The question posed to Pete Buttigieg — gay, married and running for president — came from a supporter at an Iowa campaign stop: What should he tell friends who say America isn't ready to elect a gay man as president? Of the many intriguing things about Buttigieg and his candidacy for president — his Ivy League, Rhodes Scholar pedigree and his war service in
Afghanistan — a vital question overlaying the 2020 campaign is whether as a gay man his sexual orientation is a barrier to the nation's highest office.
The first answer will come in Iowa, a state where the 37-year-old South Bend, Indiana, mayor has campaigned frequently and spent heavily.