Queer Eye's Karamo Brown Says He Identifies As Gay, Not Queer

In a new interview, Karamo Brown said that with the possible exception of grooming guru Jonathan Van Ness, none of the Queer Eye cast identifies as queer.

Netflix announced in January that it would produce a “reimagined” Queer Eye. The streaming service premiered the reality series featuring five openly gay stylists on Wednesday, February 7 to rave reviews.

Speaking to entertainment journalist Marc Malkin on Facebook Live, Brown, the show's 37-year-old culture guy, said that he identifies as gay, not queer.

“I don't [describe myself as queer]. I describe myself as gay. I come from an old school where gay used to be negative,” Brown said.

“It’s not negative anymore to me. Through the years, I understand the reclaiming the power with it, but queer is more an umbrella that encompasses so many other people and, for me, I identify as a gay man.”

“I have a lot of friends who identify as queer. I don’t know if any of the guys on [Queer Eye] identify as queer. None of us identify as queer. I don’t know about Jonathan. We never asked if Jonathan identifies as queer. I know that me, Bobby and Tan identify as gay men. Antoni identifies as a gay man… I don’t know what Jonathan identifies as. I would assume gay, but I don’t know.”

(Related: Tom Daley identifies as queer, says he's 'not 100 percent gay.')