Pete Buttigieg and his kids subject to CPS, police investigation after false report; NPR, June 26, 2026

 Elena Moore, NPR; Pete Buttigieg and his kids subject to CPS, police investigation after false report

"Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he and his children were the subject of an investigation by Child Protective Services following an anonymous report that was later determined to be false.

Buttigieg, who lives with his husband and their twin four-year-old children in Traverse City, Michigan detailed the experience in a Substack post on Friday, saying that a police officer and CPS worker had come to his home and notified him of an anonymous report that alleged his children were at risk...

When asked for comment, the Michigan State Police told NPR they had received an anonymous report this week that state police and CPS responded to and "determined the report was false."...

The Michigan State Police have not shared any additional information on a potential motive for the false report against Buttigieg and his family. But in his statement Friday, Buttigieg noted the incident had taken place during Pride Month, meant to celebrate LGBTQ+ people.

"It's not lost on me that this happened soon after we shared photos of our family on social media for Father's Day," Buttigieg said in his statement. "Or that this occurred during a month meant to make families like ours feel welcome and safe."

News of the incident prompted bipartisan support for Buttigieg, including from Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wisc., who replied to the Michigan Democrat's post on X saying, "this has happened to our family and I agree, this is horrible."

What happened to mercy?; The Washington Post, November 13, 2025

 Thomas Banchoff , The Washington Post; What happened to mercy?

"Decades ago, Pope John Paul II made a plea for mercy. His 1980 encyclical “Dives in Misericordia” (“Rich in Mercy”) emphasized God’s forgiving love toward humanity and decried a widespread tendency to “remove from the human heart the very idea of mercy.” Instead of mercy, John Paul saw a rise in “spite, hatred and even cruelty.”

Mercy is painfully scarce in our politics today. When the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, appealed to President Donald Trump from the pulpit in January to show mercy toward the vulnerable, the president bristled and demanded an apology. In the months since, his administration’s policies have been rife with cruelty, from eliminating life-giving aid programs abroad to threatening to withhold food assistance for more than 40 million Americans."

Obama Responds To Charlottesville Violence With A Quote From Nelson Mandela; Huff Post, August 12, 2017

Paige Lavender, Huff Post; Obama Responds To Charlottesville Violence With A Quote From Nelson Mandela

"Former President Barack Obama tweeted a quote from former South African President Nelson Mandela Saturday in an apparent response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia...

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite,” Obama tweeted.

The quote is from Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Obama’s series of tweets also featured a photo of him greeting children at a day care facility in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2011."

Frank Ocean breaks silence with blog on Orlando: 'Many wish we didn’t exist'; Guardian, 6/21/16

Amanda Holpuch, Guardian; Frank Ocean breaks silence with blog on Orlando: 'Many wish we didn’t exist' :

"Frank Ocean has mourned hateful acts towards the LGBT community in an emotional blogpost responding to the Orlando shooting, writing: “Many hate us and wish we didn’t exist.”...

“Many don’t see anything wrong with passing down the same old values that send thousands of kids into suicidal depression each year,” Ocean said. “So we say pride and we express love for who and what we are. Because who else will in earnest?”...

Ocean said: “I daydream on the idea that maybe all this barbarism and all these transgressions against ourselves is an equal and opposite reaction to something better happening in this world, some great swelling wave of openness and wakefulness out here.”"

Prince William Appears on the Cover of Attitude, a Gay Magazine; New York Times, 6/15/16

Katie Williams, New York Times; Prince William Appears on the Cover of Attitude, a Gay Magazine:

"After meeting with a group of gay people who said they had been bullied, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, appeared on the cover of Attitude, a gay magazine, and urged young people to report instances of abuse to an adult.

“No one should be bullied for their sexuality or any other reason, and no one should have to put up with the kind of hate that these young people have endured in their lives,” Prince William said in an accompanying statement. “You should be proud of the person you are, and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

The cover was planned weeks before a shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., killed 49 people, but the magazine said in a statement that the type of hatred exhibited by the gunman, Omar Mateen, begins at an early age.

“Such violence does not exist in a vacuum but snowballs from intolerance and bullying that begins in classrooms, too often comes from politicians, religious leaders and is often not treated with respect by the media,” the statement read.

For Prince William, the decision to meet with members of the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community appears to be a further venture into gay rights issues and an extension of a broader effort to combat bullying."

Hate is Nothing New, But Our Response Should Be; Huffington Post, 12/11/15

Judy Chu, Huffington Post; Hate is Nothing New, But Our Response Should Be:

"The proper response to an attack is unity. We are stronger when we stand together. Others want us to forget that and turn a suspicious eye on those around us, dividing Americans along faith lines. This is wrong for our country and for our safety.

We need to fight against the fear and anger directed at Muslims and others. We need to resist the dangerous prejudices of our past that gave us the Jim Crow laws, the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese incarceration during World War II, and jobs offered with the caveat that Irish, Italians, or Jews need not apply.

Anything else is reckless endangerment."

[Podcast] Looking Back At The 'Tremendous Hate' Of Bullies; NPR's StoryCorps, 1/7/11

[Podcast] NPR's StoryCorps; Looking Back At The 'Tremendous Hate' Of Bullies:

"Recent stories about bullying — and the people who have spoken out publicly against it — inspired Rob Littlefield to tell his own story of abuse, and how it affected his family."