Pete Buttigieg Posts Sweet Valentine's Day Message to Husband Chasten

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation is showing some love.

Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation secretary of the United States of America, took to social media to celebrate Valentine's Day. In the post, he uploaded a new photo of himself with his husband, Chasten.

"Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life!' he wrote. "I'm even more thankful for Chasten now that our love is not just an incredible gift between us but the foundation of a family. Here's hoping our hearts continue to grow with every step we take together."

Chasten, a former drama teacher, and Pete first met on the dating app Hinge in 2015. Pete told The Advocate's LGBTQ&A podcast in 2019 that he thought he started the conversation but didn't remember.

"He was pretty witty," Chasten recalled. "We were talking about Game of Thrones. ... I was laid up and recovering from an injury, and so I had a lot of time just hanging out on my phone, and I could just tell by the chatting that he was somebody special and that I wanted to meet him."

Chasten later revealed that the pair went to dinner for their first date, which was originally opposed to be coffee. He was living in Chicago at the time and commuting to South Bend, Ind., to see Pete.

In a story he has referred to often since being nominated for Transportation secretary, Pete proposed to Chasten at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2017. The exact gate happened to be where Chasten was when the pair initially started chatting on Hinge two years prior.

In late 2021, Pete and Chasten expanded their family with the birth of two children. The birth of the children, Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg, was first announced in September.