Kit Connor, the 18-year-old actor who played Nick Nelson in Netflix ongoing series “Heartstopper,” has defined his sexuality to the public while saying he was forced out by the fans.

On Nov. 1, Connor announced he was bisexual on Twitter. In the same post he said the fans forced him out by claiming he was queerbaiting – a marketing technique for media in which producers hint at, but then do not confirm LGBTQ+ representation – while performing as a bisexual character on “Heartstopper.”

It may not be the usual direction of being forced out of the closet, but it is just as impactful.

A celebrity- an actor- that represented a community’s time to come out in their own time, was then accused of queerbaiting and bullied online for not announcing his sexuality.

It is a tragic irony that someone who played a character that has a story of coming out on his own time with people he trusts has come out online because he was forced to by the fans.

I can understand that queerbaiting is a genuine concern. True representation is especially hard to come by in modern media but having to explain your identity should not be the focus for representation; that comes from feeling seen in the media.

Celebrities are put on a pedestal, but that does not mean they can be seen as anything other than people too. People deserve a right to privacy and don’t have to explain their life stories for the world to criticize and question.