Hayley Kiyoko Shared Her Gayest Moment in the Closet & We’re Cackling

Hayley Kiyoko has become such a lesbian icon since coming out publicly during her “Girls Like Girls” era that it’s hard to remember a time when that wasn’t the case. But the former Disney star herself is reminding fans of her awkward in-the-closet phase with a video that takes on a whole new meaning these days.

“In honor of #lesbianvisibilityweek … I present to you, my GAYEST MOMENT IN THE CLOSET,” she wrote on TikTok recently.

While doing press for Insidious: Chapter 3, one of several collabs with “Girls Like Girls” pal Stefanie Scott, Lesbian Jesus was asked who her first celebrity crush was.

Baby Hayley clearly struggles to think of an appropriate answer before awkwardly replying, “Does Justin Timberlake count?”

Thinking back to early crushes, even celebrity crushes, can be weird when you’re raised in a heteronormative society and “crush” for people on the far end of the Kinsey scale frequently just meant someone of another gender who wasn’t as cringe-worthy as all the others.

Hayley naming a completely appropriate male celebrity that everyone kind of had a crush on in that era is hilarious enough in that context, but asking if he counts, while knowing full well the implication was that he doesn’t actually count for her, is so awkward it’s almost palpable.

“The fact that you asked if it counts tells me you just named some man and forgot if he was a celebrity,” one fan joked.

“‘does justin timberlake count’ = ‘does justin timberlake sound believable?’” another said, coming in with the realness.

The “Feelings” singer commented that her younger self really did just name “the first male celebrity she could think of” and expanded on what that moment was like for her.

“Y’all the anxiety that shot through my body everytime I was asked this question!!” she wrote. “You can hear the shakiness in my voice.”

And now Hayley is a whole queer icon. The glow up is real!