被指卖腐而被迫出柜？演员的性取向真的那么重要吗？

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Kit Connor, a star of Netflix’s teen romcom, “Heartstopper,” said on Halloween that he felt he was being forced out of the closet — a concerning new development at the intersection of cancel culture and identity policing.

“Back for a minute,” he tweeted, referring to his self-imposed break from Twitter due to previous harassment. “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.”

In the series, Connor plays a British high school rugby Nick Nelson, alongside classmate Charlie Spring who falls in love with him. Nick starts to question and finally confirms his own sexuality amid his growing feelings for Charlie.

The show was so well received when it launched this year that it’s already been renewed for two more seasons. It is one of the first to center LGBTQ characters and gear towards a teen and young adult audience.

Calls for Connor to address his own orientation started this spring with taunting on Twitter, which he addressed in a tweet, saying, “twitter is so funny man. apparently some people on here know my sexuality better than I do…” Still though, that pressure did not abate, and Connor was accused of “queerbaiting” when pictures emerged of him holding hands with actress Maia Reficco.

Thousands of supporters, including Alice Oseman, author of the graphic novel of the same name on which the show is based, rushed to support Connor. “I truly don’t understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes,” she wrote.

Queerbaiting was originally a criticism directed at films and shows that would hint at LGBTQ+ representation without actually depicting it, in order to attract LGBTQ+ audiences without having to lose the straight ones.

But the extremely media-literate young people who make up online fandoms have weaponized and debased the term, levelling it at any celebrities they believe are performing queerness to curry their favour and and earn the “pink dollar”.

Unlike in the past, when public scrutiny of sexuality was mostly driven by homophobia, this new entitlement seems to be mostly couched not just in acceptance but an intense support for queer identities. While this sounds nice, the problem lies in the fact that celebrities have no say about whether they want this “support” or not. It also doesn’t acknowledge the very real dangers that still exist for people who make the choice to publicly come out.

The “pressure” that Connor wrote of is not a few scattered trolls or the odd thinkpiece. We’re talking about giant, engaged fandoms across multiple social media networks that might be invisible to you but are of real and pressing concern to anyone in those spaces.

Heartstopper’s surprise success stemmed from support from a passionate fandom. These fandoms have a terrifying ability to exert pressure online: they are numerous and vocal, and everyone working in culture right now, from executives to actors, knows that courting them can mean success.

Although Connor has deactivated his social media accounts, that he felt “forced” to return and come out shows the pressure is both toxic and real. Connor’s character Nick is also on a journey of discovering his sexuality, which is treated with incredibly moving respect and love in the show – but it is something many of the show’s fans clearly misunderstood.

Connor’s outing is the latest in a string of celebrities recently forced to out themselves, lest tabloid media do so for them, and stands in contrast to the long history of Hollywood celebrities forced to remain in the closet or else risk their careers.

It’s true that many LGBTQ characters in contemporary media have evolved — from murderers, murder victims, sex workers and one-dimensional characters who provide a punchline — into actual human beings.

Now LGBTQ audiences are rightfully asking the hard questions about who gets to play LGBTQ characters. Does a cisgender person playing a transgender character amount to a White actor in blackface, or is there a different litmus test?

While it’s progress that queer actors are being cast in leading roles, weaponizing criticisms of queerbaiting and appropriation as an excuse to force a teen or any actor out of the closet is not the answer. Identities are malleable, what we shouldn’t do is publicly shame someone into disclosing a part of themselves they may not be ready to or want to share.

Coming out is a personal journey, but it is one that’s been policed by people both inside and outside of the queer community for a long time. Such entitlement among the public is emblematic of a wider issue – celebrities aren’t the only ones suffering.

It all leads to a situation where there is a “right” or “wrong” way of being queer, where coming out is expected, rather than a choice. But nobody’s sexuality or gender identity needs to be offered up for other people’s consumption – no, not even a celebrity’s.

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