Netflix‘s Queer Eye does far more than update people’s wardrobes and spruce up their food pantries: it’s changing lives!
It’s for this reason that OUT magazine is recognizing the men of the fearless Fab Five: Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness and Bobby Berk as the publication’s cover stars and 2018 Entertainers Of The Year.
Related: Wait — The Queer Eye Guys Only Make $7.5K Per Episode?!
If you’re a fan of the show (which if you aren’t, get on it), then you know design expert Bobby has been transparent about the struggles he faced as a young, gay boy growing up in the church. The 37-year-old is no doubt happy about the reboot’s success, but most likely especially touched by the impact its had on the community he was once a part of:
“I received a message from a pastor who told me he’d been preaching against homosexuality his entire life and changed his ways after watching our show. He said he will never preach that way again.”
Wow, talk about coming full circle!! Berk continued:
“I love that we’re able to take such a groundbreaking show from a pivotal time in my development and still make it work today.”
The rest of the cast also shared thoughts of personal satisfaction that the original and newer iteration of the show has been able to do so much good.
Queer Eye‘s grooming expert Jonathan Van Ness calls the original a “trailblazer” while food expert Antoni says he never could’ve imagined the international impact it would all have, revealing:
“A boy in Poland messaged me about the current political climate and his fear of walking the streets safely. He said it meant the world to see me march in Montréal Pride this past summer. He said I gave him hope. I never thought I could have that effect on someone.”
OUT’s executive editor, R. Kurt Osenlund, who was in charge of this year’s OUT100 issue recognizes the tremendous impact of the reboot in today’s climate. The cast’s diversity is just another reason that Osenlund says made them a no-brainer to represent this year’s theme celebrating the thriving, young generation of LGBTQ people:
“The most important thing about these men is that, on a fundamental level, they help people and work to make people’s lives better, and when you put that on a streaming service like Netflix that can be seen not just nationally, but globally, it sends a widespread message that LGBTQ people are not burdens, but in fact have the ability and willingness to start conversations, break down barriers and make our culture brighter.The original show did that, too, but in a lot of ways, the current climate is even scarier for marginalized people than it was 15 years ago, and the exposure of these men working with all types of people normalizes LGBTQ experience.”
We couldn’t agree more!
Catch the Fab Five’s gorgeous cover and the rest of OUT‘s honorable list HERE.
[Image via WENN.]