Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness explains pronouns and identity ahead of new Aussie tour

TV personality Jonathan Van Ness is about to embark on his first post-Covid trip Down Under, and the non-binary comedian won’t shy away from the “hard stuff”.

He/him, she/her, they/them – Jonathan Van Ness does not care what pronouns people use to describe them.

The American author, comedian and equality advocate credits those who came before him for making it possible for them to be free with their pronoun use.

“I totally can’t take credit for any of it,” the 35-year-old Queer Eye for the Straight Guy star told Confidential.

“I’ve had so many friends that have brought me to that table and have included me on those conversations. When I say, he, she, they, whatever, I mean it because I feel like in ways I am all of those things and I’m none of those things at the same time.

“That’s why I feel like whether you want to say like he, she or they, it is OK for me. If he is cute for you, it is cute for me, too, or they, it’s like, it’s OK for me if he’s good for you, it’s good for me.”

TV personality of Queer Eye fame Jonathan Van Ness. Picture: Supplied

Van Ness penned an autobiography in 2019.

“If it is they or she, for me who I am is so much more than what that means to other people and to me. That is where I come at it and why I identify as he, she or they ­because I feel like I’m everything and I feel like I’m nothing at the same time. That is kind of existential, but it is how I see it.”

Van Ness will tour Australia with the Imaginary Living Room Olympian stage show in September, starting in Perth on the 23rd of that month and playing ICC Sydney on the 29th.

It follows their first worldwide comedy tour, Road to Beijing, which came to Australia just before the pandemic hit.

“One of the things that I like to talk about in my comedy is as a survivor of trauma, and I think a lot of survivors of trauma have this in ­common, is that if you can’t make jokes about some of the hard stuff, it is like you won’t be able to process the day,” he said.

“But I also think that comedy is irreverent and observational and experiential but at the same time I am not someone that wants to hurt anybody … I don’t want to hurt anybody. It is about joy and celebrating the spectrum of what my queer experience has been in the last few years.”