Democratic South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg will be featured in the next issue of Playboy magazine, which will focus on LGBTQ+ rights.
Alex Thomas, Playboy’s Washington correspondent, announced that he was doing a profile of Buttigieg for the magazine’s summer edition. (RELATED: Mayor Pete’s Super Tuesday Advantage: Gay Men)
“Super, incredibly excited to tell you all to buy the summer copy of Playboy Magazine, which will feature my profile of Mayor Pete Buttigieg beside other incredible work and monumental figures,” Thomas tweeted.
super, incredibly excited to tell you all to buy the summer copy of Playboy Magazine, which will feature my profile of Mayor Pete Buttigieg beside other incredible work and monumental figures pic.twitter.com/XdpYcSCjgR
— Alex Thomas (@AlexThomasDC) June 11, 2019
Other big names that will be featured in Playboy’s “Gay is Good” edition include singer Maren Morris and actor Tyler Blackburn.
Buttigieg, a 37-year-old Iraq War veteran and the United States’ first openly gay major presidential candidate, has used his compelling background and youthful exuberance to emerge as a surprising front-runner for the Democratic nomination. (RELATED: Sharpton Describes Buttigieg Lunch: ‘I Was Most Impressed’)
The man affectionately known as “Mayor Pete” has placed as high as third in primary polling and become a major figure in Democratic politics. One of the pivotal moments in the early stages of Buttigieg’s campaign came when the mayor attempted to ignite a feud with Vice President Mike Pence, who formerly served as governor of Indiana.
Buttigieg attacked Pence’s Christian faith and claimed — without evidence — that the vice president had a “problem,” with him because of his sexuality. Pence has denied taking issue with Buttigieg’s sexuality, and the two men are reported to have had a cordial relationship during Pence’s tenure as governor.