You’re no hero when you ‘call out’ queerbaiting

30 years ago tabloids hounded people out of the closet in the name of homophobia and AIDS hysteria.  Now people do it in the name of being progressive?

30 years ago tabloids hounded people out of the closet in the name of homophobia and AIDS hysteria.  Now people do it in the name of being progressive?

This is an opinion article.

When I was 15 years old and all locked up in my little closet in Perth’s rough-as-guts south-east suburbs, I could have only dreamed of Heartstopper.

It’s the Netflix hit of the year about a gay lad (Joe Locke) and a bisexual dude (Kit Connor) falling in love at high school -  all while dealing with mums and bullies and school and working out what on earth their sexuality is.

A bit cuddly and PG for my taste these days - give me the rock and roll of Euphoria or Heartbreak High any day.

Heartstopper.

But to have seen a show 14 years ago where queer guys my age talk about how I felt? Kissing guys like I wanted to? I weep for the wee Catholic boy in Gosnells who would have lapped it up.

So how disappointing to see that in the past 10 years, some things have really not changed.

Connor this week took to Twitter for one brief message to his Heartstopper fans: “back for a minute. i’m bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye.”

back for a minute. i’m bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye

— Kit Connor (@kit_connor) October 31, 2022

He had been inundated with gossip, innuendo and outright abuse online for being seen holding hands with a female co-star. 

How dare he, some quarters of the queer internet said, play a “gay role” but be seen in real life with a woman. 

Most of the queer community has rushed to his defence and supported him. We’ve all dealt with bullies.

Putting aside the shock of some of my gay brethren that bisexual people do exist and sometimes date people of the opposite sex, why was Connor forced to make this statement?

It's because of so-called 'queerbaiting', where people are accused of acting queer while maintaining plausible deniability, or when a straight person is simply accused of courting same-sex attention. 

Harry Styles - playing a gay cop in the new film My Policeman which hits streaming services on Friday  - wraps himself up in rainbow flags and makes the odd wink towards bisexuality, and gets accused of queerbaiting.

Harry Styles and Emma Corrin in My Policeman.

Shawn Mendes seems to be accused of queerbaiting for simply having abs and showing them off.

Mendes has been forced to say he’s straight multiple times, and Styles refuses to define his sexuality - which is his prerogative.

Would we rather male celebrities showed no interest in gay fanbases? We can go back to the 1980s if they wish.

Now, there is a strong argument that queer people have lost out on too many queer TV and movie roles. 

The recent Russell T Davies smash It’s A Sin, on the 1980s AIDS crisis in London, deliberately casted queer actors in queer roles after years of straight actors taking every LGBTQ part out there.

Cast of Russell T Davies' It's A Sin.

 The US remake of Queer as Folk is also a great showcase of queer talent after years of facing the closet and losing the part to the straight dude. 

But Connor’s case is not a straight person in a gay role. He was essentially accused of being straight. Accusations of ‘queerbaiting’ are now forcing people to out themselves.

It’s only 30 years since the tabloids hounded people like Elton John and George Michael out of the closet in the name of homophobia and AIDS hysteria. Now it’s done by some in the name of so-called progressivism.

George Michael performes at an Aids awareness charity concert at Wembley Arena in London in April 1987.

Fit in our approved box of queerdom, or you’re against us. 

You can also feel the invisible hand of chauvinism here too. Like Styles and Mendes, Connor is very handsome.

It’s a bit harder to project your fantasies on a celebrity who isn't sexually attainable. So best to snipe instead that they’re “playing it up” or “they’re just after attention”.

Is it that different to a straight male pig calling a woman a "lesbian" because she won't give him the time of day?

Here’s hoping Connor keeps heart after the outpouring of queer support for him, and that he keeps on with Heartstopper. And let’s hope the queerbaiters have learnt a lesson.