Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness has some words for Aaron Schock.
Former GOP Congressman Aaron Schock recently came out as gay. This came after months of the former politician being sighted at gay clubs, gay resorts, and on many gay men. Because of that, many people were not as shocked as Schock may like. Of course, the situation was even worse given the fact that Shock has a political history of fighting against LGBTQ issues like overturning Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. With that in mind, reality personality Jonathan Van Ness found it hard to celebrate Schock’s announcement.
In a recent Instagram story, JVN shared his disbelief in all the conversations around Schock and said, “The amount of queens I’m seeing like Aaron Schock’s [Instagram] is such a lol.”
Van Ness then expressed his interest in seeing Aaron Schock actually contributing to the fight for LGBTQ rights and not just apologizing for his past actions against them.
“Ya’ll, this man lived in the closet while voting against LGBTQ interests for years,” Van Ness wrote. “He screams about how he was victimized as he continues not giving back to the community he legislated against. Also his apology wholly dodges any responsibility in the awful actions he [perpetrated] against our community. But yes Aaron, have fun at Coachella and glad you’ve joined the fight. I hope you actually work to undo your legacy.”
Van Ness then shared a 2015 Washington post article about interior designer Annie Brahler. Brahler designed the 40,000 Downton Abbey-inspired office that led to Schock’s Congress resignation after public scrutiny. Van Ness shared the post to highlight the belief that Shock himself was ostracized due to discrimination. As such, he hopes the former politician will help to move the community in meaningful ways.
“Aaron Schock voted against repealing don’t ask don’t tell & various hate crime bills,” Van Ness wrote. “While it should be noted I think there were homophobic forces within the GOP that led to the spending investigations that led to his resignation, he still, in fact, did a lot of dumb & stupid s*** … and really from what I can tell hasn’t made amends or helped move our community forward in meaningful ways. … I want to celebrate Aaron but I find it hard. I hope he becomes vocal about the GOP’s never-ending attacks on LGBTQ people.”
Sources: Towleroad, the Washington Post