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Vermont Democratic Rep. Becca Balint thinks there’s something queer about Secretary Pete Hegseth’s fixation on masculinity.
The congresswoman weighed in on the US military’s plans to test male service members’ testosterone levels, telling journalist Scott MacFarlane there’s something odd about being so obsessed with manliness while villainizing the LGBTQ+ community at the same time.
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“I think it’s indicative of the fact that there are so many people in this administration that have some weird, like, intense, homoerotic feelings towards men while also being incredibly homophobic, and not just homophobic, but like, hate-mongering, fear-mongering about the LGBT community,” she said.
Clarifying that the homoeroticism wasn’t the weird part, but rather pretending like their focus on building brawny, virile soldiers didn’t mirror a full-on ******, she said “manly, rugged, macho man” Hegseth himself was the perfect example.
About Pete Hegseth’s talk about testosterone for service members … Rep Becca Balint (D-VT):“There are so many people in this Administration that have some weird, intense homoerotic feelings toward men, while also being homophobic”… pic.twitter.com/e8TJB2J7dw
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) July 16, 2026
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Balint said Hegseth’s idea of masculinity was such a caricature it reminded her of Tom of Finland, an artist known for his risqué, often pornographic, illustrations of mustachioed leather daddies and uniformed musclemen.
“Pete Hegseth is the embodiment of that,” she said, imagining the men of the right must have to be drawing inspiration from the iconic gay artist.
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Another thing that stuck out to Balint was Hegseth and company’s insistence on denying high-ranking women and people of color in the military well-deserved promotions.
"We know what this is all about,” she said. “The military, whether you support the military-industrial complex or not, it has always been merit-based. The people who are the best of the best rise to the top.”
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“So the fact that he has systematically been keeping down women and people of color gives up the whole game,” the congresswoman went on. “It’s actually not about a merit-based system anymore.”
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
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