Heartstopper actor Kit Connor came out as bisexual and blamed the show’s fans for pressuring him to come out. Now, he opens up about the decision and he reveals he is not sure would have “ever” come out.
Heartstopper is a truly heartwarming series that premiered in 2022 on Netflix. It stars Joe Locke as Charlie Spring and Kit Connor as Nick Nelson and it’s a coming-of-age story about two teenagers navigating their friendship and sexuality.
The two actors’ acting was so convincing that people pressured 19-year-old Connor to open up about his own sexuality, accusing him of “queerbating” for playing a bisexual character and frequently attending Pride events. As if regular people and allies couldn’t do that.
Eventually, Kit came out as bisexual, not before letting everyone know that they bullied him into admitting it. “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,” he wrote on Twitter before taking a break from social media.
In an interview with British Vogue, Kit Connor shared his initial reaction to feeling pressured to publicly come out as bisexual — and how he now feels about the experience.
“It was just a very natural process for me; I didn’t really have an ‘oh, s—’ moment. It just became more and more evident,” he shared.
Though his family was “super accepting and inclusive and wonderful,” he attended an all-boys school that was less understanding. “I was in a very heteronormative atmosphere,” he explained. “It wasn’t hugely inclusive. It wasn’t really accepted in a lot of ways.”
He Doesn’t Regret Coming Out, Just the Way He Did It
Connor also recognized that there was a stigma around bisexual individuals. “It’s the experience of maybe you’re too straight to be gay and you’re too gay to be straight,” he said. “So it’s like, ‘Where do I sit?’ But I feel much more secure in myself now.”
Addressing his belief he had to come out, Connor said: “I just felt like it wasn’t something I was ready to talk about. I wasn’t angry. I was just slightly disappointed by this reaction.”
“I think there’s almost a feeling that because I’d been in the industry for a little while, there was almost this understanding that it’s like, ‘Oh, well, he can take it,” he continued. Kit added, “I think ‘forced’ isn’t the right word I would use, but I would say that I would have preferred to do it another way. I also don’t know if I would have ever done it. But at the end of the day, I don’t regret it. In many ways, it was really empowering.”
