It seems like every day another celebrity or influencer has been accused of queerbaiting. It’s a term that gets thrown around a lot, but many don’t truly understand what it means. Queerbaiting is a certain marketing technique used by figures in media (books, movies, tv, etc), where characters and storylines are portrayed as possibly being queer, yet are never officially depicted as queer stories. These days, the term is often used to describe celebrities, such as Harry Styles, which can be a very harmful accusation. Recently, Kit Connor, the 18-year-old actor who portrays Nick Nelson in the hit Netflix show Heartstopper, was accused of queerbaiting. Fans accused him of being straight yet portraying a queer character. The accusations got so intense that Connor was forced to come out as bisexual after previously saying he was uncomfortable with putting a label on his sexuality at such a young age. Situations like this get out of hand very quickly and end up being emotionally traumatic and harmful to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
So why is this so harmful? An individual cannot queerbait. One’s expression is not indicative of their sexuality or gender identity. When people accuse others of queerbaiting, it places a lot of pressure on queer individuals who are struggling to find their identity or struggling to come out. It puts them in a precarious situation that is very harmful to their mental health and sometimes their safety. There are times when queer individuals aren’t in an environment that is safe for them to come out, and queerbaiting accusations add an extra level of pressure and danger to already delicate situations. It is also not one individual’s place to assume the sexuality of someone and place labels on someone that they have not stated are for themselves. It tarnishes the coming out experience if the individual is actually queer (as there is this added pressure on their coming out), and it is deeply uncomfortable for people who do not identify as queer but are constantly stated to be. A good example of this is how fans insist that Harry Styles and his former bandmate Louis Tomlinson, from One Direction, have been in a relationship since the band’s formation. Louis has stated many times that it makes him deeply uncomfortable, and he finds the edits and fanfictions invasive. Another example is Lauren Jauregui and Camilla Cabello from Fifth Harmony, who were shipped for many years. Lauren explained that she always seemed to be the instigator in videos complied by fans, and, as she was in the closet and coming to terms with her sexuality at the time, it made her feel like a predator and it made her uneasy to come out.
How can we still hold individuals accountable? Once again, although individuals cannot queerbait, pieces of media can. Holding the writers of a TV show or movie accountable for constantly making it seem like characters could be queer but never actually making them queer is an important thing to do. We can also advocate to cast more queer-identifying actors in the roles of queer characters or advocate for the media created by queer individuals about queer individuals. This cannot translate to attacking people for “acting queer” but not identifying as queer because, again, expression does not equal identity.
I hope this article has been helpful to all those who wanted more clarity on this situation. As a queer person, this situation is one that definitely has weighed on my experience and thoughts. Kit Connor is the same age as I am, and I know that having a coming-out experience like his would have definitely been upsetting for me. I wanted to share my insight on the situation and also acknowledge that this is a conversation that needs to be continued as the world and LGBTQ+ community grow and change.
