by By Avery Olson
Social media provides a sense of community for many that they may not be able to find otherwise. The LGBTQ+ community, in particular, has often found refuge in online spaces. Many celebrities, though, don’t receive the same welcoming treatment that others do from queer spaces online. The internet has a problematic history of creating and perpetuating rumors about celebrities’ sexualities, with its most recent victim being singer Shawn Mendes.
On Monday, at a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, Shawn Mendes addressed the rumors about his sexuality that have circulated online for years. “The real truth about my life and my sexuality is, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes and I know other times” said Mendes.
How can an online habitat that is such a safe space for some be such a hostile place for others? Mendes captured this dichotomy well in a quote from a 2020 interview: “You want to say, ‘I’m not gay but it’d be fine if I was gay — but also there’s nothing wrong with being gay but I’m not.”
The sensationalization of celebrity sexuality has resulted in the forced outings of many other celebrities. Kit Connor was 18 years old when he was forced to come out as bisexual on Twitter after receiving backlash for his role on the Netflix show Heartstopper, in which he played a bisexual teenager in a homosexual relationship. After months of queerbaiting accusations, Connor tweeted, “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.”
Heartstopper features a plotline similar to Kit Connor’s own experience. Connor plays Nick, a straight-presenting teen who befriends and ultimately develops romantic feelings for another boy, Charlie, and is then forced to come to terms with his sexuality. As he spends more time with Charlie, Nick’s friends poke fun at their relationship, since he is “obviously” straight. While the debate is intended to be lighthearted, not homophobic, it weighs on Nick, who is concerned about the secret he’s housing.
Celebrity outings result from similar behaviors. These debates often begin in small corners of the internet where users think celebrities would never see them. They start as harmless discourse, but once those rumors are picked up and receive more attention, they’re no longer harmless. Ultimately, engaging in this behavior generates engagement. Contributing to the discourse about whether or not a certain celebrity is or isn’t queer is essentially a guaranteed way to get clicks.
News of celebrity outings is so influential that Perez Hilton was even able to build a career out of it. In the early 2000s, he rose to infamy when his celebrity gossip blog, PerezHilton.com, went viral. A large part of his content included rumors about celebrities’ sexualities, and he ultimately resulted in outing a number of reputable celebrities, including Neil Patrick Harris, Anderson Cooper and Queen Latifah.
It can feel like celebrities are untouchable and can therefore be talked about and scrutinized freely on social media, but ultimately, they’re the ones who are most at risk. Their names are the ones that will trend and end up in headlines because they’re recognizable. By refusing to engage in this discourse and respecting a celebrity’s choice to disclose their sexuality when and if they feel comfortable to do so, this cycle of outing celebrities just to spice up a slow news cycle will eventually lose its power, allowing celebrities to feel that their sexuality is a realm of privacy that can be protected.
