I can’t forgive Heartstopper “fans” for what y’all did to Kit Connor…

RIP THEM TO SHREDS

But even if he wasn't bi, he's an actor. Actors act, they portray something or someone that they're not

people really need to stop using "queerbaiting" to justify their biphobia. its happened so many times and no one cares

The LGBTQ community has practically internalized the idea that trauma defines the queer experience, and while having to deal with homophobia and transphobia is traumatic, that’s not what defines us. Community and identity is what we’re about, and no one should be alienated just because they have a healthy support system.

Kit never identified as straight. He always said he preferred not to label his sexuality. Some people just assumed that must mean he’s straight. 🙄

What they did is absoluetly heartbreaking. I feel honestly so bad for Kit Connor, as he said "Clearly you missed the point of the show" Forcing someone to come out is just, just terrifying. Edit: 5:10 EXACTLY THANK YOU queerbating is not that, the literal definition of queer bating is A marketing technique used to attract queer viewers that involves creating romantic or sexual tension between two same-sex characters but never making it canon or evolving on it, or when straight men or women pretend to be gay and flirt with people of the same sex as a joke. Why do people think that Kit Connor is queerbating, it isn't.

i feel really bad for kit, i can’t believe people would actually do this to a real person

Even if Kit wasn’t bisexual, he played the character with a TON of respect and love. He did a great job at portraying the queer experience. As a queer person who didn’t know he was bisexual, I loved his take on the character and loved his performance.

The irony is that the so-called fans who did this automatically assumed that Kit being seen with a girl, one who is actually out as bisexual herself by the way, meant that he couldn't be part of the queer community and must therefore obviously be straight, completely ignored the possibility of bisexuality introduced to us in the show with Kit's character. That said, Kit plainly told people that he did not want to label his sexuality, especially not publicly and at such a young age. He did not owe that to us and he shouldn't have felt forced to do it. He is still basically a child. I can't imagine feeling like I needed to come out to the entire freaking world as bisexual at 18 years old. Because that's what he had to do. He has a worldwide fan base and felt like he had to come out to the entire world. Very publicly. No one should feel like they need to do that, especially not a teenager!

As someone who is also bisexual but not out to family, the idea of being forced out of the closet before I’m ready is both terrifying and also anger inducing. Whoever participated in forcing Kit Conner out of the closet deserves only the worst karma. ESPECIALLY if you’re a part of the community! Shame on you, you know better! I hope you step on Legos everyday, always loose your car keys 5 minutes before you have to leave the house, always walk into a room and immediately forget why you went in there, somehow always have wet socks, you’re always the friend that is ignored in a big group conversation, and your outfit never matches the vibe you’re going for.

The worst part about this is that “Heartstopper” partially revolves around people discovering Charlie’s sexuality without him telling them what it was. He was outed, and it was very clearly traumatic for him. And now people are doing the exact same thing to one of the actors in the very show. When Kit says “Clearly you missed the point of the show,” that just hit like a punch. It’s outrageous that people are doing this.

As a bi person myself I didn’t realize how bad this situation got, and I didn’t realize how biphobic the LGBT community is. It’s so disgusting- like I’m just trying to live my life! And so is Kit. But there are so many people out there who shut us down just bc we also like the opposite gender. I love men and women, who cares!! Kit didn’t deserve any of this, nobody does.

I saw this online and was immediately so upset. The whole show is to show people they can be comfortable with their sexuality and gender and that it takes time. You can open up when you want and it’s a struggle. Yet people force a actor to come out. He’s right people really lost the point of this show. Poor kit. I am truly sorry on the behalf of all the awful kids my age.

It's really interesting to see that media that has bisexual main characters tend to have the most biphobic fandoms. This also happened in The Owl House fandom, people constantly calling Luz, a bisexual girl, a lesbian just because she's in a sapphic relationship with Amity, the actual lesbian in the relationship. Nick constantly gets called gay just cause he dates Charlie and that sucks a lot because even in the show bisexuality is respected and we don't have that stereotype of "Charlie doesn't like bisexual people because Ben dumped him for a girl". And I feel Kit's situation got even worse after pictures of him and his friend/co-worker Maia Reficco were taken. Like, dude Maia herself is bisexual too and they were just holding hands, but apparently he can't hold hands with a girl cause that means dating. But him constantly hugging, giving piggyback rides and saying sappy stuff to his boy friends doesn't mean anything. The biphobia is showing.

I'm currently 18 and literally freak out every time my mom even asks me if I'm queer because I'm not ready. I can't imagine it on a much larger scale.

"Screw the gender norms! Just be yourself! Clothing isn't gendered!" "Harry Styles is wearing feminine clothes, he's queerbaiting!" Make it make sense

Hi, queer webtoon author here. On a MUCH smaller scale, I felt pretty forced to come out about not only my sexuality but my gender identity due to similar circumstances - not only by readers, but also by fellow authors and artists who question others' "right" to write about certain topics. It's also worth noting that, though most of my characters are queer, the focus of my main comic that I get the most pushback for is on navigating mental health struggles such as schizophrenia, which I myself am clinically diagnosed with and have had to repeatedly state as much in the face of additional gatekeeping on the mental health side of things. Though this was all to a much smaller audience and lesser degree, it has really messed me up over the past few years and forcibly shaped my online perception, as well as my own perception of myself in some ways. It just hit really close to home because I was outed IRL in high school and painted as a predator as one of the only gay kids in my rural hometown; I was hoping writing about my experiences would help heal some of my old wounds, so for the same thing to happen all over again cut really deep. This type of behavior from supposed "supporters" can really hurt creators of any kind involved in a project. I really feel for Kit and hope those who did this to him start to see the error of their ways. Thank you for talking about this, Frederic! ❤

Fredrick has the highly coveted ability to remove someone's queerness. With a snap of the fingers, an online queer's lips chap, clothes become drab, and speech becomes boring and slow😤💅

As a bisexual, I think we feel like we have to prove that we are by dating people of the same-sex and that if we date anyone from the opposite sex then people are going to think we are lying and are just straight. Even though the literal definition of bisexuality is that you like both. And people forgot that when Kit was photographed holding another girl's hand, people were like, 'oh so he's straight', like holding hands with someone of the opposite gender means you're straight and are dating when you know no one would think that if he was holding hands with a boy. Rant over. I feel so bad for Kit and know exactly what he's going through as I was forced to come out to my parents. I'll pray for him and his well-being. Let's hope season 2 of Heartstopper will teach these so called 'fans' a more valuable lesson

As a bi dude, I watched the show and thought it was nice then proceeded to move on with my life. This obsession with celebrities is extremely unhealthy and internet has only made it worse, glad I'm not part of those toxic cesspools. The biphobia surprisingly coming in clutch by not making me not even loosely associated with any of those awful people.