Queer Eye's grooming guy
Jonathan Van Ness has described criticism that he's “too much” as
homophobia.
Swishing
around in delicate clothes and dropping a casual “yaaass queen”
in conversation, Van Ness nearly single-handedly puts the queer in
Queer Eye.
“It
is [homophobia]. I’ve gotten that response ever since I started
doing Gay of Thrones,”
Van Ness told Mic,
referring to his cult hit video series in which he styles hair while
fabulously dishing on the latest Game of Thrones
episode.
“If I’ve ever
had any criticism in general, it was always along the lines of those
internalized homophobia sorts of things.”
Van Ness added that he mostly ignores
such remarks.
“Especially for people that are more
effusive and have personalities more like mine, being more
selectively permeable to what people say and think is really
important. Like, not taking on what people say about you for your
well-being and your literal survival. That’s how I’ve gotten this
far,” Van
Ness said.
“When people do say those things,
when they say that I’m homo-normative, or that I’m just a
stereotype, or that I’m ‘too much’ or whatever – people can
think whatever they want to think all day long, and if I focused on
it, I wouldn’t be able to be who I am. It’s just not my focus and
it’s not my battle to pick up, and I choose not to,” he added.