After expressing her condolences for Charlie Kirk, Kristen Chenoweth is facing extreme backlash from the queer community.
According to Queerty, after Kirk’s shooting this past month, Chenoweth took to instagram. “I’m. So. Upset.” she wrote in a comment, continuing that she “didn’t always agree but appreciated some perspectives.”
This read as extreme hypocrisy to many of her fans, as she has been a staunch LGBTQ+ ally for, supposedly, her entire life. She is known for many of her acting roles being in overtly queer movies, TV shows, and plays—Glee and Promises, Promises to just name a few. Obviously, a vast majority of her fans are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Throughout his career, Kirk said many terrible things about gay people, transgender people, Black women, and many marginalized groups. So, the gay community responded to Chenoweth asking, exactly what “perspectives” of his did she agree with?
Soon after this backlash, Chenoweth scrambled to apologize. In an interview with Spectrum News, she claims, “I saw what happened online with my own eyes. And I had a human moment of reflection. Right then, I came to understand that my comment hurt some folks, and that hurt me so bad. I would never.”
After this, she reiterated that she considers herself to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and also a Christian. “It’s also no secret that I am an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and for some, that doesn’t go together. But for me, it always has, and it always will.” For some reason, in today’s divisive American politics, to be Christian means you must, in some sense, identify with conservatism.
This instance is disappointing to so many queer people who saw Chenoweth as a reliable ally. How can we trust and support a woman who (before backlash) claimed to “appreciate (his) perspectives?” Even with her back-pedaling, what were those perspectives she agreed with? And would a true ally ever touch Kirk’s beliefs with a 50-foot pole? Definitely not.
Photo Courtesy of Social Media
