“I actually think this book ban obsession has helped make my book tour more successful.”
When author and activist Chasten Buttigieg began work on a memoir several years ago, he had no intention of one day adapting it for a young adult audience — nor could he have ever imagined the cultural atmosphere that book would be born into.
Buttigieg’s second book, I Have Something to Tell You—For Young Adults, was released last month, and it might look mildly familiar to those who read his first. A transformed version of his bestselling 2020 memoir, the book launched amid an increasingly contentious, nationwide conversation around book bans, transgender rights, and what it means to be young and queer in America today.
Talk about interesting timing.
Katie Couric Media recently spoke with Buttigieg about his career as an author, his identity as a public figure, and why he chooses to be so fiercely vulnerable in all facets of his life, even when it goes against the status quo in Washington, where he lives part-time with his husband Pete, the U.S. secretary of transportation.
Katie Couric Media: It’s rare for someone to take a published book and completely repurpose it. Why did you want to adapt your memoir for a younger audience?
Chasten Buttigieg: I first got the idea for the original book during the 2016 presidential campaign — and then Covid happened, and we went into lockdown. Suddenly I had all of this time to write. In 2020 that first book came out, and then about two years later, I began to think about adapting it into a YA book.
Going into that process, I was told not to have big expectations for [the YA version], because adaptations don’t usually go very far commercially. But I still thought it would be great to have this story on the shelves so that young queer people could see themselves reflected on the page. I also thought, ironically, that maybe it could be a useful tool for librarians and teachers.
What I absolutely did not expect was for this book to be at the center of a major political conversation in 2023 about banning queer characters and queer stories.
Speaking of those book bans, how have you navigated the press tour for this YA memoir?
I actually think this book ban obsession has helped make my book tour more successful, and it’s probably why the book’s audience keeps growing and growing. This is especially true in redder parts of the country, where young people are craving this kind of connection, community, and conversation.
These bans, these threats, they’re very real. And I like being the person who engages with them. I appreciate being able to sit in a room and rally the troops and talk about the importance of telling our stories. And the content in my book is more relevant now than ever before. The whole story is about questioning whether or not you truly belong. Whether you’ll ever find communities that allow you to be yourself.
Going on tour also allows me to talk directly to young people and hear their stories and concerns. Right now, the number one thing I hear when I’m talking to young people all over the country is, “I go to school every day understanding that today could be my last day in school, and these adults in positions of power are more preoccupied with talking about keeping one kid off the swim team or the basketball team.”
It’s extremely aggravating to them. I do wish I could have spent a little more time talking about that in the book. But of course, hindsight is 20-20.
As a public figure, you face an additional layer of pressure to behave a certain way. How do you navigate that pressure while addressing topics like queerness and sexual assault as honestly as possible?
It’s an interesting tightrope to walk because I know that if I sneeze, it becomes an article in right-wing media. But I refuse to relinquish my authenticity, even if that would make other people feel more comfortable.
Especially with the first book for adults [where I discussed sexual assault], I was told by multiple people that some of the things I was talking about were going to get me in hot water. They said you can’t talk about that in politics. It’s too personal, too raw, too taboo.
But what happens when we’re authentic and vulnerable is that other people get to see themselves reflected in those stories. And the more that we talk about these issues, the more people realize that they’re actually not alone.
So I like being vulnerable. Sometimes, of course, it’s hard. But I like being able to just cut through the noise and say, this is what young people care about.
You’ve got two books under your belt, now — so what’s next for you? Do you want to keep writing?
I’ve been working on some ideas for a children’s book, actually. I read nonstop to my kids, and there really aren’t a lot of books I come across with two dads or same-sex families. I really just want to see my family reflected on the page of a children’s book.
I don’t think the book necessarily has to be about the fact that there are two dads. I just wish there was more representation in children’s literature. But yeah, I’ve really fallen in love with writing and I never thought I would. I hope I can keep telling stories and sharing stories so that other people feel seen.
