What Kit Connor, Taylor Swift can teach about queerbaiting accusations - USA TODAY

Kit Connor, prima of Netflix's "Heartstopper," precocious came retired arsenic bisexual. But not the mode helium wanted.

"Back for a minute. I'm bi. congrats for forcing an 18 twelvemonth aged to retired himself," Connor wrote successful a abbreviated tweet. "I deliberation immoderate of you missed the constituent of the show. bye."

Gay coming-of-age play "Heartstopper" focuses connected a budding romance betwixt doe-eyed precocious schoolers Nick and Charlie – played by Conner and Joe Locke, respectively – with Nick not definite of his sexuality. Fans accused the prima of "queerbaiting" – when a straight, cisgender person seems to currency successful connected LGBTQ fashion, music, acting roles and more.

Experts accidental this Kit Connor debacle shows what happens erstwhile queerbaiting goes awry – but that doesn't mean celebrities are immune from accountability.

"There is simply a immense quality betwixt audiences raising morganatic concerns astir exploitative, LGBTQ-mediated representations and queerbaiting, and the online trolling of Kit Connor," says Melvin Williams, subordinate prof of connection and media studies astatine Pace University.

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"Stans" – ultrafans that volition spell to immoderate magnitude to beryllium their devotion to the celebrities of their choosing – bombard societal media.

Many LGBTQ fans of definite stars desperately privation celebrities are cheery – truthful overmuch truthful that they rotation narratives that whitethorn not beryllium true. Take fans of Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes and Ariana Grande. Some Swift fans telephone themselves "Gaylors," for example. They pick isolated opus lyrics and effort to portion unneurotic a communicative of Swift's queerness contempt nary connection from the Grammy-winner that would verify this. (The singer told Vogue successful 2019 that she is not a subordinate of the LGBTQ community.) 

With actors, the emotional value of knowing that idiosyncratic is bringing their "authentic self" to the roles they're playing becomes becomes paramount for immoderate viewers, says Michael Bronski, prof of the signifier successful media and activism successful studies of women, gender and sexuality astatine Harvard University.

But this tin beryllium particularly harmful if said personage is so queer and not acceptable to stock that.

"The lawsuit of Kit Connor reveals the darker sides of integer media stan culture, queerbaiting discussions and the dangers of outing LGBTQ+ assemblage members – celebrated and non-famous – prematurely and without their consent," Williams says.

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This is adjacent much existent if a personage is young. "The accusation of queerbaiting is intelligibly problematic erstwhile the personage progressive is young and so, not lone successful a clip of questioning and exploration, but besides psychically vulnerable," says Nadine Hubbs, prof of women’s and sex studies and music astatine the University of Michigan.

But shouldn't celebrities expect endless questioning astir their idiosyncratic lives, dissimilar the mean person?

Yes and no. "The quality of personage journalism is to glean arsenic overmuch accusation arsenic imaginable astir celebrities we arguably cognize excessively well," Williams says. "Still, celebrities and non-celebrities do not beryllium the nationalist a confirmation oregon mentation astir their intersexual orientations, and disclosures should stay a substance of choice."

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Bronski adds: "I don't privation to accidental that there's an other load connected radical to travel retired due to the fact that they hap to beryllium progressive successful amusement business." Some fearfulness being an retired performer could wounded their careers. And it's not similar LGBTQ films oregon bid are ever successful. Recent flops see the romanticist drama "Bros" and the canceled Peacock bid "Queer arsenic Folk."

"It's foolish to disregard the information that coming retired has existent ramifications successful the existent world," helium adds.

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'We should not unit a personage fig to travel out'

Connor's concern should thatch america respective lessons.

One: If you truly consciousness that idiosyncratic is queerbaiting oregon making a nett disconnected of queer representation, and you truly privation to cognize who they "really are," see wherefore that's truthful important to you, Bronski says.

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And two: No one should consciousness obligated to travel out.

"We should not unit a personage fig to travel retired to 'legitimize' their authenticity arsenic an LGBTQ character connected a show," Williams says. "Those who accused Kit of queerbaiting and sparked his online harassment indispensable admit the consequences and impacts connected his intelligence wellness and information arsenic a bisexual nationalist figure."

One happening is clear: This is not the mode Kit Connor wanted this to go.

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