Oct 8
'Queer Eye' Star Jonathan Van Ness Bites Back after Trump Attack Ad
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Donald Trump came for nonbinary people - and "Queer Eye" star Jonathan Van Ness, who was featured in an attack ad targeting Kamala Harris and "they/them" pronouns, spoke up in response.
The "'Queer Eye' co-host... had the 'surreal' experience of seeing themself in a TV spot attacking Kamala Harris," The Daily Beast reported, "and they're pretty 'upset' about it."
Taking to Instagram, JVN posted a video clip of themself with a superimposed essay that read Trump for filth. "History shows us that blaming specific groups of people and attempting to get a majority of society to view them as threats rather than humans is what can come just before an ultra conservative and or religious government... tak[es] over their society," the post warned.
"Don't think that these white nationalist christian [politicians] aren't a threat to you," JVN's post urged, "& vote like it."
The "Queer Eye" cast member further outlined their point in a caption accompanying the post, writing, "As a non binary person whenever I'm presented with a binary choice I'm immediately leery. 💁🏻😂"
"But in this election its really about moving forward in all the messy imperfection and trying to trust each other again, or its about going backwards to a time where women needed their husband or father's permission to open a checking account and where segregation was also a matter of 'states rights' mixed in with an authoritarian dictator who has absolute immunity from the Supreme court."
JVN added: "Please choose hope over fear. Faith over blame. Love y'all 🫶".
The attack ad - which Van Ness called "kind of iconic, but mostly very unsettling" - shows the celebrity hairstylist "in a clip from the PAC ad where they're chatting with VP Harris alongside another clip of Harris talking with drag queen Pattie Gonia," The Daily Beast detailed.
"As the clips play, the narrator says, 'Crazy liberal Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.'"
But LGBTQ+ advocates warn that a second Trump term would likely be catastrophic for transgender Americans, queer families, and equality overall. Project 2025 - a plan of action for radically overhauling the federal government, attacking public institutions, and stripping away the rights of various demographics - has become Exhibit A for those issuing such warnings.
"Project 2025 is a presidential transition plan and a government in waiting, spearheaded and organized by the far-right the Heritage Foundation, and with 100 coalition partner organizations, many of which are well-known for pushing anti-LGBTQ policy, legal efforts, and harmful rhetoric, accompanied by Christian nationalism," a profile on the plan by GLAAD says.
Election Day will be Nov. 5 this year, though early voting has already begun in some states. For information on voting in all 50 states, see this report from NBC News.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
