SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) _ South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has come out as gay in a newly published essay.
 
The first-term Democratic mayor writes in an essay published Tuesday in the South Bend Tribune (http://bit.ly/1dHOJza ) that he was well into adulthood “before I was prepared to acknowledge the simple fact that I am gay.''
 
The 33-year-old says it took him “years of struggle and growth'' to recognize his sexuality was “just a fact of life, like having brown hair, and part of who I am.''
 
Buttigieg is seeking re-election this year. The Navy reservist says his sexuality “makes me no better or worse at handling a spreadsheet, a rifle, a committee meeting, or a hiring decision.''