The View Co-Host Ana Navarro Denounces Anti-LGBTQ Rhetoric During Impromptu Speech at Miami Drag Brunch – Yahoo Entertainment
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Ana Navarro is showing her support for the LGBTQ+ community.
While enjoying a drag brunch in South Beach, Miami, The View co-host gave an impromptu speech, seemingly lashing out at the recent wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that has demonized drag queens and queer people around the nation.
In Florida, where a controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law was enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis last March, the hateful rhetoric and targeted threats have grown particularly troublesome.
“Listen, I live in Florida, and I hate that drag queens are being made a political issue … a manufactured, made-up cultural issue,” Navarro, a Miami resident, said to a cheering crowd over the weekend.
She continued, “No drag queen ever killed a little kid. You know what kills little kids? Guns kill little kids. If you care about children and their safety then go after guns and leave the f—ing drag queens alone!”
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Fellow View co-host Sara Haines also appeared at the brunch, after which the venue acknowledged them for their support.
“Thank you @theviewabc co host @ananavarrofl for your words, and both you and @sarahaines for being allies 💜,” the bar wrote on Instagram alongside a video of Navarro’s remarks.
The drag brunch outburst was not the first time Navarro, 51, has voiced concern over anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Discussing the “Don’t Say Gay” bill on her ABC talk show before it was enacted last year, the Republican commentator said it sends a “chilling” message.
“I’m very upset about this. First, I think it’s not a necessary bill,” she said on the show last February. “First-graders are not having a curriculum that teaches sexuality. I also think that the message it sends is a very chilling one for LGBTQ families. You know, we are — the Republican Party is the party of family values…”
She added, “The message is, ‘You are not welcome here.'”
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Navarro has relished sharing her opinions on The View, where she was named a permanent co-host last August after contributing to the show for nearly a decade.
Being offered the gig as a permanent co-host was an honor, she told PEOPLE last year.
“The platform that The View affords is unparalleled,” Navarro explained. “And for me, representation is something that guides my life. I know how much it means to me — as a young Nicaraguan immigrant who came here as a refugee — to see a Latino woman like me on television every day, speaking her mind.”
She added, “This show, The View, is a place for diverse opinions, diverse life experiences. Having different women from different walks of life and different life experiences is very important. So when given the opportunity, how could I not accept it?”