Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye's
grooming guy, said in a recent interview that he's troubled by the
way Republicans use fear in advertising.
The Netflix hit reality show is filming
its third season in Kansas City.
Speaking with The Advocate, Van
Ness said that the GOP's tactics are “really troubling.”
“Yeah, living in Kansas City, it's
been really crazy watching the political advertising,” Van
Ness said. “The way that Republicans advertise is so
fear-based, and they demonize immigrants so wholeheartedly. It's also
so misogynistic, especially in Missouri, the way they talk about
Claire McCaskill. It's really troubling the way they use fear in
these advertisements to demonize people.”
“I definitely noticed as a gay man
from rural America, already being in an oppressed position, I've
needed to be the bigger person twice. I also think, with 'when they
go low, we go high,' we need to get kind of nasty and a little bit
more real. If 20 percent of people who vote are Tea Party people who
really don't want to compromise or see equal rights … we have to
speak to the people who could possibly swing [the vote].”
Van Ness added that reflecting on the
progress of the LGBT rights movement gives him hope.
“As a little boy in the middle of
America, growing up in the age of 'don't ask, don't tell' and the
Defense of Marriage Act, I never in a million years would have
thought that I would have lived in a United States where I would get
to be married. I think we've seen times where it's been really bad,
[but] there are a lot of really good people working really hard right
now. That's what's keeping me going,” Van Ness said.