During a recent podcast appearance, Jonathan Van Ness became overcome with emotion following a tense conversation with Dax Shepard about trans rights.
Van Ness, a non-binary star who identifies as he/she/hey, shot to fame on Netflix show Queer Eye, with the stylist having since released their own haircare line called JVN.
With him being a high profile name, Van Ness has often been spotted publicly campaigning for transgender rights - even joining Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and other LGBTQ+ campaigners at Capitol Hill back in 2019 for Fall Lobby Day.
Now, Van Ness is continuing their campaigning further by discussing trans rights at length with Employee of the Month star Shepard and his Armchair Expert podcast co-host, Monica Padman.
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One topic in particular that the trio covered was trans people in sports, as well as children and teenagers taking puberty blockers and hormones in a bid to begin their transitions.
At once stage, Van Ness even broke down in tears as they discussed how 'tired' they were of trying to get young trans people to feel included.
But earlier on in the conversation, Shepard - who shares two daughters with wife and fellow actor Kristen Bell - pointed out that some people question that young people may change their mind about wanting to transition.
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"Some people are very uncomfortable about teenagers transitioning,” he shared.
“How do we know that the person’s not gonna change their mind? Then there’s another counterargument. If they kill themselves, then that’s really f**king permanent."
Going on to compare their chat to having a conversation with his dad, Van Ness responded: "There’s just so many things that are so much more important and we’re over here being like, ‘Well, there’s legitimate concerns [about transgender athletes].
"All I’m saying is what we know about misinformation and disinformation is when you have an outsized reaction to something, there’s a good chance that you’re being exposed to misinformation and disinformation.
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"And a lot of the rhetoric around the anti-trans backlash does have a lot of misinformation and disinformation in it.”
The stylist and Queer Eye star later cried as they admitted that they're 'so tired of having to fight for little kids'.
"I wish that people were as passionate about little kids being able to be included or grow up as they were about fictitious women’s fairness in sports. I have to tell you I am very tired," Van Ness added.
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Shepard went on to apologize to him for his remarks that evidently stirred a lot of emotion in Van Ness, and praised him for his campaigning.
"I adore you, I think you're hysterical and talented and I love that you're an activist," Shepard said.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Trans Lifeline on (877) 565-8860 or get in touch via https://translifeline.org/contact/
Topics: Celebrity, Transgender, LGBTQ
Niamh Shackleton