Harry Styles' sexuality: everything you need to know

Harry Styles’ sexuality has been the subject of speculation for years. Before even adopting a dandy and flowing style throughout his solo career, the pop star has already had to deal with rumors and gay allegations that he is in love with another former member of One Direction. And it doesn’t help that he’s been so shy to answer questions about his sexuality!

So, is Harry Styles gay? Or, is Harry Styles bisexual? Or does he just express himself in his own way?

Here, we take a deep dive into some of the big moments and trends that fueled gay rumors – and try to determine if this is just that.

Larry Stylinson

The ship that launched a thousand fics, “Larry Stylinson” is a long-standing conspiracy theory among fans that former One Direction members Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are very gay and very much in love with each other. The name of the ship is a combination of their names – “Harry” and “Louis” is Larry, and you know the rest.

Larry – or the Directioners who dispatch Larry – exist in places like YouTube and Tumblr, where conspiracy videos / posts looking for “clues” abound; and Wattpad and Archive of Our Own, self-publishing websites where people wrote pages on fanfiction pages.

And yes, Louis and Harry are aware of this theory… and have challenged it on several occasions. In fact, they have publicly stated how negatively the ship has affected them. In 2012, Louis spoke about the effect of theory on their relationship. He said that while he found it funny at first, it became difficult to deal with. In 2019, he also denounced a British tabloid for triggering their “gay sex rumors”, calling it “a typical unprovoked venom” from the media that “could not be further from the truth”.

In 2019, years after One Direction took a hiatus and Larry’s theory apparently calmed down, the HBO show Euphoria rekindled the flames by including an animated sex scene between the two pop stars in an episode about fanfiction. The scene was pure fiction, of course, but it once again brought attention to the ship. Interestingly, a lot of fans came to the stars’ defense, especially after Louis tweeted “I can categorically say I haven’t been contacted and haven’t approved” the episode.

In a subsequent interview with the Guardian, Louis said “I know, culturally it’s interesting, but I’m just a little fed up” and admitted that it “pissed him off”.

Much has been written about the “Watermelon Sugar” singer “normalizing fluid fashion between the sexes.” Since launching his solo career, he’s become more and more experimental with his clothing choices, donning floral suits, lace shirts, feather boas, painted nails and even an occasional Gucci dress – like the one he wore on his Vogue Cover story from December 2020. In 2019, he made headlines for appearing at the camp-themed Met Gala in a black sheer blouse, heels and a single pearl earring.

All this should come as no surprise, however. Harry is a huge fan of big and bold figures like Prince, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Elton John, and it shows in the way he dresses. In addition, he is a frequent collaborator of the ultra-stylish Alessandro Michele, creative director of Gucci.

In the interview with Vogue magazine, Harry spoke about his ‘flamboyant’ clothing choice, saying, “I think if you get something that you feel good in, it’s like a superhero outfit. The clothes are there to have fun, experiment and play with.

In another interview with the Guardian, he spoke about the matter again, saying, “What women wear. What men wear. For me, it is out of the question. If I see a nice shirt and someone says to me: “But it’s for women”. I think, ‘Okaaaay? It doesn’t make me want to wear it any less. I think as soon as you feel more comfortable with yourself it all gets a lot easier.

In the same interview, he addresses questions about his sexuality, albeit vaguely. “It’s not like I’m sitting on an answer, protecting and holding it back. It’s not about: I’m not telling you because I don’t want to tell you. It’s not: ooh it’s mine and it’s not yours, ”he comments.

But when asked for more information, his response is “Who cares?” Does this make sense? It’s just: who cares?

When the interviewer suggested that the way he dresses and the way he designs his album cover (the pink and blue stripes on Fine Line look like trans and bisexual pride flags) may sound like allusions to his sexuality, Harry responds by saying, “Am I sprinkling nuggets of sexual ambiguity in an attempt to be more interesting?” No.”

He adds that he doesn’t choose something like a photo or album cover because “it makes me look gay or makes me look straight”, but simply because “I think it looks cool”. “When it comes to how I want to dress and what the album cover will be like, I tend to make decisions in terms of who I want to work with. I want things to look a certain way, ”he says.

“I don’t know, I just think sex is fun, honestly,” he concludes. “Frankly? I can’t say I thought about it more than that.

Queerbaiting claims

When that Guardian article came out, Twitter was abuzz with fans and detractors criticizing the pop star for “queerbaiting.”

Queerbaiting is a term that in recent years has been used to describe straight actors and artists in the music industry who “appropriate” the queer aesthetic to gain LGBT fandom. Much of the criticism leveled at these stars is the fact that while many openly queer actors and musicians face discrimination and lose opportunities to be honest about who they are, those who bait can get all the benefits without having. to deal with all the repercussions. to be outside.

Aside from his fashionable and shy “maybe, maybe not” responses, his detractors have also pointed out things like Harry Styles’ gay kiss with James Corden, his ambiguous song lyrics, his habit of waving. the pride flag on his shows and his “We’re all a little bit gay, aren’t we? commentary as proof of his queerbaiting.

But are they really? Or is he just a man who isn’t afraid to make bold fashion choices, who wants fans of all genders and sexual orientations to feel welcome at his concerts, and who, in the end, has just confidence in his masculinity?

In the end, we’ll never really know for sure. That is, until Harry himself said it. While those who like to keep a watchful eye on celebrities who flatter the LGBT public have their hearts in the right place, there are also some arguments to be made for the evil of the queerbaiting accusations.

After all, we don’t know if these celebrities are genuinely queer or even questioning themselves, and insisting that they admit it or let go of the ambiguity takes away the chance for them to think and accept themselves, as well as agency to own it for themselves when they feel the time is right. And in some cases, like Cardi B and Lady Gaga, they actually are – but their sexuality is being ignored because of who they’re dating (hello, biphobia).

Additionally, as queer people, we constantly yearn for a world where self-expression is not limited to outdated gender norms. So why keep non-compliance?