Television host and reality star Karamo Brown connected with the Washington Blade on Tuesday afternoon before his special appearance at the 36th annual 17th Street High Heel Race in D.C. at the invitation of Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

The city’s historic LGBTQ event, by providing a space where participants can feel safe and supported while also welcoming other diverse groups of people to join the fun, is “a model of what the world should be,” Brown said.

Best known for his eponymously named talk show, now in season two on NBC Universal and “Queer Eye,” the Netflix series that wrapped its seventh season in May, Brown became the second openly gay Black man to appear on a reality show when he was cast in MTV’s “The Real World: Philadelphia” in 2004.

Fans of his current television projects are likely aware he is also an author and activist who has worked on behalf of causes related to racial justice, LGBTQ rights, and HIV, with a background that includes training in psychotherapy and experience working in social services.

As intra and inter-party warfare in Washington has reached new heights in recent weeks, Brown advises that divisiveness comes when “you put comprehension over compassion,” adding, “you don’t have to understand me to respect me and have compassion for me as a human being.”

Likewise, he said, being curious about the feelings and experiences of others, and being open to exploring alternative points of view — however inscrutable they may seem, and however different they might be from our own — can also lead to better interpersonal interactions.

With respect “any adult who would choose to willfully hurt a child” by advancing anti-LGBTQ policies targeting young people, Brown said, “I would have to question, ‘what are their motives?’ ‘Why are they feeling this way?'”

We are responsible for ensuring that children are loved, supported, and protected — whether in the context of policy discussions over gun violence prevention, mental health, or matters concerning sexual orientation and gender identity, Brown said.

Asked whether he is interested in inviting any special guests from Washington to appear on “Karamo,” Brown said “let’s be real, there’s tons of politicians — I could bring them and their wives and their mistresses on my show, and they’d fit right on in.”

“I don’t need to call out any names,” he said.