“Heartstopper” Star Kit Connor Comes Out As Bi And Blames Trolls For Forcing Him To Do So
My favorite genre of TV is “secretly queer teens are secretly queer.” See: Love Victor, the gayest eps of Degrassi, and Netflix’s recent hit, Heartstopper. Heartstopper stars Joe Locke and Kit Connor as Charlie and Nick, two cute lil’ British high schoolers who fall in love. Now, in real life, Joe Locke is openly gay. But 18-year-old Kit’s sexuality has been a mystery, and fans of the show were obsessed with figuring it out. Last month, shit hit the fan when photos emerged of Kit holding hands with Maia Reficco, his female co-star in an upcoming movie. Heartstopper fans saw this as a great betrayal and accused Kit of “queerbaiting” by playing a queer character. In response, Kit quit Twitter. Yesterday, he returned, and tweeted that, actually, he was bi, and sarcastically congratulated his critics for “forcing an 18 year old to out himself.”
Here’s Kit’s tweet:
back for a minute. i’m bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye
— Kit Connor (@kit_connor) October 31, 2022
Now, the majority of people who’d been going after Kit online were members of the LGBTQ+ community who believe that actors who aren’t queer shouldn’t get to play queer roles. That’s their version of “queerbaiting,” a term originally created to describe the marketing technique where gay romance is hinted at, but never actually happens (see: TV shows like Sherlock and Rizzoli & Isles). Recently, the term has been used to describe celebs like Nick Jonas and Harry Styles. While Harry dresses androgynously, plays a bisexual character in My Policeman, and avoids labeling his sexuality, he’s only ever been in public relationships with women. But should he have to come out if he is queer? And is he “queerbaiting”? Me no know. It’s all very complicated, and, as a profoundly stupid person, I do not have the answers.
Right after Kit came out as bi on Twitter, Heartstopper’s creator, writer, and showrunner, Alice Oseman, shared her support:
I truly don't understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes. I hope all those people are embarrassed as FUCK. Kit you are amazing 💖
— Alice Oseman Updates (@AliceOseman) October 31, 2022
And other fans took to Twitter to rally around Kit:
I’m so disappointed in this fandom. In three days we bullied one of the shows stars off twitter for absolutely no reason, and now we’ve forced the other star to out himself. HS is the most warm and loving show, but this fandom is extremely toxic. I’m so sad and disappointed.
— Alex (@heartstopper987) October 31, 2022
heartstopper was the first thing to make me feel safe and accepted as a bisexual person, and seeing that hstwt bullied kit connor into coming out is absolutely gut wrenching. that’s the one thing that nick nelson was afraid of, and you’ve done it to the person who imbodied him.
— bee 🍂 // kit connor defender , yr spoilers (@darcystrumpet) October 31, 2022
Kit Connor didn’t queerbait you
Taylor Swift isn’t queerbaiting you
Harry Styles isn’t queerbaiting you
Misha Collins didn’t queerbait youREAL PEOPLE CANT QUEERBAIT YOU! It’s a term used in media literacy. No actual person owes you any clarification on their sexuality. PERIOD.
— Amber ✨Galaxy Con✨ 💕💜💙 (@Plaatje_Amber) November 1, 2022
It sucks that Kit felt forced to come out on Twitter. You shouldn’t have to come out to trolls. You should only ever have to come out to your endlessly supportive mum, played by Olivia Colman:
Pic: Nils Jorgensen/INSTARimages.com