Queer Eye star’s photo with ‘anti-LGBT’ Candace Cameron Bure sparks debate
A Queer Eye/Fuller House crossover? (Bobby Berk/Instagram)
Queer Eye star Bobby Berk posted a photo on his Instagram account that sparked a discussion about homophobia and religion among his social media followers.
The design expert uploaded a picture of himself, fellow Queer Eye cast member Jonathan Van Ness and the stars of Netflix’s Fuller House, a continuation of the classic sitcom Full House, Candace Cameron Bure and Andrea Barber.
“When your childhood TV friends become your adult REAL friends,” the caption read.
Cameron Bure’s presence in the photo was noticed and condemned by some commenters who remembered that, in 2015, the Christian actor sided with bakers who refuse to serve same-sex couples in support of their religious freedoms.
The controversy around Cameron Bure’s views reignited two years later, with drag queen Bianca Del Rio calling the actor “homophobic” after the star posted a picture of herself wearing a T-shirt featuring Del Rio’s trademark line: “Not today Satan.”
The actor rejected the accusation of homophobia, writing in response to the drag queen’s remarks: “Why do you have to be nasty to me? You don’t know what’s in my heart. I’m not homophobic and always sad when people think otherwise. Loving Jesus doesn’t mean I hate gay people or anyone.”
Bianca Del Rio condemned the actor as “homophobic” (Candace Cameron Bure/Instagram)
But her response did little to shed the negative image. One of the people who commented below Berk’s Instagram picture described Cameron Bure as “violently anti-LGBT,” another as a “homophobe,” and yet another as a “Republic***t.”
Berk, who has often opened up in the show about his struggle to embrace Christianity after experiencing religiously motivated homophobia as a teenager, replied: “Pretty sure that kind of attitude is what we’re trying to stop on Queer Eye.”
He then addressed the fans’s criticism more extensively in a video uploaded as an Instagram story. “She’s a human and an artist just as I am, and the whole basis of Queer Eye is to learn to be able to coexist and to learn from people who think differently from you,” he said.
Berk continued: “I do know her views. I am against her views, but as a person I love her just as we should all love each other.”
Many fans praised his response. “Thank you for your response on your story. The best way to turn hearts is through love and one-to-one interactions. You and the other gentleman are doing such good work for our community. Thank you. Sending you all so much love and gratitude,” one comment read.
Barber, who reposted the group selfie pitching Netflix for a Queer Eye/Fuller House crossover, also left a comment under Beck’s original post.
“You are a beautiful human and I love you so much!” she wrote.
