The case of Pete Buttigieg

Abstract The research focuses on the construction of gay identity in political speech, with particular attention to Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay US presidential candidate. During Buttigieg’s 2020 Presidential campaign, his sexuality received significant attention and sparked controversial reactions. This study employs the combination of Corpus Linguistics (CL) and Discourse Analysis as a fruitful approach for analyzing the formation of identity through language. By combining CL with qualitative inquiries, the study highlights the benefits of triangulation and cross-fertilization of methods that are typically used in isolation. The focus corpus, utilized for identifying keywords and major thematic groups, consists of excerpts from Buttigieg’s political speeches and interviews. Furthermore, the study employs Co-cultural theory to examine the communicative strategies used by Buttigieg in his LGBTQ+-specific political discourses. Buttigieg’s strategies include Emphasizing Commonalities, Mirroring, Communicating Self, Dispelling Stereotypes, Dissociating, and Increasing Visibility, each representing different approaches to identity construction through language. In addition to shedding light on the unique aspects of gay identity construction in political discourse, this research contributes to a better understanding of the electorate’s dissatisfaction with Buttigieg’s campaign, especially among non-heteronormative individuals.