The reality TV series ‘Queer Eye’ reached unanticipated stardom after its first broadcast in the year 2003. The reboot of the series with the same name came into life in 2018 when Netflix agreed to air it. Each episode features a team of gay professionals in the fields of fashion, personal grooming, interior design, entertaining and culture collectively known as the "Fab Five" performing a makeover, usually for a heterosexual people: revamping wardrobe, redecorating, and offering advice on grooming, lifestyle, and food. The American press almost universally complimented the series and the Fab Five. Out magazine listed the Fab Five in its "OUT 100", the "greatest gay success stories" of 2003.
Karamo Brown, who is best known for his culture expert role in ‘Queer Eye’ visited Saint Louis University as a speaker for the Great Issues Committee in collaboration with Rainbow Alliance and Black Student Alliance. From the beginning, Brown distinguished himself from other guest speakers by introducing the interviewers instead of vice versa and pulling his chair closer to the students for an established interaction. He talked about his intersectional identity being a black, gay man with an abusive background and how he has embraced who he is by letting his varied identities of play individual roles.
The LGBTQ community faces neglect, is isolated, and goes through a lot of unwarranted experiences of horror and abuse. Brown, during his visit, was able to reach and connect to people on a deeper level. He explained the depth of his own struggles belonging to the black ethnicity along with being in the LGBTQ community and the fact that he overcame the struggles that came his way by accepting his identity. He dedicated his life to acting and social work and is immensely proud of himself as he walks the path of his passions.
He succeeded in influencing the students with his stories; teaching them to praise others, have empathy, and listen more.
Radhika Boruah