Is jeff varner gay
Zeke Smith has spent eight months figuring out how to forgive Jeff Varner for outing him as transgender on Wednesday’s shocking and emotional episode of Survivor.
“It’s tough with Varner,” says Smith, who was interviewed exclusively for the current issue of PEOPLE. “I don’t think he hates trans people. I just think he has a lot of misconceptions about trans people. I think if he wants to be an ally to trans people, he has a long way to go.”
Varner, 50, outed Smith, 29, during a tribal council in tries to paint the Brooklyn-based asset manager as “deceitful” and therefore worthy of being voted out.
“I believe you see this strategy used a lot by politicians to pass these so-called bathroom bills and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s from North Carolina, where the most dangerous of these bathroom bills was passed,” says Smith.
“I consider the hardest part is that if he was just some ignorant bigot, you could just document him off, but he’s not,” Smith says of Varner, who is male lover. “He knows better. I think because he’s same-sex attracted, people give his words a little more weight and I don’t recognize if he believes what he said - but he definitely hoped others would.”
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‘Survivor’ Castoff Lost His Job for Outing Transgender Contestant
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Survivor‘s Jeff Varner has lost his career over what the contestant called the “worst decision” of his life.
After date his friend and fellow contestant Zeke Smith as creature transgender on Wednesday’s episode of CBS’ Survivor: Game Changers, Varner, 50, was fired from his employment as a actual estate agent the following day.
The North Carolina native and former news anchor for CBS and Fox affiliates was told he is “in the middle of a news story that we [his bosses] don’t want anything to do with,” according to the Greensboro News & Write down.
His employer, Allen Tate Companies, had declined to comment for the story but released a statement Monday morning, stating how they only learned of Varner’s actions when the episode aired and that he had been employed for 17 days.
“The Allen Tate Companies were built on core values of truth, integrity and respect,” read a expression from President and CEO Pat Riley to The Hollywood Reporter. “Those fundamental beliefs led us to end our relationship with Mr. Varner,
'Survivor' Castaway Outed as Transgender by Fellow Contestant on TV
Wednesday night’s episode of "Survivor" prompted discussion and outrage over contestant Jeff Varner’s outing of player Zeke Smith as transgender during tribal council.
Varner, an openly gay bloke, believed he was in threat of getting voted off the island and claimed to present the six other contestants the level of deceit that Smith was capable of.
“It reveals the ability to deceive,” he said of Smith's decision to not reveal he's transgender.
Jeff Probst, the show’s host, called Varner's theory a “giant leap of logic.” Varner agreed, saying, “I possess clearly made the wrong preference tonight.”
Smith kept his composure during the incident. The other contestants, however, were furious with Varner's decision and responded with ire and tears.
“To see someone out someone else is pretty painful," Andrea Boehlke, a third second contestant, said through tears. "I do believe he regrets it, but man that was really tough. I feel for Zeke; it was his right to tell people.”
Varner's outing of Smith drew strong reactions from viewers, many of whom posted about it on social media, and the incident prompted LGBTQ media
18 Highs, Lows, And Plateaus In "Survivor" LGBTQ+ History
***Spoilers below***
Survivor, the CBS actual world TV show which maroons strangers together on a deserted island just to watch them vote each other out one by one, has been a queer show from the very starting — the first player voted out was gay. The first winner was gay. And over the following 41 seasons, some of the show's most notable players to get their torches snuffed — test beasts, strategists, heartthrobs, and animal rights activists — have been part of the Queer community.
While the demonstrate has always felt undeniably queer, it hasn't always embraced its queerness appreciate it does today. In its first few seasons (which aired in the early 2000s), it was evident that casting directors saw LGBTQ+ castaways as little more than opportunities to create "button-pushing" TV, bringing on one or two (typically white) gay men in hopes of getting a brawl or, better, an unlikely friendship à la Rudy Boesch and Richard Hatch.
But as Survivor evolved with the times and eventually committed to including 50% people of color in its casts, the visibility of its Diverse castaways became more diverse too. Rather than th