'Queer Eye' star Jonathan Van Ness becomes first non-female on Cosmopolitan UK cover in 35 years
'Queer Eye' star Jonathan Van Ness has broken down barriers once again and made history by gracing the cover of Cosmopolitan UK.
The 32-year-old can be seen on the cover of the January issue of the magazine and is the first non-female cover star in over 35 years. For the awe-inspiring shot, Ness was seen sporting a ruffled Christian Siriano orange tulle gown which had been paired with class Nike Cortez sneakers.
The cover line reads, "Yep. We did it. You’re totally welcome" in bold.
Ness, who identifies as non-binary and uses male pronouns, took to social media to share the cover image. Ness shared on Twitter, "First non-female cover star in 35 years [LGBTQ flag and heart emojis] thanks for having me [LGBTQ flag and heart emojis]. @CosmopolitanUK showing more variations of beauty for young LGBTQ+ people YAS QUEEN photo by @Rachell_Smith."
As reported by Time, the boy band 'One Direction' was seen on the cover of Cosmo UK in December 2012 but Ness "is the first non-female-identifying figure to land the cover on their own since Boy George in 1984." The editor-in-chief Claire Hodgson shared, "Jonathan is warm, funny, opinionated, kind and brave, all qualities that resonate with our audience."
"He is encouraging people to love who they are, which is at the heart of what our brand stands for -- we could all do with a little more self-love in our lives," Hodgson added.
Recently, Ness was named the first male brand ambassador for the nail color brand Essie. Last year, Ness had revealed his HIV status and had shared with Cosmopolitan at the time, "This is only the beginning. I'm quickly realizing that there is still so much misunderstanding, so much sensationalizing of living with HIV. The stigma and the difficulty around the process of getting treatment is creating that. My work has only really just begun".