Daniel Franzese Dishes on Yass, Jesus Podcast & Elizabeth Taylor's Legacy

Daniel Franzese first stole our hearts as Damian in the classic 2004 comedy film Mean Girls and has since become a leading voice in LGBTQ+ rights and entertainment.

The actor, advocate, and podcast host was one of the featured voices at the Unleashed LGBTQ conference that was held in Dallas in September, and he discussed his fame, his platform, his activism, and his love for iconic LGBTQ+ ally Elizabeth Taylor.

In regard to his podcast Yass, Jesus, Franzese noted, “It has to be said that way. On Yass, Jesus, we like, we don’t Bible study, we Bible wonder. We’re like ’What is it?’”

He also noted they do “Baked Bible Stories” where they smoke weed and go through a Bible story trying to figure out the meaning of it, and one instance led to an episode about all of the penises in the Bible.

“They put the penises in the Bible,” he said. “I didn’t put the penises in the Bible, so let’s just, like, talk about it openly and free.”

Franzese mentioned his distaste for people acting one way Monday through Saturday, but put on their best suit for Sunday and says he comes to God on Sunday just like he does the rest of the week “cursing and flailing and telling guys their butts are cute.”

Franzese is also an active member of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and uses his platform and status with them to promote awareness about HIV/AIDS while also promoting body positivity and overall LGBTQ+ rights.

“I can’t tell you how many times, and I’m moved to tears every time I see the clip of Elizabeth Taylor saying, ‘When I knew gay people were the enemy, I had to say something and do something,” he said of the actress’s speech for equality at the 2000 GLAAD Awards.

“Not many people were standing up for us then,” he continued. “So the focus of our community became health. Like the late eighties, early nineties was all about a picture of health and who looked the best, who had muscles because he’s not sick. It became something that we all strove for.”

Check Franzese's full appearance at the Unleashed LGBTQ conference in the video below.