A Queer Eye 'Hero' Revealed The Attacks That Came After Their Makeover

Over the years, Netflix has produced movies featuring A-list actors and TV shows that starred beloved celebrities. As impressive as that is, it could be argued that one of Netflix's reality shows is a bigger deal. Queer Eye arguably has been a much bigger deal because the revival of the original influential series has spread so much love into the world.

As most Netflix users know, the streaming service has produced many great reality shows. However, most of them haven't punched through into the pop culture the same way that Queer Eye has. After all, there is a reason why Jonathan Van Ness can charge a fortune for a haircut. The reason why Queer Eye is such a big deal is it puts so much love into the world. Despite that, one of Queer Eye's heroes revealed the disgusting attacks that came when the fab five gave them a makeover.

One Of Queer Eye's Most Memorable Heroes Revealed The Attacks That Happened When The Fab Five Helped Her

Since Queer Eye premiered on Netflix, the show has had some truly memorable episodes. One of the most obvious examples of that was when the Fab Five gave a makeover to a woman named Kathi Dooley.

As the episode revealed, Kathi is a teacher who taught Jonathan Van Ness when he was young. During the episode featuring Kathi, Jonathan tells his former teacher that she saved his life by treating him with kindness when he was a young outcast.

For fans who watched Kathi's episode of Queer Eye, it seemed like Kathi and the Fab Five received a lot of love during the filming process. However, Kathi later revealed that she and the Fab Five were also under verbal attack when she got her makeover.

Queer Eye's Kathi Dooley and Jonathan Van Ness embracing — Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness embracing his former teacher Kathi Dooley

In December 2019, The Guardian published an article looking at the events surrounding Kathi's episode of Queer Eye.

Collider's Most Memorable Queer Eye Heroes
Hero	Episode	Rank
Tom Jackson	Season 1, Episode 1	#10
Tammye Hicks or Mama Tammye	Season 2, Episode 1	#9
Deborah and Mary Jones	Season 3, Episode 3	#8
Kathi Dooley	Season 4, Episode 1	#7
Wesley Hamilton	Season 4, Episode 2	#6
On Golden Kenny	Season 4, Episode 5	#5
Yoko Sakuma	Queer Eye: We’re in Japan!, Episode 1	#4
Makoto Chiba	Queer Eye: We’re in Japan!, Episode 4	#3
Angel Flores	Season 6, Episode 2	#2
Ray “Speedy” Walker	Season 7, Episode 3	#1

For that article, the outlet spoke to Kathi who explained the backlash her episode of Queer Eye received at the time.

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During Kathi's episode of Queer Eye, there were scenes featuring large groups of students from the school she taught at. What most Queer Eye fans don't realize is that a lot of students from Kathi's school refused to be there.

According to a May 2023 Screen Rant article, Kathi Dooley took the Fab Five's advice about prioritizing self-care after her episode aired. The article also reported that Kathi never brought back her infamous mullet, and she got hip replacement surgery she'd put off for years.

According to The Guardian's report, several parents whose kids attended Kathi's school refused to let their children have anything to do with Queer Eye. Not only that, it turns out that many of those parents contacted the principal of Kathi's school to express their anger that the school was embracing the LGBTQ+ lifestyle.

According to The Guardian's article, the school Kathi taught in was located in Quincy, Illinois. While talking to The Guardian, Kathi described Qunicy as a “sheltered, very conservative and highly Republican town.”

In March 2020, The New Yorker published a profile of Jonathan Van Ness. The resulting article referred to the awful bullying that Jonathan suffered as a "flamboyant kid" growing up in Quincy, Illinois.

Thankfully for Kathi, however, she was able to enjoy the Queer Eye experience without knowing about the backlash. That is the case because Kathi told The Guardian that her school's principal protected her from parents' complaints.

The principal kept me out of the fray of parents who were complaining.

Unfortunately, the parents complaining and refusing to have their children associated with Queer Eye wasn't the end of things.

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As The Guardian's article revealed, a pastor from Quincy decided to publicly attack Queer Eye when the show came to town to help Kathi. As brutal as that must have been for everyone involved, things were made even more personal for Jonathan.

The pastor sent a letter protesting Queer Eye to a local newspaper owned by Jonathan's family. According to The Guardian's article, Jonathan's mom published the letter which stated that the "homosexual lifestyle" was "condemned by God."

Jonathan Van Ness has often spoken out about how much he adores his mother and he has paid tribute to her on Instagram repeatedly. For example, Jonathan praised his mom in a May 2019 Instagram post. "Thanks so much Mom 💕 raising an LGBTQ child in small town America wasn’t easy but you always loved me fearlessly." Based on a post like that one, Jonathan's mom's decision to publish the letter from the pastor clearly didn't reflect her believing in what was written.

The pastor's letter was hard for Jonathan for another extremely personal reason.

Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness beside themself — A close-up of Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness alonside a photo of them wearing a white dress

While talking to The Guardian, Kathi brought up Jonathan's connection to the pastor who wrote the letter attacking his lifestyle.

“That was very hurtful to Jonathan. She was actually their cleaning lady and kind of a nanny to Jonathan growing up. Jonathan did tell me she thought she could read a few Bible verses and ‘fix him,’ or that he would see the light. Obviously, that didn’t happen.”

Jonathan Van Ness Spoke Out About The Pastor's Letter Attacking Queer Eye

In September 2019, Jonathan Van Ness spoke to The Guardian for a different article. During that conversation, Jonathan explained that the backlash led by the pastor began after permission slips were sent home.

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As Jonathan explained, permission slips were sent home to get parental permission for the kids at Kathi's school to appear on camera. In response, the pastor who wrote the letter organized protests against Queer Eye filming in Quincy.

Jonathan also talked to The Guardian about his past relationship with the pastor.

“He sent a letter to the newspaper that blasted the normalisation of LGBTQ culture and said we should not be rolling out the welcome mats at a public school. It was just a really nasty letter. This was someone who was like a family friend, someone I’d known for a very long time.

Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness looking annoyed on the red carpet

Sadly, Jonathan then explained to The Guardian that the situation in Quincy made him realize the world hadn't changed as much as he hoped.

I don’t think we’ve come as far as I wished and hoped that we had.

Sadly, Quincy isn't the only place that has been less than welcoming to Queer Eye being produced there. For example, Karamo Brown spoke when he appeared on the "People Every Day" podcast about the Fab Five experiencing "blatant" discrimination when Queer Eye filmed in Texas.