It’s hard not to lump international pop phenom Harry Styles in with Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Lil Nas X and other queer icons of our generation. He’s no stranger to donning outfits inspired by Elton John with big, fabulous boas, waving around a rainbow flag on stage or flowers pinned to his lapel, apparently paying homage to Oscar Wilde.
That being said, Styles has never felt like he owes anyone an explanation. And really, why should he? After all, rumors and speculation take their mental toll on even the most well-liked pop stars — celebrities should enjoy their privacy just as much as we do.
Right?
On one hand, absolutely. We’ve seen how the Britney Spearses and Meghan Markles of the world have lost parts of their personal lives to the paparazzi. The endless questions and gossip seemingly do nothing but force these stars to speak out regarding rumors they don’t want to hear about, let alone address.
On the other hand, how do we reckon with a pop icon who goes beyond his profuse allyship and embraces queer identity without acknowledging his identity beyond “that’s my personal experience; it’s mine?” Should we expect more direct answers to our questions regarding Styles’ sexuality?
“Queerbaiting” in of itself is a beast to understand and dissect. According to Leo Herrera, filmmaker, writer and activist, queerbaiting is when “a celebrity or public figure capitalizes on the suspicion that they may be romantically involved with another same-sex person for the sake of publicity, promotion or capitalistic gain.”
Personally, I don’t think it’s as clear-cut as it sounds. It’s not just the potential of same-sex attraction that pushes an assumedly straight celebrity into the realm of queerbaiting — it’s appropriation of queer culture beyond allyship.
All of that being said, does Styles fall into that category of heterosexual-presenting celebrities who use queer culture to their brand’s advantage? Think of the backlash singer-songwriter Rita Ora received after releasing “Girls,” a tone-deaf single (written mostly by men, by the way) that reinforced negative bisexual stereotypes and fell flat among queer artists and fans.
Styles absolutely takes a few nods to queer pop icons. Rainbow flags and green carnation lapels aside, George Michael’s famous line ““never gonna dance again” from “Careless Whisper” is tattooed on Styles’ ankles. He’s donned a dark blue handkerchief in his back left pocket, perhaps in reference to the handkerchief code. All of these potential callbacks and more are endlessly dissected on Twitter and TikTok, propelling his sexuality further into the national spotlight.
Regardless of sexuality, Styles has also been a vocal ally to the LGBTQ community for his entire solo career. Through his inclusivity and equality campaigns, he won the Gay Times Honour for LGBTQ Advocate in 2018. He released limited-edition “Treat People With Kindness” pride-themed merch, with all profits going to LGBTQ advocacy non-profit GLSEN.
Allyship aside, however, we start to cross into queerbaiting territory when considering some of the things Styles has done or said publicly that makes us question whether or not his personal brand is simply benefitting from the perks of queerness without any direct answers.
Take, for example, Styles’ interview for Rolling Stone back in late August. Regarding his role in “My Policeman,” a book-to-movie adaptation releasing on Oct. 21, Styles said, “So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it.” Which, obviously, is kind of a strange thing to say if you’re not part of the community yourself.
Styles himself hasn’t had much to say about his sexuality. Everything he has said has been perfectly ambiguous, leaving it up to each fan’s interpretation. With plenty to speculate on, his identity has been thoroughly dissected and discussed within multiple channels of media. Which, to be fair, sounds overwhelming.
However, I can’t help but feel like Styles is utilizing a queer persona to reap all of the benefits yet none of the costs. He’s claiming the fame and likeability of a queer icon without the messy, political label. If we aren’t ever going to know the full story, we should at least ask why the book is shut.
Harvey Milk’s mantra “every gay person must come out” has largely fallen by the wayside in our wired world where gender and sexual identity is much more fluid than it seemed in 1978. Despite this, Styles would do better to listen to his queer fans and critics. Being out and proud still has plenty of power, even in 2022 — and if it’s just the opposite, and he’s using queer symbols to promote his brand, then we should begin that conversation.
