Speculation about celebrities’ personal lives is not new. But as celebrities are increasingly seen as public property, the pressure to share all aspects of one’s identity is growing.
The most recent celebrity on the chopping block of public discourse is musician Shawn Mendes – the speculation about the idol’s life started in 2016, when a then-teenage Mendes urged fans to focus on his music rather than his personal life.
At a recent concert in Colorado, the now 26-year-old was still addressing the relentless enquiries into his private life.
“Since I was really young, there’s been this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it for so long. The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes, and I know other times. And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that.”
The reactions to Mendes’ comments have ranged from supportive to accusatory. On the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, users have questioned the authenticity of his statement, arguing that it was a promotional tactic for his upcoming album.
One contributor said: “Why is everyone calling Shawn Mendes gay? Harry Styles is doing the same thing, queerbaiting for views.”
In the entertainment industry, celebrities face a double-edged sword. On one hand, the visibility of openly queer celebrities is a win for representation. On the other hand, there is no room for ambiguity or privacy.
The celebration of celebrities coming out can transform into expectation: a demand for public figures to disclose their identities for the ‘greater good’.
“It does push the needle to have openly queer celebrities in the public eye, everyone deserves to have someone they can look up to, I think if there were more visibility, kids like me wouldn’t have felt so alone,” said another fan of the musician.
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Shawn Mendes is not the only celebrity to have faced this treatment. Musician Taylor Swift was the subject of a 5,000-word opinion piece in the New York Times, which speculated on her sexuality and dissected her song lyrics for clues signalling to the LGBTQ+ community.
For some fans, this kind of speculation is like a game, where exposing a celebrity’s sexuality becomes a form of fandom entertainment. “Gaylor” is a term used to describe a subset of Taylor Swift’s fan base who believe she is secretly gay or bisexual.
Social media platforms intensify this when fans share elaborate theories, decode lyrics, and analyse behaviour to ‘prove’ their claims. What seems like harmless fun reduces individuals to puzzles for public consumption. For some, viewing a celebrity or their work through a queer lens is an act of defiance.
One ‘Gaylor’ fan said: “I think it’s crazy that its okay to assume someone is straight, but if you suggest they might be queer, you’re seen as delusional all of a sudden, just because you aren’t picking up on queer themes doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There are some things that only other sapphic women are going to get and I won’t apologise for recognising that.”
The ‘Gaylor’ sub-Reddit, where thoughtful discussions of queer analysis are offered, shares similar sentiments, specifically when it comes to queer flagging.
One user said: “I know a fellow queer when I see one, she wore the lesbian flag colours on her tour, it kind of became an in joke how obvious Taylor’s flagging was through her tour outfits.”
This invasiveness isn’t limited solely to ‘traditional celebrities.’ The nature of the relationship between YouTube duo Dan Howell and Phil Lester had been infamously scrutinised for years before the two disclosed their sexualities.
While their coming-out videos were met with overwhelming support, both reflected on the emotional toll of navigating wider speculation.
Howell addressed this pressure in a video: “I wanna do certain things without an audience. I wanna be spontaneous. I don’t wanna feel afraid to take risks. I want to enjoy totally fucking something up and not have to post a public statement about it. And if anyone thinks people really have to share these things about their life, you need to rethink your position.”
I spoke with a former, self-titled ‘Demon Phannie’ – a term reserved for the most dedicated fans of Dan and Phil – who intensely ‘shipped’ the pair.
Reflecting on that time, they admitted: “Looking back, I’m embarrassed by how much time I spent shipping Dan and Phil. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I didn’t have such a large following in ‘Phan’ spaces where I was posting ‘proof’. But at the time, it gave me a sense of community. I was young and struggling with my own identity, and I think I projected a lot of that onto them.”
Research suggests that people are coming out at a younger age than ever before. For many, the process of coming out – starting from understanding their sexuality or gender identity to then sharing it publicly – can take years.
This journey is rarely straightforward, with some individuals coming out multiple times over their lives as they discover more about themselves.
However, many feel it’s deeply unfair that celebrities are denied the grace and understanding that everyone deserves when navigating love and identity.
Featured image by Joshiah Van Dien via Wikimedia Commons.
