Celebrities speak out after 'Heartstopper' actor Kit Connor was bullied into coming out

Kit Connor was forced to come out as bisexual after numerous netizens pressured him on his sexuality and bullied him for playing a queer character in Netflix's hit LGBT series, "Heartstopper." He 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"

Connor referenced his self-imposed break from Twitter which he opted to do due to previous harassment. He received several hate comments and was the target of online scrutiny when he and his "A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow" co-star, Maia Reficco, were spotted holding hands. Many were quick to accuse him of being straight and "queerbaiting" the audience when he played queer characters in his previous roles.

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine professor Ricky Hill, PhD defines queerbaiting as a "marketing tactic that nods at queerness but never actually delivers queerness." While media can be created to weaponize its appeal to a wide LGBT audience and should be called out for being misleading, real people should never be accused of queerbaiting as a person's sexual identity can be fluid and private and should not ever be something loudly demanded and boxed in to fit certain stereotypes.

Self-described "queer jew fairy in stiletto nails" and social media influencer Matt Bernstein had this to say about the cyberbullying Kit endured to be forced to come out like that, "the natural conclusion of the "queerbaiting" discourse is mobs of people harassing and intimidating a celebrity into publicly declaring their sexuality before they're ready, and somehow thinking it's a righteous act. c'mon y'all, grow up."

Actor and singer Luke Evans also expressed his sadness, "Seems like things don't change. I'm sorry to hear what your dealing with Kit. Never be forced to speak for yourself and your identity until you are absolutely ready. You owe no explanation to anyone. The trolls of social media are empty and useless. Power to you! Invincible!"

TV Editor David Opie said, "Coming out should be empowering, but instead, unfounded queer-baiting accusations have forced Kit Connor to come out as bi to everyone before he was ready. This is so messed up. I hope he's ok and I hope the people who harassed him feel bad and actually learn something from this."