Actress Dove Cameron felt forced to come out in public after being accused of queerbaiting.
The former Disney star came out as queer in 2020 after a backlash to her song “We Belong”, the video for which featured same-sex, as well as straight, couples. Cameron also used an emoji of two women kissing to promote the single.
Some viewers accused the star, probably best-known for her role of Mal in the Descendants movies, of queerbaiting – a term that refers to people who present as queer or sexually ambiguous to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community without openly identifying as such.
@pinknews Former Disney star Dove Cameron has opened up about how she felt forced to come out after facing queerbaiting accusations. Whilst appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Dove explained the reason she felt the need to reveal she is queer… #dovecameron #disney #lgbtqia #disneychannel ♬ vlog, chill out, calm daily life(1370843) – SUNNY HOOD STUDIO
Appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast recently, Cameron said: “People were like, ‘When’s the new single coming out?’ And I was, like, emoji, emoji, then the women loving women emoji kissing.
“And then the song came out and it wasn’t about being queer, and everybody was like: ‘You’re queerbaiting This is horrendous’.”
In response, Cameron took to social media to clarify that she is part of the LGBTQ+ community. “I had to basically go on Instagram Live and be like, ‘Guys I am not queerbaiting, I am queer’. I just wanted more f***ing representation in the f***ing cartoon.
“I had never said it publicly but all my friends, all my family, knew I was queer. I just hated that I had to say it.”
She has reflected on the experience several times since then, sharing that it left her feeling “vulnerable” and “exposed.”
Cameron, who recently voiced the character Ellen in Big Nate, and appeared in horror thriller Love Me Dead, also touched on discriminatory elements within the queer community itself. “People are very heavy on labels,” she said. “You have to define yourself. You have to know what it is.
“If we have that issue within the community, we have quite a ways to go before we’re not feeling that from the world.”
In 2022, Heartstopper star Kit Connor came out as bisexual after being accused of queerbaiting, and singer Billie Eilish revealed that she was queer the following year after some fans made the same accusation.
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