LAS VEGAS (AP) — Pete Buttigieg described his public coming out as a gay man and elected mayor in 2015 and how the exclusion he experienced made him conscious of what it means to belong and the need to overcome divisions.
The Democratic presidential candidate also called for "hopeful and audacious voices" to lead a changing country as he gave the keynote address Saturday night in Las Vegas at a gala for the LGBTQ civil rights group Human Rights Campaign.
The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is competing in a crowded field of Democratic candidates. He could become the first openly gay presidential nominee from a major political party next year.
The former Naval intelligence officer appeared at Caesars Palace after meeting earlier in the day with members of the state's Asian American Pacific Islander Democratic Caucus in Las Vegas.
