On Sunday evening, CNN weekend host Pamela Brown cheered for a gay activist who posted a TikTok video lecturing his aunt, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), for her recent speech opposing same-sex marriage. The CNN host even had the liberal activist on as a guest, devoting six minutes to his liberal agenda.
Before a commercial break, Brown employed the preferred liberal phraseology of "marriage equality" as she teased the segment: "A Republican congresswoman breaks down in tears while protesting the bill to protect marriage equality. Her nephew, who is gay, wasn't having it." Then came a clip of Andrew Hartzler from his video: "It's more like you want to have the power to force your religious beliefs onto everyone else."
After returning from a commercial break, the CNN host recalled that Congresswoman Hartzler had been moved to tears as she begged colleagues not to vote for the "landmark" law protecting same-sex marriage. Brown soon added: "So that speech caught the eye of a lot of people, including Andrew Hartzler. He is the congresswoman's nephew, and he also happens to be gay. And he responded with this now viral video of his own."
After the CNN host brought aboard her guest, she asked him for his reaction, leading him to complain that his aunt is spreading "hate," and to suggest that such opposition to gay rights was to blame for the recent shooting attack on a gay bar in Colorado Springs:
I remember the first time I had ever saw someone stand up to my aunt. I was 13, and I saw video posted on YouTube of someone at the University of Missouri confronting her on her homophobic policies, and the courage that that man had had lived with me through today. And I felt that it was needed to counteract her message of hate with a message so that other people who are young, seeing this, would know that there's someone out there that counteracts it. But her words have real power, and they have real power and consequences, as we saw in Colorado.
It was not mentioned that the perpetrator of the attack has claimed to be LGBTQ himself, identifying as nonbinary.
After the two discussed his history of growing up gay, and of experiencing therapy at Oral Roberts University similar to conversion therapy, the CNN host followed up: "I'm curious, you know, given the fact that your TikTok has gone viral in response to her speech on the floor, have you spoken to her since the exchange or received any other reaction from your family? I know your parents, as I understand, are Christian conservatives as well."
CNN has a history of highlighting liberal family members of prominent Republicans to lecture them over their conservative views, including former Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and former Donald Trump advisor Stephen Miller.
The substance of Congresswoman Hartzler's argument was ignored that she was concerned that the law would lead to frivolous lawsuits against faith-based organizations.
This episode of CNN Newsroom was sponsored in part by Vicks and Subaru. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
CNN Newsroom
December 11, 2022
PAMELA BROWN (before commercial break): A Republican congresswoman breaks down in tears while protesting the bill to protect marriage equality. Her nephew, who is gay, wasn't having it.
ANDREW HARTZLER, GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST: It's more like you want to have the power to force your religious beliefs onto everyone else.
BROWN: And he joins us live up next.
(...)
BROWN: Well, landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriage is expected to be signed into law by President Biden this week. Congress passed the Respect for Marriage Act with votes from both parties. But 205 Republicans in the House and Senate voted against the legislation. And that includes Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler of Missouri. She held back tears as she criticized the bill.
CONGRESSWOMAN VICKY HARTZLER (R-MO): I hope and pray that my colleagues will find the courage to join me in opposing this misguided and this dangerous bill. And I yield back.
BROWN: So that speech caught the eye of a lot of people, including Andrew Hartzler. He is the congresswoman's nephew, and he also happens to be gay. And he responded with this now viral video of his own.
ANDREW HARTZLER: It's more like you want the power to force your religious beliefs onto everyone else. And because you don't have that power, you feel like you're being silenced, but you're not. You're just going to have to learn to coexist with all of us. And I'm sure it's not that hard.
BROWN: Not that hard indeed. Andrew Hartzler joins us now. Hi, Andrew. So tell me -- your aunt, as we saw there on the floor speaking, getting very emotional, called this legislation protecting same-sex marriage, quote, "dangerous." What is your message to her and others who cite concerns about religious liberty for opposing it?
ANDREW HARTZLER: Yeah, I remember the first time I had ever saw someone stand up to my aunt. I was 13, and I saw video posted on YouTube of someone at the University of Missouri confronting her on her homophobic policies, and the courage that that man had had lived with me through today. And I felt that it was needed to counteract her message of hate with a message so that other people who are young, seeing this, would know that there's someone out there that counteracts it. But her words have real power, and they have real power and consequences, as we saw in Colorado.
BROWN: Mm-hmm. And you say, so partly what inspired you to speak out is what you saw when you were 13. I believe what I read is you were 14 when you came out to your parents, right? When you were 13 and you saw that, had -- did you know that you were gay? And had you ever thought that you would reach this moment?
ANDREW HARTZLER: Yeah, I did know that I was gay. I, from a young age -- I would say, like 11 or 12 -- it was a common pastime of me Googling like "Vicky Hartzler and LGBTQ or gay" and seeing what she had said that week about it, but the harmful policies that she is a proponent of -- that they have like real consequences for young people like me, like when I was at Oral Roberts University, I was subjected to conversion therapy-like practices, and that was totally legal because of the policies that my aunt has helped put into place. So after I graduated, I partnered with a religious exemption accountability project, and, together with 40 other students from institutions across the country, we are advocating for all students at religious universities to receive equal protections.
BROWN: I'm curious, you know, given the fact that your TikTok has gone viral in response to her speech on the floor, have you spoken to her since the exchange or received any other reaction from your family? I know your parents, as I understand, are Christian conservatives as well.
ANDREW HARTZLER: Yeah, yeah. My entire family is very deeply conservative and very Christian, but regardless of what my family may think, the negative implications of my aunt's rhetoric and her power that she holds outweighs any disapproval that my family might have.
BROWN: So when you came out to her in February -- because you did, you came out to her in February of this past year -- what was her reaction then? Was she supportive?
ANDREW HARTZLER: I'm -- like when I like disclosed my sexual orientation to my parents, it was -- it's very difficult just to receive a message of like, "Love the sinner, hate the sin," or, like, "We love you, but we don't accept you," or, "You know that's wrong." Growing up, being gay was, like, demonized, and it was, like, seen as something that was abominable.
BROWN: Yeah. What's your message to our LGBT viewers who may struggle with their family members rejecting this core part of who they are?
ANDREW HARTZLER: Yeah. I would say that you can't choose your family, but you can choose how you react to your family, and ultimately you can choose your chosen family. And for some people, speaking out is not an option because they may not be safe or there may be serious consequences of, like, parents kicking them out or enacting violence on them if they were to stand up to their parents' opposition of their sexuality. So I would say that always make sure that you're safe, and always make sure that you're doing what's safe for you, But, ultimately, when I saw my aunt's video, I felt that silence would have been complicit, and that silence is equal to death in this situation because of the harm it projects.
BROWN: You did what you felt like was the right thing to do what you felt compelled to do in your heart. Andrew Hartzler, we really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story. We appreciate it.
