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Homophobes Are Real Mad About Jonathan Van Ness' Uber Eats Ad

Homophobes Are Real Mad About Jonathan Van Ness' Uber Eats Ad

Homophobes Are Real Mad About Jonathan Van Ness' Uber Eats Ad

Anti-LGBTQ+ group One Million Moms waged a bigoted attack on the Queer Eye star's nonbinary identity.

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One Million Moms is evidently no fan of Queer Eye.

The arm of the Family Research Council, classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, attacked Jonathan Van Ness and Uber Eats for featuring the reality star in TV commercials.

In a new petition slamming the food-delivery app service, One Million Moms mocked Van Ness's nonbinary identity — it put quotation marks around "nonbinary" — and called him a "cross-dresser" who is "pushing the LGBTQ agenda on families."

"Casting a cross-dresser in its ads screams liberal agenda and turns off potential Uber Eats customers," the group wrote, adding, "Instead of making audiences lose their appetite by glamorizing a LGBTQ lifestyle, Uber Eats should focus on what it does and remain neutral on controversial issues."

One Million Moms took particular issue with Van Ness wearing a leotard, which in the “Tonight I’ll Be Eating” ad is borrowed from Olympian Simone Biles; the pair perform gymnastics moves together while ordering food. "For anyone curious or struggling with his or her sexual identity, watching someone prance around in the opposite sex’s clothing is not the answer," the group said.

Van Ness came out as nonbinary, with a preference for he/him pronouns, in a 2019 interview with Out magazine, PRIDE's sister publication. “The older I get, the more I think that I’m nonbinary — I’m gender-nonconforming,” Van Ness said. “Like, some days I feel like a man, but then other days I feel like a woman.”

Thus, as a nonbinary person, Van Ness cannot wear "the opposite sex's clothing" — although the petition is a clear act of gender policing and nonbinary erasure.

One Million Moms is a frequent boycotter of pro-LGBTQ+ initiatives, ranging from Hallmark to gender-inclusive Mattel dolls to a recent Oreo ad. The group usually fails in its calls to action. And despite its title, it has fewer than 5,000 followers on Twitter.

Uber Eats made it clear who actually has more fans in a response to the One Million Moms' vitriol. "At Uber Eats, we’re unapologetically committed to representing the flavor spectrum. From tacos to talent, we like it spicy," the company told our other sister pub The Advocate in a statement. "JVN and Simone serve gymnastic prowess and ferosh self-confidence, qualities millions of moms everywhere can — and do — support.”

On Twitter, Bobby Berk said he "couldn't be more proud" of his Queer Eye costar over the criticism from the anti-LGBTQ+ group — a clear litmus test of being on the right side of history.

Support the LGBTQ+ agenda by watching Biles and Van Ness perform the "Van Biles" below.

30 Years of Out100Out / Advocate Magazine - Jonathan Groff and Wayne Brady

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Daniel Reynolds

<p>Daniel Reynolds is the associate social media editor at Here Media. He is also the world&rsquo;s tallest poet.</p>

<p>Daniel Reynolds is the associate social media editor at Here Media. He is also the world&rsquo;s tallest poet.</p>