Nick Jonas is quickly becoming the gay community’s sweetheart, and for good reason: He has a body to die for, he’s handsome, he has lots of muscles… did I mention he looks really good?
Oh, and there’s another thing – he plays gay characters on TV (two, as of this count). And he’s not ashamed of it, and he openly talks about it, he probably even LIKES it. Oh, and another thing – he performs in gay clubs. And he keeps teasing us googly-eyed gay guys, a tease that came to a peak this week, when he refused to deny (or confirm) “sexual experimentation” with men.
And while many of us are busy drooling all over him (just figuratively!), others in the gay community are whining about it. “He’s gay-baiting!”, they’re saying. “It’s all just for commercial purposes! He’s seducing the gays for publicity! He’s flattering us because he wants our money! He’s a straight guy in a costume, extorting our love for his own personal gain!”
WOW. When did our community become so annoying?
Can you even imagine teen heart-throbs from the 80’s or 90’s wooing gay crowds like that? Back in those days, young stars ran away from homosexual mentions like wildfire. Whether they were closeted gay guys, or utterly straight, any connection to “the gays” was a VERY big no-no.
Why? either so no one would “suspect” them of being gay themselves – or because the mere mention and support of the LGBT community was highly controversial. Even today, any TV ad with gay themes immediately wakes up the usual homophobic hysterical gangs – so back in the 80’s? It was like that, but ten times fold.
Back then, it was almost impossible to find celebrities who dared support and wink at the gay community – and even the few who did, probably did it against their publicist’s advice.
And now? Now we have Nick Jonas. The bad news: sorry guys, he’s probably straight. (Side note: what does that even mean these days? The youngsters today, they’re straight, but they “experiment”, and the gay ones – they also “experiment”, it’s all a big, sexy lab trial… where was this when I was a teenager?!)
The good news: He likes the gay community, and he has no problem with you drooling all over his amazing body (figuratively speaking again…maybe). Just try to go to a common jock at a high school near you, and tell him he has an amazing body – it won’t end well. Or go back in time and tell it to an 80’s star – his reaction would have probably been to immediately buy a full-page newspaper ad, showing all his amazing straight girlfriends, in a Jacuzzi with him.
But Nick Jonas is not like that. He portrays gay characters on TV, he teases, he flirts with us in interviews, and he has zero problems with it. He’s not speaking only to his female fans, while letting the gay guys hide in the back – no, he’s addressing us directly, acknowledging us.
And yes, it might help him become more successful, it might help him make more money – excellent! I’m all for supporting a celebrity who’s targeting me directly without shame and without any apologies.
So please, stop whining about Nick Jonas’ “gay baiting”. It’s OK to keep fantasizing about him, he knows you’re fantasizing about him, and he’s fine with it – and for that, he should be commended.