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Nine-Year-Old Boy Asks Buttigieg Advice on Coming Out as Gay

CriticalThought said:
You seem to be implying those things are somehow related. Please explain.




He is a prepubescent child. I did not think that way when I was his age. I don't think I even knew what gay was at that age and I had no frame of reference. There certainly were no same sex couples around when I was a kid. At least they were not open about it.
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You've twice commented on the sexual nature of coming out of the closet and I'm saying that there's nothing wrong with a nine year old coming out. You yourself say you were attracted to boys by that age and that you didn't have sex with them as a reaction.
 
I saw this clip earlier today, and cringed.

Pete's answer should have been along the lines of waiting until he was older. Nine is too young for sex, so how can he be advised on sexual identity. I think Pete blew it by encouraging him, and then by sending him to talk to his husband. The kid was too young, and this whole thing was too damn creepy IMO.
 
Chomsky said:
I saw this clip earlier today, and cringed.

Pete's answer should have been along the lines of waiting until he was older. Nine is too young for sex, so how can he be advised on sexual identity. I think Pete blew it by encouraging him, and then by sending him to talk to his husband. The kid was too young, and this whole thing was too damn creepy IMO.
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Hmm, I guess I should watch the video clip. I've only read the transcript and found nothing even remotely offensive about the exchange.
 
Diesel said:
Hmm, I guess I should watch the video clip. I've only read the transcript and found nothing even remotely offensive about the exchange.
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I suppose that depends on one's perspective. I don't see young children as being capable of fully understanding or forming their sexual identity. No one would give a nine year old hetero kid sexual advice, so why do we believe you should give sexual advice to a nine year old gay kid? The advice should be the same - "You're too young to be involved or understand this things".
 
CriticalThought said:
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?



Am I wrong to find this disturbing? I am gay and I was in my twenties before I had that figured out. I even dated girls in college. How is it a prepubescent child would have any notion of their sexual orientation? Most kids this age are more interested in Roblox and Fortnite than sexual preferences. I know this was probably just a political stunt but it seems creepy to me. It certainly won't help with the classic image that gays are all secret pedophiles who want to lower the age of consent so they can molest young boys.
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Yes, the desire of the media in this country (and apparently a plausible Presidential candidate) to sexualize young children is certainly disturbing. You're entirely right to find it so.
 
roguenuke said:
I dont find it hard to believe that a 9 year old may very well know they are gay. Children start mimicking relationships as young as 5, finding others attractive even at those young ages, without any thoughts about sex at all. It is adults who link sexuality to sexual activity. My son had a girl friend in 2nd/3rd grade. I had a boyfriend in 1st grade and crushes on two boys in 4th grade (8/9 years old). If heterosexual children can know who they are attracted to at those young ages, why is it so hard to believe that homosexual children can too?
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Yup, I had a crush on a different girl every year from about age 7 or 8 right till the end of high school. Kids know who they're attracted to.

Now making a political grandstanding issue out of it though? I'd blame the parents for that.
 
CriticalThought said:
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?



Am I wrong to find this disturbing? I am gay and I was in my twenties before I had that figured out. I even dated girls in college. How is it a prepubescent child would have any notion of their sexual orientation? Most kids this age are more interested in Roblox and Fortnite than sexual preferences. I know this was probably just a political stunt but it seems creepy to me. It certainly won't help with the classic image that gays are all secret pedophiles who want to lower the age of consent so they can molest young boys.
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If I didn't know it was a staged question, sure. But it's a staged question. There likely is no 9-year-old boy.
 
Jesus Christ, the ignorance in this thread is astounding. By 9, kids will masturbate, model adult relationships with their peers, and have an awareness of gender and sexual identity. Play Fortnight with a bunch of 9 year old boys, and you'll hear the word 'faggot' thrown around quite a lot. 9 year old girls will imagine weddings, and identify with the desire to be a mother. Kids aren't adrogynous and asexual until they hit puberty, and you'd have to be a moron to think they are.
 
CriticalThought said:
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?



Am I wrong to find this disturbing? I am gay and I was in my twenties before I had that figured out. I even dated girls in college. How is it a prepubescent child would have any notion of their sexual orientation? Most kids this age are more interested in Roblox and Fortnite than sexual preferences. I know this was probably just a political stunt but it seems creepy to me. It certainly won't help with the classic image that gays are all secret pedophiles who want to lower the age of consent so they can molest young boys.
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I knew I was straight (when I discovered a certain magazine at a relative's house) and attracted to women since about 6 or so (however, I couldn't identify or contextualize those feelings until around 10 or so). It happens at different ages for different people.

The issue for me is that at the age of 9, clearly he should defer to the parents.
 
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CriticalThought said:
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?



Am I wrong to find this disturbing? I am gay and I was in my twenties before I had that figured out. I even dated girls in college. How is it a prepubescent child would have any notion of their sexual orientation? Most kids this age are more interested in Roblox and Fortnite than sexual preferences. I know this was probably just a political stunt but it seems creepy to me. It certainly won't help with the classic image that gays are all secret pedophiles who want to lower the age of consent so they can molest young boys.
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I suspect a publicity stunt!
 
spud_meister said:
Jesus Christ, the ignorance in this thread is astounding. By 9, kids will masturbate, model adult relationships with their peers, and have an awareness of gender and sexual identity. Play Fortnight with a bunch of 9 year old boys, and you'll hear the word 'faggot' thrown around quite a lot. 9 year old girls will imagine weddings, and identify with the desire to be a mother. Kids aren't adrogynous and asexual until they hit puberty, and you'd have to be a moron to think they are.
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You are absolutely right!

But it might have been a publicity stunt all the same.
 
Chomsky said:
I suppose that depends on one's perspective. I don't see young children as being capable of fully understanding or forming their sexual identity. No one would give a nine year old hetero kid sexual advice, so why do we believe you should give sexual advice to a nine year old gay kid? The advice should be the same - "You're too young to be involved or understand this things".
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What do you think was sexual about Buttigieg's response to the boy? Simply saying the word gay around a nine year old shouldn't offend anyone. By that age, two of my youngest uncles were already taking me places on weekends to "cruise for chicks". I'm not damaged by it nor do I think it was any better or worse than a boy asking a question and a candidate responding to it. I find that telling a child, "You're too young," to do just about anything usually blows up in the face of the person who says it, but I respect your position on this, even though I disagree with it.
 
This story screams about a stage mom wanting to get her kid in the spotlight.
 
CriticalThought said:
Bloomberg - Are you a robot?



Am I wrong to find this disturbing? I am gay and I was in my twenties before I had that figured out. I even dated girls in college. How is it a prepubescent child would have any notion of their sexual orientation? Most kids this age are more interested in Roblox and Fortnite than sexual preferences. I know this was probably just a political stunt but it seems creepy to me. It certainly won't help with the classic image that gays are all secret pedophiles who want to lower the age of consent so they can molest young boys.
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Some people realize it (or have some concept of "realization") at that age. It happens all the time; it's not exactly a new thing.

I have no idea where you grabbed that pedophile stuff from.
 
Josie said:
This story screams about a stage mom wanting to get her kid in the spotlight.
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Was the Pete campaign looking for her, or did she approach them?

I think kids nowadays are much more aware and open. Might be nothing more to this.
 
TheGoverness said:
Some people realize it (or have some concept of "realization") at that age. It happens all the time; it's not exactly a new thing.

I have no idea where you grabbed that pedophile stuff from.
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Pssh, what do you know about coming out?
 
tacomancer said:
I knew I was straight (when I discovered a certain magazine at a relative's house) and attracted to women since about 6 or so (however, I couldn't identify or contextualize those feelings until around 10 or so). It happens at different ages for different people.

The issue for me is that at the age of 9, clearly he should defer to the parents.
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It is different for everyone, some people come to a concept of "realization" early on, while not truly understanding it. Middle school age was my "Oh crap I like girls" moment. Before that, I didn't conceptualize it fully or put a nametag on it.
 
I knew that I liked girls when I was four. I suspect that the discovery of sexual orientation varies from person to person.
 
Wayne Jr said:
If I didn't know it was a staged question, sure. But it's a staged question. There likely is no 9-year-old boy.
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Agreed.... this was not a happenstance question. Where were the kid parents? Release forms signed?
 
Helix said:
I knew that I liked girls when I was four. I suspect that the discovery of sexual orientation varies from person to person.
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and at some age they all had cooties, right? It has been a while, could have been the boys.
 
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