Jonathan Van Ness lets curiosity lead the way while roving from snacks to wigs in this podcast spinoff chock-full of experts and special guests. Jonathan Van Ness was born March 28, 1987, and raised in Quincy, Illinois. Van Ness said he comes “from a family of journalists,” being the sixth generation of his family-owned newspaper. This refers to broadcast and newspaper conglomerate Quincy Media and the company’s local flagship newspaper, the Herald-Whig; Van Ness’ mother is the vice president of Quincy Media, and he is a descendant of the Oakley family which has controlled the company since the 1890s. Jonathan Van Ness was born March 28, 1987, and raised in Quincy, Illinois. Van Ness said he comes “from a family of journalists,” being the sixth generation of his family-owned newspaper. This refers to broadcast and newspaper conglomerate Quincy Media and the company’s local flagship newspaper, the Herald-Whig; Van Ness’ mother is the vice president of Quincy Media, and he is a descendant of the Oakley family which has controlled the company since the 1890s. Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness Season 1 Download
Openly gay throughout his life, Van Ness experienced bullying for his “femininity and natural flamboyance,” and received death threats. He “endured years of judgment, ridicule, and trauma.” Of the time, Van Ness said, “Growing up I definitely put on every nail polish, every heel, every scarf – I definitely had my mom’s knockoff Hermès scarves in my hair and around my waist – those were my skirts, and I loved it. … But when I was really young, I had really femme-shamey, gender-shamey [reactions] when I would dress like that. When I would play with those things, I knew it needed to be… behind closed doors.” Although always comfortable in his own skin, he says it did take some time to navigate other people’s reactions. In response to the bullying he used humor as a coping mechanism, and relied on a small group of close friends for support. Years later, in the late 2010s, he realized he was gender non-conforming, and non-binary.