Konrad Juengling facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Konrad Juengling
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Juengling in 2014
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| Born | 1987 (age 36–37) |
| Nationality | German-American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education | North Salem High School |
| Alma mater | Portland State University (BS) Boise State University (MSW) |
| Occupation | LGBT rights activist |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
Robert Juengling
(m. 2016) |
| Relatives | Dietrich Juengling (uncle) |
Konrad Anders Juengling (German: Jüngling; born 1987) is a German-American LGBT rights activist and writer. His activism focuses on equal rights for LGBT people, ethical consumerism, and supporting liberal politicians.
He is a former contributing writer for PQ Monthly and Geeks OUT. He is the author of Jeb's ABCs, a satirical children's book based on Jeb Bush and Bush's stance on political issues.
Early life and education
Konrad Anders Juengling was born in 1987 in Salem, Oregon. Juengling's grandfather moved from Germany to the United States, where his surname Jüngling was anglicized as Juengling. Juengling has considered changing his last name back to the original spelling. He was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Juengling is the nephew of lighting director Dietrich Juengling. The LGBT publication Gay PV characterized the Juengling family as "involved in the arts". He is a collateral descendant of United States President Abraham Lincoln through Lincoln's great-grandfather John Lincoln.
In February 2005, Juengling earned his Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America; his project was removing graffiti from public parks and fences in Four Corners, Oregon. Because of the then-active BSA policy of not allowing gay youth to join, Juengling did not come out to any scouting leaders while in the Boy Scouts, though he did come out to other boys in his troop. Juengling attended North Salem High School, from which he graduated in 2005. While at North, he was a reporter for the student newspaper The Clarion. After graduating high school, Juengling attended university at Portland State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. He moved to Boise to attend Boise State University to earn a Master's in Social Work, graduating in 2017. At Boise State, Juengling was the recipient of the Chinn LGBT Scholarship from the American Atheists.
Activism
Politics
Indiana's 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act bill
In March 2015, Indiana passed SB 101, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The act was seen by Juengling as discriminatory against LGBT people. In response, he purchased the domain names of six Republican Indiana State House representatives and linked them to the Human Rights Campaign's Youth Statistics page. He stated the information on the site would educate the lawmakers about a population that "is already disadvantaged and have less accesses to family, community supports, and healthcare." The domain names he purchased were for representatives Dale DeVon, Donald Lehe, Donna Schaibley, Douglas Gutwein, Kathy Kreag Richardson, and Martin Carbaugh. In an open letter to the representatives, Juengling offered to give them the domains in exchange for passing a non-discrimination policy. Juengling's efforts were praised by LGBT magazine The Advocate and Liberal America. The Huffington Post awarded Juengling with their "Unicorn of the Week" award for his efforts in combating the Indiana bill and "doing something positive for the LGBTQ community".
As a response to Juengling's domain names purchase, writer Brian Anderson referred to him as an extortionist who "is holding [the domains] hostage until they bow to his will." Young Conservatives writer Michael Cantrell also referred to Juengling as an extortionist, and someone who "lives to take [freedom] away." Criticism also come from within the gay community, including Pink News, who stated "We could not possibly condone such a petty move."
2016 presidential election
Ted Cruz announced his campaign for president in March 2015. Juengling stated, "Despite having an abysmal attendance record on the Armed Services Committee, not recognizing our impact on climate change, and his insistence gays are waging a 'jihad' against Christians, Cruz believes he is the right man to lead the most powerful country in the free world... The reality of the situation is that a presidency under Cruz is a far fetched idea." Juengling created an Amazon wish list with gay-related items to be sent to Cruz's office as a form of protesting his candidacy, including books on how to overcome prejudices.
Jeb Bush announced his campaign three months later in June 2015. Juengling wrote a book about him called Jeb's ABCs, a satirical children's book that called attention to Bush's political stances. The Huffington Post wrote the book "is actually genius." The National Memo stated the book "is a critically-lauded take-down of Jeb Bush's poor record on LGBTQ rights... Though the nomination of Donald Trump wasn't much consolation." Juengling endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
2018 Idaho gubernatorial election
..... The National Memo called Juengling's endorsement "a major LGBTQ endorsement." In an interview with Gay Star News, Juengling stated he disagrees with Jordan on gun rights, stating he is "firmly in the gun control camp. I think Americans have an unhealthy fascination and obsession with firearms."
2020 presidential election
In October 2018 Juengling stated he'd like to see Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or Cory Booker make a presidential bid. In May 2019, he officially endorsed Harris, and stated a Harris-Pete Buttigieg ticket would be his "ideal." He criticized Tulsi Gabbard, citing Gabbard's history on LGBTQ rights, record on Bashar al-Assad, and other positions she holds, but stated he would vote for whoever the Democratic nominee was. In September 2020, Juengling stated he was "75 percent confident [Democrats] will take the presidency. Trump's handling of the coronavirus, rampant unemployment, and his behavior over the last four years will drive people into the voting booth." On November 3, Juengling stated he was nervous Biden could win the popular vote but lose the election because of the Electoral College. After Biden won the election, Mic reported Juengling was anxious and "deeply unsettled by what he sees as Trump’s denial of his defeat (a.k.a., reality) in order to promote the narrative his base wants."
Betty White Day
In January 2021, Juengling petitioned the Oak Park, Illinois village board to name January 17, actress Betty White's birthday, as Betty White Day. Juengling told People he had been a fan of White ever since watching reruns of the Mary Tyler Moore Show in his childhood, followed by The Golden Girls as an adult. The petition stated White is a "national treasure". The petition gathered over 3,000 signatures by the end of the month. As of January 17, 2022, what would have been White's 100th birthday, the Oak Park board had not taken up the petition; Illinois had enacted a Betty White Day on January 6, 2022 as proposed by Senator Don Harmon.
Animal rights
Juengling protested the Ringling Brothers Circus at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon, in 2012. He has launched multiple petitions online relating to animal rights, including to ban the sale of foie gras online, and to outlaw trophy hunting imports within the United States. His first online petition was launched in December 2013 for Idaho to join the West Coast "in not allowing the sale, importing, processing, or possessing shark fins." Juengling stated, "I was really passionate about [the petition] because shark finning is incredibly cruel. Often the sharks are caught, their fins cut off, and then they are tossed overboard. Without their fins, they don't have the ability to swim, leading them to suffer and die quickly." Ultimately, the petition was not successful.
Juengling is also focused on expanding endangered animal protection and ending fur farming. EuroNews stated Juengling is "particularly focused on animal rights activism" and has a "passion for animals". He does not support zoos, stating zoos "profit off the capture and containment of exotic animals that should be left in the wild."
In October 2020, Juengling started a campaign to get Grenada to adopt endangered species legislation on the islands. An op-ed by Astrid Mitchell in Now Grenada called it an "important campaign", writing, "If Juengling is successful, not only the endangered animals will benefit. It will enhance our tourism product, and thus the people of Grenada stand to benefit as well."
Juengling is a supporter of Million Dollar Vegan, a charity campaign launched in February 2019 to get Pope Francis to go vegan for Lent.
Political positions
2019 Trump wall emergency
In 2019, President Donald Trump declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States. Juengling does not believe the border wall should be considered a national emergency.
First Amendment
In November 2020, OZY reported Juengling believed the First Amendment to the United States Constitution needed to be updated. Juengling stated, "Just like people cannot legally incite imminent violence, they should not be able to incite others with hate speech against a minority population. We have the duty as an advanced society to move beyond unregulated hate speech being protected. It’s time for hate speech laws to come to America."
Global warming
Juengling believes global warming should be a national emergency. In February 2020, he stated, "...the United States is actively contributing to the problem rather than being the leader it could be. Global warming affects the entire planet and has already had permanent consequences on this earth... We have the opportunity to mitigate some of the damage currently happening and shift the focus to being responsible stewards of this planet rather than plundering it for shareholders."
President Donald Trump
In September 2020, Juengling stated "Trump is the most divisive and unscrupulous president America has had. Other presidents don't hold a candle to Trump in terms of incompetence and surrounding themselves with sycophants and inept family members. Trump's interests lie in expanding his empire and growing his fortune. If he has to run America into the ground by appealing to racists, homophobes, and nationalists, he'll do it."
Writing
While attending Portland State University, Juengling was a paid columnist for the student newspaper the Daily Vanguard. His column, titled "Just a Phase", ran during late 2013. From 2013 to 2015, Juengling was a contributing writer for PQ Monthly, which was based out of Portland, Oregon.
After writing an op-ed picked up by Geeks OUT, Juengling then joined the Geeks OUT team, writing posts about queer-related media for their site from September 2014 to April 2016. Op-eds written by Juengling "helped to raise Geeks OUT's profile after their ‘Skip Ender's Game’ campaign." From December 2015 until the magazine closed in May 2016, Juengling wrote for OutBoise Magazine, a queer magazine based in Boise, Idaho.
In April 2016, Juengling joined Emily Allen, Timothy "Tim" Jensen, Christy Schroeder, and Jenna Wiskus to write Boise Weekly to criticize Idaho's Bill 1321, which would allow the Bible to be used in public schools as instruction material. They stated Bill 1321 "blurs the lines between the separation of Church and State in Idaho Public Schools" and that it was "an alarming bill for several reasons".
In June 2017, Juengling wrote an op-ed for the Times-News, titled "Idaho Needs Mandatory Sex Education", in which he argued, "Comprehensive sex education should also include LGBT health and topics as well. ....." The piece was also published in the Post Register under the headline "Mandatory sex ed in Idaho."
....." A day later, he wrote another letter to the editor of the Meridian Press criticizing Meridian's mayor for abstaining from a potential tie-breaking vote when the city council voted on a non-discrimination ordinance for gender identity and sexual orientation.
Juengling has also written op-eds on LGBT topics for the Q Center in Portland; The Washington Blade; GayRVA; QSaltLake and Purple Unions.
Personal life
Juengling initially met his husband Robert (né Peterson) on the gay social networking app Grindr. The two became engaged in 2015 at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. They married at Silver Falls State Park on August 20, 2016, where they were the first same-sex couple married at the lodge.
An amateur genealogist, Juengling is a member of several genealogically focused groups. Among them are: Bloodlines of Salem, a lineage association for those related to people killed as witches during the Salem Witch Trials; the Dutch Colonial Society, a society for those who are a "direct descent from a Dutch settler born in the Netherlands, and, who immigrated, no later than 19 April 1775, to any settlement in what is now the United States"; and the Presidential Families of America, a lineage association for those related to United States Presidents and First Ladies.
South African artist Gavin du Plessis painted a piece honoring Juengling, called Juengling in Hades. The piece was part of the Sanlam Art Collection in 2019.
Juengling considers Diana, Princess of Wales an inspiration and "progressive champion" for her charity work with HIV/AIDS patients during her lifetime. He identifies as an atheist, environmentalist, feminist, liberal, and "sometimes vegan".
See also
- List of LGBT people from Portland, Oregon
