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What’s wrong with queerbaiting? Straight people can be good at acting gay

The baiter supreme (My Policeman)


November 4, 2022   5 mins

Years ago, I wrote reviews for the imaginatively titled Film Review. One of my fellow critics was another gay man, who automatically loathed all gay-themed films, sight unseen. His stance was simple and forcefully expressed: “It’s always awful.” And he would refuse to review anything remotely “queer”.

Today, he’d be left with nothing to write about: everybody wants a slice of the gay pie. You can’t get an invite to the rom com prom  without a sexual quirk or kink. LGBTQ is now recognised as a mainstream genre, something that caused Netflix considerable online grief when they put their Jeffrey Dahmer drama into it.

Along with this ubiquity arrives the accusation of “queerbaiting”. This weird little expression means either luring in the gays with the promise of something gay, and then not delivering, or using a “queer aesthetic” without being “queer” enough, or — horrors! — even at all. Dr Justin Bengry, lecturer in “Queer History” at Goldsmiths, recently told Euronews in fluent boilerplate: “We, as queer people, are right to demand ever more representation and celebration of our existence and the incredible variety and diversity within our communities.” He went on: “When we critique someone’s behaviour as ‘queer baiting’… we are accusing that they are wilfully misusing their privilege and even deceiving us about their own understanding of themself to attract attention and even benefit socially and financially.”

A confession. I think Channel 4’s Cucumber was a masterpiece. I enjoy the books of John Rechy. I think Frasier writer Joe Keenan’s novel trilogy beginning with Blue Heaven is sublime. But I find most gay culture, and nearly all “queer” culture, excruciatingly bad and frequently embarrassing. I have a theory that more gay teen wretchedness is caused by “empowering” gay culture, supposedly uplifting but horribly depressing, than anything else. I bought a book called How To Be A Happy Homosexual when I was 16 and it drove me to the outer edge of despair. The mere thought of The Communards, even now, makes me look hungrily towards the medicine cabinet.

The current craze for “representation” is nothing more than hollow fetishism, with all the vacuous, rictus-grinning “celebration” of an office party. It has not widened or improved gay culture, but simply bloated it. In fact, I often prefer it when straight people do the job: Bowie and early Suede, Marty Feldman and Barry Took writing for “Julian and Sandy” on Round The Horne, Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina in Prick Up Your Ears. Mary Renault and Barbara Pym wrote great books about gay men.

It is very strange to think that only homosexual artists can produce art that includes homosexuality, that only gay actors can act gay parts. When it happens the other way round, nobody even notices. Legions of lesbians and gaggles of gays have written hetero stories. Noel Coward wrote plays where young male characters have non-gay secrets — heterosexual affairs — and they function perfectly. James Baldwin wrote about white heterosexual people in a world where his gayness and his race were considerably more of an issue than they would be today, and he did it brilliantly.

I’d suggest not that there is no difference, but that good writers and good actors can traverse these boundaries in their stride. It is a strange criterion to be asked to judge art on its author’s characteristics, particularly as it has followed on from the same strain of cracked academia that gifted us “the death of the author”. As for queerbaiting? I’d suggest that like most things, sometimes it’s bad, and sometimes it’s good, depending on whether the artist is an astute observer and a natural empath — by which I don’t mean the modern version of empath, the loopy “be kind” TikTokker with mad staring eyes. A smart outsider can see things insiders miss and make great art from it.

Surely the right question to ask remains not “is this authentic?”, but “is this any good?”. I don’t care if I’ve been “baited” if what I’ve been baited with was worth it. Harry Styles is, of course, the baiter supreme, being coy about his incredibly obvious heterosexuality and sporting accessories from someone’s nan who passed away in 1973. In My Policeman, out couple of weeks ago, he plays a gay character who marries a woman to conceal his secret. But his work is offensive not because of this but because it is so bad.

A little example of my own. I wrote a TV script about lads playing football and a heterosexual romance, and people were surprised. I found this very odd, as I had written about distant planets without having visited them and alien beings without having met any, and nobody had expressed the slightest surprise. It’s ironic that “queer” — something supposedly all about breaking categories, we are told — is so tight-arsed about people staying in their lane. But then, of course, queer isn’t actually about breaking down categories at all, but about inventing tons of new ones for status, goading people, and having big squabbles on the socials.

Gay men have certainly always been pretty good at self-baiting. Until fairly recently, gay magazine Attitude nearly always had a front cover of a semi-undraped young straight male starlet, often from Hollyoaks, with a teaser quote — something along the lines of “I’ve often wondered what it might be like to be taken suddenly from behind by a big old leather bear” — and a hint that this dreamboat might possibly flash their scrotum on page 53. This was supposed to act as gay catnip, and presumably did.

So what’s wrong with the gays acting as catnip for straights? Consider Heartstopper, a TV series about a gay male romance written by Alice Oseman, a woman who styles herself as “aromantic”, but who feels confident enough to churn out complicated tales of other people’s romantic lives. Good for her. It is notable that she is not lambasted for inauthenticity, but then she is fully signed up to the prevailing ideology, so she’s safe. But here is where fetishism comes in.

Writing about gays isn’t the same as seeking them as an audience. There is a small area of publishing — often self-publishing — full of erotic novels about gay men written by and, crucially, for straight women. (And of course a much larger, less delicately-presented, slab of it dedicated to straight men writing about lesbians.) This, and Heartstopper, is not a million miles away from Jackie magazine stories of yore. When something is an elevated masturbation fantasy, it is probably best to keep that in mind and not raise it above its lowly cultural rung. But where is the harm in it?

We often hear that the age of deference is gone. But this is not so. We just defer to different people. At the moment, for reasons unclear, we defer to American teenagers with peculiar ideas. When we emerge from this cultural tunnel we will hopefully be able to flit freely again around stories and people, whatever their sexual preferences. Yes, there might well be some terrible clangers and some unpleasant wanks out there. But these are the price we pay for approaching art with generous hearts and open minds.

Generous and open are two things that American teenagers trumpeting accusations of queerbaiting are not. And even the most progressive corners of the “LGBTQ” cultural establishment are starting to realise it. After Heartstopper star Kit Connor claimed, earlier this week, that queerbaiting allegations had “forced” him to come out as bisexual, even PinkNews took his side. This is a U-turn for a site that ran an explainer in 2018 about why queerbaiting was a “problem” — and hints that better days are to come. Days in which audience and cast alike don’t have to worry about who the other likes fucking.


Gareth Roberts is a screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work on Doctor Who.

OldRoberts953

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Richard Craven
Richard Craven
2 years ago

We often hear that the age of deference is gone. But this is not so. We just defer to different people.
True. For several months two years ago, we were not allowed to disagree with black people. And we are even now still working towards the permissibility of disagreeing with trans groomers.

Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart
2 years ago
Reply to  Richard Craven

And based on the reader comments for the oat milk article, I’d suggest disagreeing with vegans may be verboten too.

Richard Craven
Richard Craven
2 years ago
Reply to  Ian Stewart

I haven’t read that article yet, but have a strong feeling that oat milk causes obesity.

Derek Bryce
Derek Bryce
2 years ago

Like Gareth Roberts’s colleague, I also began avoiding specifically gay-themed culture after a period, post coming out, in the 90s and early noughties, of consuming all ‘representation’ I could find. Brokeback Mountain was the last example I sought out and enjoyed because it was beautifully written and produced. Much of it is simply needy dreck, whether written or performed by gays or straights. One of the great achievements of the gay and lesbian equality movements was that there was no need to find us fascinating simply because of this aspects of ourselves. The recent hissy fit by Billy Eichner that not enough ‘bigoted’ straights were interested in seeing his romcom, Bros, is an example of alleged creative and activist types yearning for the days before we simply became common or garden citizens like everyone else. Why won’t some the likes of Mr Eichner accept the social progress we’ve made. Weird.
The use of ‘queer’, ‘reimagined’ largely by some straights weirdly in search of the frisson of gay-adjacency does offend me, though, and takes me back to the bad old days when it was used as a hateful slur against gay men in particular. My clearest recollection of it was it being hurled at me by three men who tried to beat me to death in the mid 90s in a violent homophobic assault.
Mind you, looks like the shiny new homophobia presented by trans etc ideologists may mean I’ll have to fight the same battles all over again, just against new foes so I may need to eat many of the words above.

Steve Murray
Steve Murray
2 years ago
Reply to  Derek Bryce

Thanks for your insights.

I might just point out though, that the term “hateful slur” is pandering to the woke mob. The meaning of the word ‘slur’ is clear enough on its own.

Derek Bryce
Derek Bryce
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve Murray

True. I agree. Thanks.

Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony
1 year ago
Reply to  Steve Murray

‘Hateful slur’ is tautology as slurs are hateful anyhow.

Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart
2 years ago
Reply to  Derek Bryce

I think lesbians are copping far worse flak from trans activists than gay men – it’s ironic that it’s always women who get the rawest deal of the sexes, even when there is a multiplicity of genders.

Alex Tickell
Alex Tickell
2 years ago
Reply to  Ian Stewart

Well, the societal effect on all women. not just lesbians, is much more evident than on males. All social change including sexual legislation should be examined carefully as it never fails to change society , very often for the worse.
In the woke West we seem deadly scared to examine such legislation, never mind put the question the huge majority who will be affected
By the way it is the opinion of the majority in this country that there are two genders only……..unless of course “gender” is to become a useful word like “Gay”

Last edited 2 years ago by Alex Tickell
Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart
2 years ago
Reply to  Alex Tickell

And the majority are correct, with scientific proof too. But it’s a great numpty test to identify those who think there are more than two genders!

Last edited 2 years ago by Ian Stewart
Lindsay S
Lindsay S
2 years ago

I remember when acting was about being a character other than yourself and yet today, you can only perform a certain character if you have the “lived experience” to do so, especially if you lack the diversity points required to play anyone.

Ethniciodo Rodenydo
Ethniciodo Rodenydo
2 years ago
Reply to  Lindsay S

That’s going to make it difficult for Hollywood an the BBC to put out any straight white material

A Willis
A Willis
2 years ago

A few years ago the BBC carried out a survey of its own employees. it was surprised to find that homo-sexuals made up three times the proportion than in the population as a whole (I suspect it was less of a surprise to their audience). Well, if that just happens to be the case, so what?
Despite that remarkable imbalance, however, the BBC made clear their conscious intent to increase their numbers, and the resources on supporting them.
.
BBC, October 2018
New plans to make the BBC an even more inclusive workplace for LGBT staff
Currently 11 percent of the BBC’s workforce and 12 percent of its leaders identify as LGBT, the highest representation of any UK broadcaster.
Specific recommendations include building a network of straight allies who actively promote the LGBT community in the BBC.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/lgbt-culture-and-progression
.
It’s OUR BBC” they tell us. Is it, I wonder?
.
.

Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart
2 years ago
Reply to  A Willis

I suspect that finding would also be made of all the arts, not just the BBC.

Alex Tickell
Alex Tickell
2 years ago
Reply to  Ian Stewart

There is a great difference between a National Broadcasting company publicly funded and other branches of “The Arts” as I am sure you are well aware.
Perhaps a “propaganda machine” might be a closer description?

Richard Craven
Richard Craven
2 years ago
Reply to  Lindsay S

I would sincerely like to see white actors blacking up, if only because of the tantrums it would instigate among the woke scum.

Max Price
Max Price
2 years ago

“Dr Justin Bengry, lecturer in “Queer History” at Goldsmiths“ talking about other people being privileged! Staggering lack of self-awareness. Progressives, drunk on ideology, have lost the plot.

Richard Craven
Richard Craven
2 years ago

“queer” — something supposedly all about breaking categories, we are told — is so tight-arsed about people staying in their lane.
More tea vicar?

Allison Barrows
Allison Barrows
2 years ago

Gay men in Hollywood have been playing straight guys from its beginning. Gary Oldman was brilliant as John Osborne in “p***k Up Your Ears”. I always thought it was such a waste of his talent to relegate the delicious Rupert Everett to “gay friend” roles when he is clearly a leading man type. And, while we’re at it, why is it perfectly fine for a black actor to be cast as James Bond, but unthinkable for a white one to be cast as Shaft? All this identity obeisance is as off-putting as it is stiflingly dull and uncreative, as the author points out. “Flit freely”: hear hear!

Brendan O'Leary
Brendan O'Leary
2 years ago

Gary Oldman was brilliant as John Osborne

Certainly fooled me. I thought he was playing Joe Orton.
Did you enjoy the child abuse scene in Morocco?

Derek Bryce
Derek Bryce
2 years ago

No. That scene from the book wasn’t in the film. As Andrew Doyle says, someone’s art or writing never raped anyone. He also says that moves such as the one you infer would result in the death of much of the western canon.

Brendan O'Leary
Brendan O'Leary
2 years ago
Reply to  Derek Bryce

I infer no such thing. There was definitely such a scene in the film when I first saw it and I haven’t read the book. It’s possible that the scene has since been removed for video distribution.

Allison Barrows
Allison Barrows
2 years ago

Oh, you’re right! I confused the two. I’m looking back, in anger!

Steve Elliott
Steve Elliott
2 years ago

There are some straight actors who have played gay characters in the past who now say that they would not have accepted the part these days. Tom Hanks is one who played a gay man in the film Philadelphia.
Likewise there are gay actors who have played straight roles in the past who now say that they wouldn’t have taken the part now. Ellen Paige is one.
They are actors for goodness sake. That’s what they do isn’t it? Pretend

Derek Bryce
Derek Bryce
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve Elliott

I was so disappointed in Hanks for saying that. Had he asked any gay people for whom that performance meant so much, many of would have said ‘thank you’ not ‘get out’. What a diminished world ours has become.

Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart
2 years ago
Reply to  Derek Bryce

So true. These narrow minded bigots just can’t comprehend the transcendence achievable by the best artists.

Arkadian X
Arkadian X
2 years ago

Can we please stop to use the alphabet soup like it is a thing? What does it even mean? If you want to list all the “minorities”, why stop there? The list would be endless.and pretty much cover the whole of humanity.
Apart from that, an interesting article.

T. Lister
T. Lister
2 years ago
Reply to  Arkadian X

Can we at least get the invented and wretched ‘T’ off of the LGB where it was force-teamed by the ‘T’ movement — the two have nothing in common. Male, mostly heterosexual cross-dressers w/ a fetish, formerly known as autogynephiles/transvestic fetishists, now known as the invented category of ‘trans,’ and for whom the movement is mostly in service to, have parasitized the LGB movement and is antithetical to it. Trans ‘gender identity’ ideology is misogynist and homophobic and reifies old stereotypes. LGB equality never supplanted anyone else’s rights or bastardized the language or insisted on deceptive, fraudulent pronouns or promoted the hormonal and surgical mutilation of young people — or anyone. LGBs wanted to integrate into society whereas trans ‘gender identity’ intends to deconstruct it. The alphabet soup is worse than meaningless it is deceptive. And as for actors acting and playing different parts is why it is called acting.

Derek Bryce
Derek Bryce
2 years ago
Reply to  T. Lister

Thanks for pointing this out. It’s so necessary to repeat that lesbians and gay men have nothing in common with TQWERTY+, rather our movement for equality (achieved in this and most other western societies … and Taiwan) has been subject to a violent home invasion by the TQWERTY+ mob. The rights I marched for in the 90s were the rights not to be fired or be kicked out by landlords for being gay and to have our relationships recognised in law. TQWERTY+ already have these rights. Their demands infringe on the existing rights of others, straight and gay. Not the same thing at all.

Alex Tickell
Alex Tickell
2 years ago
Reply to  T. Lister

You don’t think LGB’s also want to de-construct? They have been working to that end since the legality of the practice was changed. Revenge? perhaps, but the family and even procreation are under attack.
Beware the new tactic of demonising the poor confused and mentally afflicted Trans, simply another way of assuring the sexual majority that they are on our side and just like us.

Sasha Marchant
Sasha Marchant
2 years ago
Reply to  Alex Tickell

No, to answer to your question, but you would known that had you paid any attention.

Richard Craven
Richard Craven
2 years ago
Reply to  T. Lister

Well said.

Mrs. H Kenway
Mrs. H Kenway
2 years ago
Reply to  T. Lister

Don’t forget the way that the trans ideology is effectively beginning to eliminate gays and lesbians.
First, they are convincing confused young people that they are not G/L, they are “really” straight people in the wrong body! (A large percentage of “trans” teens who are not given hormones & surgery etc. end puberty comfortable with their biological sex and attracted to those of the same biological sex.)
Second, they begin insisting that if you are, for example, a lesbian who refuses to sleep with a “transwoman” because said transwoman has a P, you are a bigot, and that your desire for a person with a V can and should be overcome; that you can “choose” to be attracted to and aroused by the P. (Conversely, of course, gay men who refuse to sleep with “transmen” are also bigots for not wanting partners with a V, and can “choose” to desire that V.)
This is exactly what gay-conversion therapy tells gay people: Your attraction and orientation is a choice, and you can choose to be straight. Gay conversion therapy is illegal in many places, and is still a hot-point issue for many activists. Yet many of those same activists, desperate to show how Woke and supportive of “trans people” they are, will turn around and support the idea that gays and lesbians can and should switch teams for the right Uncanny Valley impersonation of their preferred sex (and that straight people can and should as well).
It never fails to shock me to see supposed “allies” and supporters of gay rights turn around and basically advocate the idea that sexual orientation just a choice people make and they can easily choose to go the other way if they want to.

Alex Tickell
Alex Tickell
2 years ago
Reply to  Mrs. H Kenway

At the beginning of the present gender furore, homosexuals and lesbians riding on the back of Stonewall were supporters of Transgenderism throwing their weight behind the movement. I t was only when they realised that the heterosexual community were angry and disgusted by the effect Transgenderism was having on all women and especially the violation of young children, that LandGs saw
the danger of being associated with the Trans movement and began to speak out.
The great voiceless majority had been pushed too far and the Gays blinked.
But not for long, lock up your children.

Last edited 2 years ago by Alex Tickell
Mick Davis
Mick Davis
1 year ago
Reply to  Arkadian X

BLT + as Jeremy Clarkson would have it..

Leejon 0
Leejon 0
2 years ago

To f*****g right! (Or whatever the new phrase is).

Jonathan Sidaway
Jonathan Sidaway
2 years ago

Yeah, nice one. I found ‘Cucumber’ excruciating … probly because it was mostly so realistic abt a section of the ‘community’ (tho’ a case could be made for a Greek Chorus, a bit of perspective, all that: ‘Cuke’ seemed a bit too close to its material). There might be a film industry party interested in ensuring only hagiography for gay characters. Andrew Haigh’s ‘Weekend’ was nice in its small way: empathetic, but not blind to its characters’ faults; very atmospheric.

Last edited 2 years ago by Jonathan Sidaway
James Kirk
James Kirk
2 years ago

I lack the capacity to celebrate getting up in the morning. I take it for granted on a three score years and ten plus basis. I don’t shout hooray! I’m hetero! and rattle my macho toolbox at the wife. Well, not lately anyway. When I see pride marches with their make up, glitter and rainbows I don’t see alphabet people and wonder about their bedroom exploits. I have an imagination and only see self obsessed idiots. Why must they adopt the roles of pantomime and the circus? Hardly original, they even hijack the dictionary and appropriate ‘straight’ words. If they have a case to be made any more they could be more dignified and less theatrical, like the majority of gays I know who cringe with embarrassment at the antics of their extrovert brethren.

Lana Hunneyball
Lana Hunneyball
2 years ago

Thanks for saying what many are thinking. Won’t it be nice when the human race grows up? Sigh.

Jonathan Andrews
Jonathan Andrews
2 years ago

There was a moment when, in the UK at least, we hit a bit of a sweet spot. Civil unions solved most of the unfairness that gay couples experienced and gay marriage meant real legal equality and, it seemed, that most people were content. Even the religious, never likely to be happy with such things, seemed to take it in their stride.

Then things got a bit silly. The trans stuff most obviously but what the hell only gay actors could play gay roles or gay characters had to be represented in a particular way.

Hey, great way to irritate the overwhelmingly straight society. You know, those people who generally were on your side, though you should have fair dibs with everyone else.

I don’t change in my feeling that anti gay legislation or policy is stupid and immoral but don’t go asking for privilege. Gosh, you might get like feminists.

Richard Parker
Richard Parker
2 years ago

Some brilliant aperçus here: a really enjoyable piece, thank you.

Much of the issue seems to involve confusion of capability and permission (with current “popular jurisprudence” favouring the latter over the former). That’s why politicised art (or entertainment of any kind) is never any good: the cart’s firmly in front of the horse.

Orwell was great on this subject of course…

Last edited 2 years ago by Richard Parker
Martin Goodfellow
Martin Goodfellow
2 years ago

I’m all against persecution of gay men and women, but any investigation of why they are so has been shut down,
Medical knowledge of homosexuality has been denied, despite even Elton John’s bio-film that shows father-son disfunction.
This debate needs to be reopened.

Guglielmo Marinaro
Guglielmo Marinaro
2 years ago

Straight people can get on with their lives and relationships perfectly well without any need for any investigation into the cause(s) of their sexuality. Gay people can do likewise, and most very sensibly do.

Julian Farrows
Julian Farrows
2 years ago

Being straight is not a sexual dysfunction.

Nicky Samengo-Turner
Nicky Samengo-Turner
2 years ago

For God’s sake WHO gives a damn about all this?

Alex Tickell
Alex Tickell
2 years ago

Ve haf veys of making you give a damn. The media and politics have a huge over-representation and we ordinary folks feel like an endangered species. Even GB news seems to be total populated by “conservative” gays……now there’s a real contradiction in terms.
Seriously, this society is well fooked.

A Willis
A Willis
2 years ago
Reply to  Alex Tickell

“The BBC is a publicly-funded
 urban organisation with an abnormally large proportion of younger people, of people in ethnic minorities and almost certainly of gay people, compared with the population at large.
All this, creates an innate liberal bias inside the BBC.”
Andrew Marr
BBC, June 2007, Does The BBC Have A Bias Problem?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6764779.stm

Alex Tickell
Alex Tickell
2 years ago
Reply to  A Willis

Well and bravely said.