Watch: Andrew Hartzler Hilariously Takes Down His Weepy Aunt
No one argued against same sex-marriage more emotionally than U.S. House Rep. Vicky Hartzler who argued against the Respect for Marriage Act before its passage on Thursday. In her remarks on the House floor prior to the vote, Hartzler referred to the bill as the Disrespect for Marriage Act, saying that its implication was that the country had to "submit to [the Democratic party's] ideology or be silenced," reported the Missouri-based Riverfront Times.
"The bill, which federally protects the right to same-sex and interracial marriages, passed with 258 yea votes shortly thereafter — and although a total of 169 nay votes were cast, all by Republicans, Rep. Hartzler became the sole face of the opposition when her tearful speech almost immediately began making the rounds on social media," People reports.
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Oklahoma-based LGBTQ+ activist Andrew Hartzler, who happens to be Hartzler's nephew, heard about the speech from a friend, but first shrugged it off. "But within hours, Vicky's face was everywhere, spewing words of disapproval toward an already vulnerable population, one that Andrew is a part of," People continued.
"My initial thought when I saw it was, 'Oh my, is she crying because she now knows that I'm gay?'" Andrew, 24, told the publication, adding that he began overthinking her speech, imagining that she was getting emotional because she was envisioning him marrying a man and being sent to hell.
"I still don't know why she has such negative outlooks or perceptions of gay people," he says. But he didn't like knowing that while he was working hard to fight against LGBTQ discrimination — he's been a vocal plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit to strip discriminatory faith-based colleges of federal funding — someone who shares his last name was in Washington working to perpetuate it. "I would like my name to be associated with love."
In a second interview, he told BuzzFeed News: "At first I just thought that it was an old video because that kind of rhetoric is quite common from my aunt. But I realized that it was from today and what she was talking about, and, yeah, I wasn't really surprised."
He continued: "It was weird to me that she was crying. I would say that. I don't think that was a performance. Knowing my aunt, I think those were genuine tears."
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With cheeky confidence, he responded with a pointed TikTok that begins with him identifying himself. "Today a US Congresswoman, my Aunt Vickie, started crying because gay people like me can get married." The clip cut to his aunt speaking on the floor and breaking down into tears.
"So despite coming out to my aunt this past February I guess she is just as much a homophobe."
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The sweetly handsome, camera-ready Andrew continued by taking down his aunt point-by-point. On religious institutions threatened by the law, he said: "Aunt Vicky that's not right. Institutions of faith like religious universities are not being silenced. They're being empowered by the US government to discriminate against tens of thousands LGBTQ students because of religious exemptions, but they still receive federal funding."
His aunt continued, saying to the House floor: "The bill's implications — Submit to our ideology or be silenced."
Andrew replied with beguiling insight: "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 your not. You're just going to have to learn to co-exist with all of us. And I'm sure it's not that hard."
In the past, People writes, he wasn't quite sure how to handle her more extreme political views, but Vicky's display of what he calls "hateful rhetoric and blatant discrimination" on Thursday put him in a position where he began to feel responsible for righting her wrongs.
"Negative rhetoric spread by the religious right demonizes LGBTQ people and basically turns their following completely against them," Andrew tells People. "It can become very dangerous, like we saw in Colorado. Hate is taught, it's not something you're born with."