Looking for something to hate-read? Well, you’re in luck: Brandon Ambrosino has just been hired to write for Vox, where presumably we’ll get to watch him work out whatever his damage is in regular lousy columns.
You might recall Brandon from some recent columns and appearances in which he basically branded himself as a homosexual for homophobes: socially conservative, antigay, an apologist for our enemies. He defended Jerry Falwell (who once claimed that gays caused 9/11), frowned at marriage equality, and claimed that his homosexuality was a choice. He wrote an article called “Tranny; Grammar.”
Brandon’s not especially insightful. He doesn’t have any particular talent for constructing an argument. There’s nothing all that compelling about what he has to say. There’s no reason to suffer through his work. His only distinction is that he’s a gay guy who writes with disdain for other gay guys. And as anyone who’s ever read the comments on Queerty can tell you, there’s nothing all that unusual about that.
He could probably get hired at Thought Catalog, the personal-essay site for people who think they’re deep even if no one else sees it. But Vox is a major new journalism venture, with lots of big name talent and corporate sponsorship. So it’s weird to see such an irritating kid on their roster.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
It would be super awesome if we turned out to be wrong, and he actually started producing some great work! We would love to be talking about him because he said something interesting, rather than because he was inexplicably published yet again. Here’s hoping.
H/t: MediaMatters
Kangol
Not to let Ambrosino off the hook, but this is the sickness of self-hate that homophobia creates. Perhaps one of these days he’ll get help and figure out that the problem isn’t gay, bi and trans people but those who hate us. They are the sick ones.
hephaestion
Vox is obviously a loser outfit if they hired this moron.
dougmc92
https://twitter.com/voxdotcom I think this is the magaizne’s twitter page- let them know how you feel.
MK Ultra
Wow,Ezra Klein wants his new media venture to be taken seriously, so he off the bat hires an ostensibly mentally ill homosexual who lacks any qualification to spout conspiracy theories about gay people?
Why not an Alex Jones-type conspiracy theorist?
Why not a Holocaust revisionist? Why not a neo-Nazi?
This seems like a cynical, calculated PR troll move on Klein’s part. Completely throw gay people under the bus for click bait. Vox/Fox?
You know, there are so many new’s media outlets out now, I think I’ll pass on Klein’s homophobic, sensationalist rhetoric porn.
IJelly
What I really don’t get is why anyone would hire him in the first place. Self-hating homo or not, he’s a pretty terrible writer.
Stefano
You are just envious.
gskorich
if his is a choice then why not choose to be straight and move on?
Joetx
Ambrosino is an alumnus of the laughingstock of an institution of higher learning known as Liberty University. That says all you need to know about both Ambrosino & Liberty University.
Incredibly stupid move, Ezra Klein/Vox.
BJ McFrisky
MSNBC is lauded for hiring the painfully idiotic and divisive Al Sharpton, they receive the ultimate praise for bringing the laughably clueless Ronan Farrow on board . . . and yet Ezra Klein is evil for hiring Ambrosino?
Hey, don’t watch it if you don’t like it. It really is that simple.
Alan down in Florida
And to think I once thought Ezra Klein was cute. Just one more of my unsupportable delusions.
akn
I’m not defending Ambrosino or his writing (which I agree is utterly forgettable), but I find it plainly hypocritical to accuse him of writing “with disdain for other gay guys” in an article in which you are doing exactly that. And yes, you might argue that you’re merely offering a neutral ‘critique’ of a writer whose work you dislike, but suggesting he ought to “work out whatever his damage is” sounds pretty disdainful to me.
It really bothers me how mean Queerty writers are to LGBT people who dare step outside the lines of mainstream gay ideology.
MK Ultra
Hmmm something I think there’s a huge difference between stepping outside mainstream “gay ideology” (whatever that contrived phrase means), and just sprouting unsubstantiated lies.
I mean when Tony Perkins and friends vomit those same lies, no one calls that “stepping outside mainstream ideology”.
So I guess Queerty aren’t the only writers here who are hypocrites….
Adam
Vox has commented on the hiring of Ambrosino: https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/444503683972464641
itsdynamitetime
Bandon Ambrosino is to gays what Samuel L Jackson was to Django. His hiring is a ploy for shock value and his backwards views will always prevent him from being taken seriously as a writer. On top of that, he’s not particularly interesting and his writing is predictable. One day he’s going to realize he is nothing more than a puppet, what a joke!
Jake357
I’m quite bored with the whole category of op-ed and commentary. “Journalism” is replete with the 2 cents of everyone, their grandmother, and a couple of stray dogs. You needn’t be well-versed on a given topic (finance, for example) to start spouting your mouth off. You simply have to foster some cult of personality and bloviate fiercely.
viveutvivas
“…homosexual for homophobes: socially conservative, antigay, an apologist for our enemies.”
How is he so different from Andrew Sullivan then?
Stache1
Sounds like he’s just trying to make a name for himself. Find a niche. The Gay Uncle Tom. Seems to be working too.
jar
@Jake357: Amen. As Gore Vidal trenchantly remarked about the talking heads- they were just too unattractive to make it as actors. The problem with these commentators is that they actually believe their opinions are valid, a ruse they can keep up because none of the other talking heads will challenge them, lest they themselves be exposed as ignoramuses as well. It’s a circle jerk of mediocre minds with no valuable talents.