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English actor Kit Connor has revealed that he was "forced" to come out as bisexual after people accused him of queerbaiting.
Fans of Connor extended their support and called out the people who harassed him to take such a step.
On November 1, the 18-year-old star took to his Twitter handle and made the announcement via his first tweet in seven weeks.
“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.”
Connor stars in Netflix's coming-of-the-age series Heartstopper alongside Joe Locke, where they play high school students Nick and Charlie, who begin a romantic relationship with each other despite the former not being officially "out."
Kit Connor was accused of queerbaiting after he was seen with Maia Reficco
Kit Connor came under the radar in September 2022, after a video of him holding hands with his A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow's co-star Maia Reficco while roaming around the streets of Paris went viral on Twitter.
Since he plays a gay character on Heartstopper, several fans expressed their displeasure with the video and accused him of queerbaiting (via Them).
On September 12, Kit Connor took to his Twitter handle and announced that he would be leaving the social media platform.
"This is a silly silly app. Bit bored of it now, deleting twitter."
In May 2022, Connor tweeted and expressed his amusement with people speculating about his sexuality and knowing it better than he does.
The same month, while speaking on the Reign With Josh Smith podcast, Kit Connor told the host that he and his co-star Locke had been under a lot of pressure to discuss their sexuality publicly.
“We’re still all so young. To start sort of speculating about our sexualities and maybe pressuring us to come out when maybe we’re not ready..for me, I just feel perfectly confident and comfortable with my sexuality. But I don’t feel the need to really, you know — I’m not too big on labels and things like that. I’m not massive about that. I don’t feel like I need to label myself, especially not publicly.”
He also noted the "problematic assumption" that people make about their sexuality.
“It feels a bit strange to make assumptions about a person’s sexuality just based on hearing their voice or seeing their appearance. I feel like that’s a very interesting, slightly problematic sort of assumption to make.”
Twitter came to Kit Connor's defense
After Kit Connor returned to the platform to announce that he is bisexual, several fans and fellow actors extended their support to the actor and sympathized for the situation he has been put up to. Users slammed people for accusing Connor of queerbaiting, with one even saying that his Heartstopper character was terrified of something similar.
As of writing, Connor has not released any statements on his recent Twitter post.
