Pop culture has become more and more sexualised, as sex is sold to us willy-nilly. But young people are turning away from it in droves
It might be hip to be square, but nothing is more passé than being straight these days. That’s according to Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, the 23-year-old daughter of the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, anyway. In a recent Instagram livestream with the former CEO of a health company, Kennedy-Cuomo talked about being queer, noting that when she first came out she worried that people would think she was attention-seeking, since it’s “hip or cool to be not hetero in my liberal bubble”. Kennedy-Cuomo then went on to say that after flirting with bisexuality and pansexuality she has decided that the identity that most resonates with her is demisexuality.
Reader, I rolled my eyes. I know that’s not the kind or constructive thing to do when someone is brave enough to come out, but I’m afraid I couldn’t help it: my old gay eyes rolled involuntarily. That was partly due to amazement. When I came out, 20 years ago, I wasn’t worried that people might think I was declaring myself queer because it was cool – it was decidedly not cool. No, I was worried about getting beaten up. I’m not trying to win the oppression Olympics over here: I think it’s brilliant that we’ve gone from words like “gay” and “queer” being widespread slurs to something that the privileged offspring of politicians reckon is a badge of honour.
