A bunch of celebs have rallied around lead Heartstopper actor Kit Connor after he revealed he was bisexual due to intense speculation about this sexuality. It’s a really fucked situation and I’m incredibly glad to see Kit has people supporting him.
On Tuesday, Kit returned to Twitter after leaving the site in September.
“Back for a minute. I’m bi. Congrats for forcing an 18-year-old to out himself,” he wrote.
“I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye.”
https://twitter.com/kit_connor/status/1587218539236188160?s=20&t=gFsjzNK9wZBkQToZCNl1Sw
The message is obviously a devastating indictment of intense scrutiny on actors’ sexualities, particularly young people playing LGBTQI+ characters.
In a previous interview on the Reign With Josh Smith podcast, Kit talked about people speculating about his and co-star Joe Locke‘s identities.
“We’re still all so young and to start speculating about our sexualities and maybe pressuring us to come out when maybe we’re not ready,” he said, per E! Online.
“I feel like [it’s] a very interesting, slightly problematic assumption to make,” he added.
Kit stars as Nick Nelson in Heartstopper, a very sweet high school queer romance based on a series of graphic novels by Alice Oseman. In the series, Nick realises he is queer when he falls for the openly-gay Charlie (Locke) — who was outed.
The nature of the show has led to intense questioning of Kit’s sexuality IRL. It’s particularly disappointing given this is literally a teenager we are talking about here.
Alice Oseman, Heartstopper‘s writer, said that people speculating about the cast’s sexualities was a woeful misunderstanding of the story.
“I truly don’t understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating on sexualities and judging based on stereotypes,” she said in a Tweet reply.
“I hope all those people are as embarrassed as FUCK. Kit you are amazing.”
Figuring out your sexuality can be a long and complex process. And hey, maybe “figuring out” isn’t even the right phrase — for many people, sexuality remains a very fluid concept. Coming out is also a completely daunting experience, even if you’re blessed with an excellent support network.
No one’s experience of realising and accepting their sexuality, or of coming out, is the same.
Feeling forced to identify yourself one way or another because of fan or media pressure shows how intolerant we can be when people don’t come out immediately or present the way we expect them to.
Not every queer person needs to have their sexuality front and centre of their work, even if they are in the public eye. It’s not queerbaiting for an 18-year-old to want to keep their sexuality private and avoid thousands of people constantly speculating about their personal life.
I understand the desire, particularly when you’re a teen, to see yourself and your sexuality represented in celebs you admire. But it still doesn’t make it ok to harass someone about their sexuality.
Kizzy Edgell, one of the other stars of Heartstopper, replied to Kit’s tweet and wrote: “I love u Kit I’m sorry this has been so disgustingly rough on you. Been treated so unfairly”.
Another actor from the show, Sebastian Croft, said, “Kit Connor, the world doesn’t deserve you. Love you my friend.”
Two actors from popular LGBTQI+ show Young Royals also Tweeted their support.
“Feel for you Kit, sending all the love I have your way,” wrote Edvin Ryding, who plays one of the leads in the show.
His co-lead Omer Rudberg wrote, “This makes me so sad! People are mean. Sending hugs your way. Fuck ’em!!”
Kit Connor also received a bunch of support from fans apologising that he felt forced to come out.
Yes, there is absolutely room for discussion of queerbaiting and the damage it can cause — but that is entirely different to speculating about a teenager’s sexuality to the extent he feels he has to come out. Let’s pls do better.
