Democratic 2020 presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg and his husband have been dubbed the “First Family” on the cover of TIME Magazine.

On Thursday, the publication tweeted an image of the cover which sees Mr Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, standing outside a quintessentially white picket-fenced home, wearing co-coordinating blue shirts and trousers.

The magazine’s cover line reads: “The unlikely, untested and unprecedented campaign of Mayor Pete Buttigieg.”

The pair, who married in June 2018, are the first same-sex couple to pose together on the cover of the magazine since an edition of the publication was dedicated to equal marriage in 2013.

While Mr Buttigieg's run for the presidency divides the public, several Twitter users have praised the publication’s cover.

Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Show all 35 1 /35 Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants take part in the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taipei, Taiwan, 27 October 2018. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Thousands of people attended the march in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants walk in the parade. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The march took place ahead of a landmark vote next month on LGBT+ rights in Taiwan. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan On May 24 2017, the Constitutional Court in Taiwan ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in the state. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan After making its ruling on same-sex marriage in May last year, the court stated that its decision must be implemented in two years. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan On November 24, a public vote will be held in Taiwan on same-sex marriage. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A participant of the march poses next to a wedding studio. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A young woman from Chongqing in mainland China holds a fan reading "free writers" before the start of the march. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants with Pikachu-styled costumes pose as they gather at the square outside the presidential office for the start of the march. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Thousands took part in the parade in support of same-sex marriage. REUTERS Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants in the square outside the presidential office before the start of the parade. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A couple take part in the march with their baby. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Members of Tokyo Rainbow Pride walk in the parade. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The parade was awash with rainbow-coloured paraphernalia. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A participant of the march poses with a fan. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A participant from Japan holds a banner before the start of the march. AFP/Getty Images Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Young women display rainbow flags. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A person taking part in the march waves a rainbow flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A man, decorated with balloons and a rainbow flag, takes part in the celebrations. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan An American man and his Japanese partner, both wearing headbands saying 'Japan' in Japanese, kiss each other during the march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Thousands of people attended the annual march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Taiwan gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei attends the march. Chi became the first person in Taiwan to come out as gay on national television in 1986. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants take part in the march, organised by Taiwan LGBT Pride. AP Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants hold up a large rainbow flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan People walking in the parade. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A person stands in front of a rainbow-coloured flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A Japanese couple hold a sign saying 'You Are My Safe Harbour' in Chinese. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A man, decorated with balloons and rainbow flags, takes part in the march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The first Taiwan Pride march was held in 2003. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Participants display a huge rainbow flag during the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan Two men take a selfie in front of a rainbow flag. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan A man waves a rainbow flag during the march. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The annual Taipei Gay Pride March is the largest in East Asia. EPA Best pictures from the 2018 Taipei Gay Pride March in Taiwan The Rainbow City Symphonic Band performs during the march. EPA

“If you only knew what this means to so many... And what it would have meant to 12 year old me,” wrote one user.

Another added: “Inspiring! Pete Buttigieg’s candidacy IS progress [sic]!”

“This is amazing,” added another.

The Time magazine article explores Mr Buttigieg’s rise to fame and his relationship with Chasten, recounting how they met on an online dating app while the politician was serving as mayor, and his subsequent decision to come out while in office.

Speaking to Time, Mr Buttigieg says that he often heard homophobic comments from fellow officers while serving in the armed forces, long before he opened up about his sexuality in 2015.

However, he adds that many of his former colleagues have expressed their support since announcing his run for Office.

“I bet some of them still go back and tell gay jokes because that’s their habit, you know? Bad habits and bad instincts is not the same as people being bad people," he says.

Mr Buttigieg continues, explaining that he is a great believer in the “power of redemption and forgiveness” after seeing “once-disapproving parents dance at their gay son’s wedding and homophobic military officers take back their words”.

“We’ve got to get away from this kill-switch mentality that we see on Twitter,” he notes.

“This idea that we just sort people into baskets of good and evil ignores the central fact of human existence, which is that each of us is a basket of good and evil.

“The job of politics is to summon the good and beat back the evil.”

Chasten Glezman (L), and Mayor Peter Buttigieg at the 2017 GLSEN Respect Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on October 20, 2017 in Los Angeles, California (Getty Images)

Late in the interview, his husband opens up about becoming homeless after coming out to his parents.

“Being gay was not culturally acceptable where I grew up, mostly for a lack of understanding, and so my family and I were just at a crossroads, and we didn’t really know how to talk to one another,” the 29-year-old comments.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana officially launched his 2020 presidential campaign in April in the hope to become the youngest-ever and first openly gay commander in chief.

Announcing his run for office in Indiana, he told the crowd in attendance: "My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete. I am a proud son of South Bend, Indiana. And I am running for president of the United States.

"I recognise the audacity of doing this as a Midwestern millennial mayor. More than a little bold — at age 37— to seek the highest office in the land."

In April, Mr Buttigieg shared his decision to not speak openly about his sexuality until the age of 33.

“It took me plenty of time to come out to myself,” Mr Buttigieg told TV host Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show.

“I did not, the way you did or my husband did, figure out at such an early age. I probably should have. There were certainly plenty of indications by the time I was 15 or so that I could point back [and say] ‘yeah, this kid’s gay.’

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg kisses his husband Chasten Glezman announcing that he will be seeking the Democratic nomination for president during a rally in the old Studebaker car factory on April 14, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana (Getty Images)

“I guess I just really needed to not be. There’s this war that breaks out inside a lot of people when they realise that they might be something they’re afraid of. It took me a very long time to resolve that.”

On Thursday, The Washington Post published a profile piece of Mr Buttigieg in which he opened up about the criticism the couple received after kissing at his husband’s campaign launch in April.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

“[It was] the level of intimacy we were comfortable with in that moment,” Mr Buttigieg explained.

“I’m not surrounded by people telling me not to be myself, and if I were, I’d ask them to find a different project to work on.”