(RepublicanDaily.org) – Jonathan Van Ness, who rose to fame from the Netflix reboot of the makeover show “Queer Eye,” had a meltdown during a podcast interview with comedian and actor Dax Shepard over issues related to trans rights.
Van Ness, who identifies as nonbinary and uses the “they/them” pronouns, broke down in tears after a discussion of gender rights, trans people in sports, and “gender-affirming procedures for children. “Non-binary” is an identity used by people who claim to be neither male nor female. Van Ness said that he was “emotionally exhausted” from always having to defend the right of children to grow up in line with their desired gender, “because they just want to be included.”
Shepard’s podcast, “Armchair Expert” initially became popular – and was subsequently acquired by audio streaming giant Spotify – due to the actor’s celebrity guests and his no-nonsense but earnest interviewing style, which often touched on sensitive and vulnerable issues to both the host and his guests.
Such was the case with the interview with Van Ness, who was on the show to promote his new podcast shows, “Curious Now” and “Pretty Curious,” which are spinoffs of Van Ness’ own popular podcast, “Getting Curious.” What began as Van Ness’ and Shepard’s mutual admiration of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, quickly became a discussion that touched on issues like misinformation and transphobia, with Shepard positioning himself as a devil’s advocate to Van Ness’ beliefs and arguments that kids and teenagers should have access to gender-affirming treatments – like hormones and hormone blockers – and operations, as well as trans athletes having access to sports.
Van Ness had some salient arguments, such as pointing out the socioeconomic disparity that exists in sports that has existed far longer than any perceived disparity between trans athletes and female athletes, as well as the over conditioning of athletes – such as Michael Phelps.
Shepard questioned whether society should be elevating trans rights over women’s rights, given that women are the “ultimate marginalized class throughout history.” Shepard also put forward the idea of detransitioners, people who underwent gender-changing treatments for their “gender dysphoria” but now regret their decision. A number have even filed lawsuits against doctors and healthcare providers for agreeing to operate on them.
After more tense back and forth, the interview concluded with Shepard apologizing to Van Ness, with the latter acknowledging the apology, even joking that he and Shepard would “scissor into the sunset.”
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