Jonathan Van Ness takes aim at Trump and Pence in sexual health campaign
‘Queer Eye’ star Jonathan Van Ness addresses his followers in a video for Planned Parenthood (Instagram/@jvn)
Queer Eye‘s Jonathan Van Ness is urging his followers to take a stand against Trump and Pence by supporting Planned Parenthood.
The grooming guru recently announced to the world that he is living with HIV in order to tackle the “stigmatisation of the LGBT+ community” in the Trump era.
He has now united with Planned Parenthood, the sexual healthcare provider at the centre of a legal battle with the Trump administration.
In a video shared to his 4.5 million Instagram followers, Van Ness shuts down the stigma around STDs and explains the need for regular testing as part of a healthy sex life.
“Everyone deserves a sex life that is safe, fun and empowering,” he said.
“Talking with your partners about STDs and safer sex is an important part of any healthy and sexy relationship.
“STDs are extremely common and nothing to be ashamed of – most people who have sex will get an STD at some point in their lives.
“The good news is all STDs can either be treated or totally cured with medicine. Most of the time STDs don’t show any symptoms, that’s why STD testing is so important.”
Van Ness then outlines the importance of Planned Parenthood health centres, which in the last year alone provided more than 4.7 million tests and treatments for STDs, including 740,000 HIV tests.
He encourages viewers to use these health centres “for all your testing and treatment needs” – but warns that the crucial service is now at risk.
“The Trump-Pence administration is making it even harder for people to access free or low-cost STD testing and treatment by forcing Planned Parenthood out of the Title X program,” he says.
Title X is a 50-year-old federal program used by 4 million people for affordable sexual healthcare, including STD testing, birth control and cancer screenings.
Trump is currently pushing for a ‘gag rule’ which makes it illegal for Title X health care providers to refer patients for abortion, and also adds cost-prohibitive, medically unnecessary restrictions specifically intended to block patients from accessing care.
(Instagram/@jvn)
The Netflix star can be seen holding a #QueersForRepro sign as he calls on his fans to “protect Title X and Planned Parenthood to make sure everyone can get sexual healthcare that they deserve”.
Van Ness will be interviewing Planned Parenthood’s acting president and CEO, Alexis McGill Johnson, on an upcoming episode of his podcast, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.
