Harper Steele says anti-trans governor ‘dropped all his principles’ to take pic with Will Ferrell
Harper Steele says Indiana’s anti-trans governor Eric Holcomb ‘dropped all of his principles’ to take pic with Will Ferrell (Cindy Ord/WireImage)
Transgender writer Harper Steele has said that Indiana’s anti-trans governor Eric Holcomb “dropped all his principles” to take a photo with comedian, and her friend of 30 years, Will Ferrell.
Steele, who came out and transitioned during the COVID-19 pandemic, made the comment on Late Night with Seth Meyers while talking about Netflix documentary Will & Harper, in which she and Ferrell “hit the open road together to process this new stage of their friendship and reintroduce [her] to the country she loves – this time, as herself”.
Over 16 days, the pair drove from New York to Los Angeles, visiting places that are meaningful to them, to their friendship, and to America.
And on Wednesday’s (25 September) episode of the talk show, Steele focused on a visit to a basketball game where she and her best pal met Republican Eric Holcomb, who has previously backed several anti-trans bills in his state.
Eric Holcomb, who succeeded former vice-president Mike Pence as governor in 2017, has supported a bill that would require schools to out trans pupils to their parents, and a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youngsters.
“We have an uncomfortable moment with the governor of Indiana, who is not very kind of trans people, but he needed to take a picture with Will so bad that he dropped all his principles,” Steele said, according to the Huffington Post. “And that to me is what Will does for me.”
In the documentary, Farrell said of the encounter that he “dropped the ball”, telling Steele: “I wish I had the wherewithal to go, ‘What’s your stance on trans people?'”
While speaking to PinkNews about the documentary, Farrell encouraged his straight cis fans to watch it.
“If you have any sort of inkling to want to watch, I’ll put it this way: as we started making it, one of the things we discussed was: ‘OK, if we do have something here that is watchable, entertaining on any level, I wonder if my audience, [who] wouldn’t necessarily gravitate to something like this, will they give something like this a chance?’” the Elf star said.
“I would say: give it a chance. It’s a funny movie, you’ll be surprised. It’s just Harper and Will talking. That’s all it is.”
Josh Greenbaum, a long-time friend of both Ferrell and Steele, who directed the documentary, didn’t want it to be seen as a political film.
“It’s a very intimate, personal story between two people. That said, we know it will be brought into the political sphere.
“Any political issue that exists is about something very human, and so to put a human face and story to it, I think helps people understand it better,” he said. “For those who don’t know a trans person, well, now they do. They know Harper and she’s an incredible, funny, warm, complicated, brilliant person.”
Will & Harper is streaming on Netflix now.
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