“Heartstopper” star Kit Connor came out as bisexual on Monday, saying he felt forced to share his sexual orientation after the actor was accused of queerbaiting by viewers of the popular Netflix show.
In a rare Twitter post, the British actor wrote: “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.”
While Connor did not say exactly why he felt forced to come out, his post came weeks after he said he was “deleting Twitter” amid accusations of queerbaiting, or benefiting from appearing as queer without claiming the community explicitly. That followed the emergence of photos showing him holding hands with Maia Reficco, his co-star in “A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow.”
“this is a silly silly app. bit bored of it now, deleting twitter :),” Connor had said in the September post.
Alice Oseman, the creator of “Heartstopper,” which she first launched as a webcomic and later a graphic novels series, shared her support for Connor on Monday, writing in response to his tweet: “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 F***. Kit you are amazing,” Oseman wrote.
“I love u kit im sorry this has been so disgustingly rough on you,” actor Kizzy Edgell, who plays Darcy Olsson on “Heartstopper” said in a separate tweet. “[You’ve] been treated so unfairly,” they wrote late Monday.
Fans also rushed to support Connor, with one Twitter user writing: “HOW can one watch a show like Heartstopper and the take away being that you as a viewer/fan/whatever have the right to know the most private aspects of the actors life? Especially when it comes to this. All love in the world to you Kit.”
“So sorry that you’ve literally been forced out before you were ready. Not that you should have ever had to out yourself,” another wrote. “People really miss the entire point of this show and the web comics. We love you Kit, sorry you had to do this.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
