Queerbaiting has become something of a buzzword. It’s been thrown around when describing TV shows, films, authors, musicians, and even actors. But what exactly is it and when does it apply?
Heartstopper, Netflix’s beloved coming-of-age series, premiered earlier this year and skyrocketed into one of the streaming platform's most viewed shows, launching the stars into almost overnight fame. Queer audiences who don’t often get to see themselves on the screen formed a quick attachment to the characters of Charlie and Nick, played by Joe Locke and Kit Connor, and swarmed them with adoration on social media. But with that newfound visibility came the questions about their real-life identities.
Connor plays Nick, a teen who thinks of himself as straight until he meets Charlie and begins questioning his sexuality as his feelings for him grow. Later in the series, he comes out to his friends, Charlie, and even his mother as bisexual.
While Connor played the character beautifully, he has not talked publicly about his sexuality and how he identifies. And after recently being spotted holding hands with a female costar from another project, some fans have assumed that he is straight and accused him of queerbaiting.
YouTuber withcindy breaks down the controversy in her new video. Though Connor played a bisexual character on TV, the accusation of queerbaiting raises “some questions on whether people owe you their sexuality if they make content that profits off of being queer.” She also points out that the implication of Connor queerbaiting doesn’t even make sense since his character on the show is bisexual and could still have romantic feelings for women, but why do fans feel the need for an actor to authenticate his sexuality at all?
She goes on to break down some of queerbaiting’s origins, which are largely from fan culture. Because there was so little queer content available to watch, LGBTQ+ audiences would read into subtext or project identities onto presumably straight characters. As internet fandoms rose in popularity and visibility, many TV shows began to play up the winks and nudges to tease those fans. withcindy calls it a tactic to “get people to tune in but you wouldn’t actually risk anything by making in cannon,” basically dangling a potentially queer character in front of the gays like a carrot.
Now the popular meaning has transformed and is thrust upon real people. It definitely stems from the desire to have representation. Many people no longer enjoy these celebs who “adopt queer aesthetics or kinda tease that they’re queer without actually identifying as such,” but at the same time, we can’t force anyone to come out and we can’t exactly police who wears what or gets to identify as what, especially when sexuality and gender can be fluid and change over someone’s lifetime. And even if they are queer, we can’t demand someone to come out in a world that is homophobic and transphobic. Our desire for representation does not override their desire for privacy, safety, or even comfort. Yes, that means leaving Harry Styles alone!
withcindy’s thought-provoking conversation on pop culture and queerbaiting is certainly worth a watch, and you can view it in full below:
Is queerbaiting valid criticism or gatekeeping? (Kit Connor from Heartstopper, YA authors, and me)youtu.be
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