One humid summer evening, I went to Joanne Trattoria, a cozy Italian restaurant on New York’s Upper West Side. It is an establishment which would not be exceptional if it were not owned and managed by Joe Germanotta, father of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga.

The restaurant welcomes regular drag partiesand the event I had tickets for was advertised as a Pride extravaganza. There would be a buffet dinner, a drag show and a live auction of two Lady Gaga tickets to a show in Las Vegas.

But I had also come to see if I could learn more about Mr. Germanotta himself. Because despite his bona fides as the father of a queer icon and owner of a gay-friendly Italian restaurant, he’s something of a MAGA enthusiast. Over the past year, he has gone on Fox News several times to complain about economy, crimeand how migrants »took over» the neighborhood where Joanne’s is located. Last month he made his approval from the Trump official on Fox and friends. “They are two very different people,” Germanotta said of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. “One of them is pure, you know, and he’s a patriot. And the other one, she’s just going to say whatever she needs to say to get elected. That’s basically what I hear.

The public aggression – which seems at odds with her daughter’s politics – hasn’t stopped Germanotta from passionately touting what’s happening at the drag bar restaurant. He tweets frequently about “Drag Me to Joanne’s,” a weekly drag dinner, and live streams the restaurant’s events, including drag bingo And cabaret evenings. The effect is disorienting: One minute he’ll be retweeting a video of an interview with Tucker Carlson or Ted Nugent calling for the impeachment of President Joe Biden. Next, Germanotta is post photos of himself with drag artists and tweeting posts like “All Monsters Welcome” and “LaLa Wiggy will be back soon.”

The two sides of this person seemed so misaligned. I had to see the show for myself.

When Lady Gaga endorsed Joe Biden during the 2020 campaign, Donald Trump took notice. “Lady Gaga is not very good”, Trump said at a rally. Trump then claimed, ominously, that he could tell “a lot of stories” about Lady Gaga.

Instead of coming to her daughter’s defense, Germanotta first sought to demonstrate her allegiance to Trump. tweet: “@realDonaldTrump 2020.” In a later tweet, he explained: “You may have noticed that my political and spiritual beliefs are different. freedom and freedom of choice would not be political. (The tweets have since been deleted.)

A few months later, Lady Gaga performed at Biden’s inauguration. Fox News called Germanotta for a interview. “I’m still very proud of her!” he told them. “I think she did a great job. She sang loud and clear and really put her soul into it. When asked if it was happening so soon after January 6 and the attack on the Capitol that month, and if it worried him, he said he had “normal fears that a father has every time my daughter performs,” adding, “I hope everyone stays happy, safe and that it’s a calm day.” (Gaga has not publicly supported Kamala Harris.)

This launched his commentary role. Germanotta went to Fox and couple times to talk about the downsides of COVID lockdowns. Next, to weigh in on another of Trump’s favorite talking points. Since spring 2022, New York City has experienced an influx of migrantspeople from Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, fleeing unstable conditions at home. Germanotta is often cited as a New York small business owner who reportedly saw his restaurant threatened because the presence of migrants was a problem. dissuasive for customers. He also claimed in a few Fox interviews that the migrant population had brought prostitution and drug trafficking to the region.

He has many complaints to make: on Fox, he also criticized the demonstrators for “creating consumer reluctance”. Many of his gripes seem to concern what he sees as the fall of New York. He speaks of “chaos» and the proliferation of motorbikes and litter. He doesn’t like all the new things”pottery stores.” He complains about wandering around late at night and noise and partybut also claims that the streets are now empty due to fear of crime. (“I would never raise two daughters here again. It’s not safe anymore,” he said.) It makes it smooth, galvanizing declarations like, “We need to tweak the Big Apple” and “If the place looks like hell, we’re going to attract the wrong people.” » Fox News eats it up with securities like “Lady Gaga’s Dad Slams New York City.” How, I wondered, did this fit in with someone who was organizing what seemed like a good old, noisy, inclusive event in New York?

When I arrived at the door of Joanne’s for the Pride Extravaganza, a sign written in pen read “$69 Entrance Fee.” (I had paid $99 to secure my reservation for the evening’s event, but I figured such were the economics of the city’s nightlife.) My ticket included dinner, dessert, and the show. Drinks were not included.

In the restaurant, a video of a Lady Gaga performance was playing above the bar. Banners of pride flags adorned every surface. The host walked me to the seats at the back of the restaurant and we passed a huge blackboard that said, “Leave a message for Mr. G or Lady G.” Customers had scribbled various messages from love and supplications, including “Come to Brazil”.

On the walls there was a lot of Lady Gaga ephemera, including JaneLady Gaga’s fifth album, which pays tribute to her aunt, Joe’s late sister Joanne Stefani Germanottadied at age 19 from lupus. (The restaurant is named after Joanne; Gaga is also named after her aunt.) There were framed tickets to the premiere of Gucci House at Lincoln Center and a New York license plate reading “LADYGAGA.”

The crowd in the dining room was a mix of older and younger people, but most people were dressed on the preppy side in gingham and Ralph Lauren. I sat down and ordered a drink from a Gaga-themed cocktail menu. (Born This Way was made with vodka, rum, lime, simple syrup and light beer; Edge of Glory was a mix of tequila, passion fruit, lime and champagne.) Ariana Grande, Scissor Sisters, Kim Petras and Dua Lipa played over the speakers.

At exactly 7 p.m., drag queen Jupiter Genesis kicked off the show, wearing a layered purple boa and metallic bustier. Strutting between tables, her head almost touching the ceiling, Genesis crossed the dining room and snatched dollar bills from diners’ hands while she introduced performances from three other queens: Victoria Holiday performed a Beyoncé’s number with a long pink wig; Lip-synched BaeJing White Lotus theme song with lots of rapid tongue movements; and Ruby Fox performed a Cyndi Lauper song with opera gloves. (Genesis herself did a Lady Gaga tribute number.) Germanotta was there all night, filming the performance on her iPad for the live stream. Dinner was served while we watched the queens do their thing. There were mini cannolis for dessert and colorful macaroons stamped with little Pride flags.

Almost 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been pushed in the United States in recent years, many of which aimed to ban or censor drag shows. Many of these drag bans have failed, but this spring the The Supreme Court effectively ruled that local governments were allowed to ban drag shows. Project 2025, which has been presented as a model for the Trump presidency (and for which JD Vance wrote the draft), would be eliminate federal policies that promote LGBTQ+ equality. The report claims that only two-parent heterosexual families are safe for children, stating: “Children are suffering from the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries. »

But you won’t find Germanotta on Fox talking about all that. When contacted by Slate about the matter, Germanotta responded with a statement through a representative: “I have not and will never support any national legislation that interferes with anyone’s rights of personal or artistic expression . Assigning derogatory labels that discriminate against personal identity is wrong and we do not tolerate it at Joanne.

“I am extremely proud to ensure Joanne’s remains a safe space for LGBTQ+ and Drag performers,” the statement said. “Freedom of speech, choice, expression and religion are cornerstones of American culture. In my opinion, every citizen is protected by the Constitution and these freedoms should not be censored. I vigorously support and defend the rights of diverse LGBTQ+ people and the artistry of Drag Performers. In our country, the freedom of each individual includes the open expression of artistic talent and personal decisions. In my opinion, these rights cannot be ignored or taken away.

For what it’s worth, I believe it. I never would have thought that Germanotta’s views would completely align with the Fox News agenda, which seems to want to demonstrate that drag queens and homosexuals are a threat to society.

But it’s clear that Fox anchors are getting something powerful out of Germanotta’s appearances: proof that the parent of a liberal celebrity supports their ideology. And in exchange for letting Fox use his proximity to fame, Germanotta could lobby for something in return.

If Joanne’s is founded on the mission of family and communityWouldn’t Germanotta want to dedicate some of the attention he receives to defending LGBTQ+ people when they are attacked? Freedom of expression is indeed essential, as Germanotta said. So is our responsibility to speak on behalf of our own communities when given a platform.