A straight, married, father-of-three who likes to wear skirts, dresses and heels has lashed out at the LGBTIQ+ community for making things 'worse' for him.
Mark Bryan, a 62-year-old American robotic engineer who lives in Germany, is like any other bloke from Texas...except his wardrobe consists of sky-high stilettos and pencil skirts.
That's because he believes clothing should be genderless. So, when he's at home, work or around town, Bryan typically dons a shirt with a skirt and some heels because cause that's what he likes.
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However, while he's out there promoting genderless clothing, he doesn't have very positive things to say about the gay community.
In a clip from his appearance on a new docuseries Beyond Fashion, Bryan told the visibly shocked beauty guru of Queer Eye: Germany Avi Jakobs that he doesn't want to be associated with them.
"I try to separate myself from the [LGBTIQ+] community because of the gay community that wore skirts and high heels before I did," Bryan said.
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"I feel like actually they made it worse for me, being straight, because now I’m assumed to be gay."
The series’ first episode is entitled 'Hat mode ein geschlect?', which translates to 'Does fashion have gender?'
Jakobs was excited to meet Bryan and had assumed the Texan man was standing up for the queer community in some way with his style.
"I don’t really think that I’m fighting with you, but I’m not fighting against you, either," Bryan said.
Bryan went on to lash out at the gay and trans community and told Jakobs that the difficulties faced by LGBTIQ+ people are, in part, their own fault.
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"I think they’ve made it difficult for themselves by just being more flamboyant. I think they’re too outrageous and too flamboyant," he said.
According to Queerly, Jakobs responded: "I just wish you would fight on our side. I’m so disappointed."
The Queer Eye: Germany host went on to add dryly: "I’m very sorry that we made it worse for you."
Speaking to Bored Panda, Mark explained: "I dress like this because I can. Just to be different. I have always admired the women that wore tight skirts and heels.
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"Not sexually, but the power they presented. I don't dress to be sexual, but to dress like any professional woman would.
"To me, clothes have no gender. I prefer skirts to dresses.
"Dresses don't allow me to mix the genders. I prefer a 'masculine' look above the waist and a non-gendered look below the waist. It's all about clothes having no gender."
Topics: LGBTQ, News, World News, US News