Sex and the City and And Just Like That… star Mario Cantone was the featured guest on Friday’s (June 20) edition of The View, and he had a message to share with fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community this Pride Month.

“My message is just, ‘Get your rock climbing gear on and keep climbing that rocky mountain. ‘Cause they are just continuously trying to drag us down — especially this administration,” he said. “You’ve got to be a bulldozer and just keep going. You’ve gotta keep going. That’s all you can do.”

He also shared a more chippy message for younger generations, saying, “By the way, to the young LGBTQIA-ers, know this: You didn’t invent gay. There’s so much stuff that came before you. Ask questions, be respectful to your elders, and know that as a youngin, it’s much better to be interested than interesting, as Jane Fonda would say… I’ve been doing this for years, the fight, the jobs I’ve lost over this in the ’80s, people [were] like lepers.”

Joy Behar then weighed in and said, “Now, it’s getting a little scary… They’ll take away marriage rights… They’re going to try.”

“I know,” he agreed. “They’re going to do that, and they’re taking away trans rights… It’s like, what is it to you? What are we doing that’s bothering you? It’s mind blowing.”

“People do not mind their own business, that’s the problem,” Behar said.

The actor went on to detail his thoughts on the history of LGBTQ+ rights in America, saying, “In the ’70s, we were really making strides. I’m old. In the ’70s, we were making strides over a lot of movies about gay people, TV movies. I mean, it was just, it was moving on, and then AIDS happened, and it slapped it back about 40 years. And ever since then, it’s been like this.”

“So maybe the people [should] be out on the street,” Behar offered.

“Yeah. ‘No Kings’ is right,” he responded, referring to the previous weekend’s anti-Trump protests all around the country. “I don’t want any kings. I just want to see queens.”

Watch the full exchange below.

.@macantone shares his message to the LGBTQ+ community: “Get your rock climbing gear on and keep climbing that rocky mountain because they are just continuously trying to drag us down. Especially this administration.”

“You’ve got to keep going!” pic.twitter.com/Gg4lovh1Va

— The View (@TheView) June 20, 2025

The View, weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC