God as “Her” and for suggesting that using female imagery for the Divine is “theologically correct.” (Let the record show: God doesn’t have a driver’s license gender marker.)
Still, none of that invalidates the tender, revolutionary idea that gay love and gay parenting aren’t just tolerated—they can be holy.
In a moment where LGBTQ+ people are still fighting for safety, dignity, and spiritual affirmation, this conversation didn’t just move the needle—it rewired the whole compass. Fatherhood, queerness, and God don’t need to be in opposition. In fact, they might just be getting along beautifully.
And if the Trinity’s got room for all that love?
So should we.
Watch the full podcast here.