The Queerbaiting Discourse Has Gotten So Out Of Hand

Anyone who had a Tumblr account in the early 2010s is intimately familiar with “queerbaiting.” The accusatory term was borne at the peak of fandom ships, as intensely invested viewers expressed their frustration in the trend of popular shows teasing LGBTQ+ romances to garner attention, but never following through. At the time, shows like Supernatural, Sherlock, and even pairings within the Star Wars and Marvel universes were widely categorized offenders. But in recent years, the real meaning of queerbaiting seems to have been lost to time.

Here’s a little refresher. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, queerbaiting is: “The practice of incorporating apparently or potentially LGBTQ+ characters or relationships into a film, television show, etc., as a means of attracting or appealing to LGBTQ+ audiences, while remaining deliberately coy or ambiguous about the characters' sexuality.”

Given that definition, it’s pretty evident that Jack Innanen’s sexually fluid Adults character Paul Baker doesn’t fit the bill. But still, in a Sept. 30 Variety profile, Innanen was asked if he was “sensitive to the charges of queerbaiting.” As the actor pointed out, Paul Baker isn’t “potentially” queer; his sexual fluidity is central to his character, who actually has a same-sex romance in the series.

“I think my understanding is that queerbaiting is when someone is falsely portraying themselves as queer, and Paul Baker is pretty fluid to the core,” Innanen said. “I knew that there was some critique in the beginning of the bi guy or fluid guy who’s in a heterosexual relationship, but the love triangle was so accepted and natural and true to the character. I think that there wasn’t much queerbait to him.”

There’s a pretty concrete difference between Paul Baker and Anton’s relationship compared to the most prominent queerbait couples like Supernatural’s Dean and Castiel or Star Wars’ Finn and Poe: They actually have a fully depicted romance on-screen.

Innanen’s sexuality is another reason he’s wrongfully become a “queerbaiting” target. The term has started to be thrown at nearly every straight actor who plays an LGBTQ+ role. And while that specific type of casting can result in actual queerbaiting, the issue is really not as pervasive as social media seems to believe.

Dylan O’Brien laid out how this seemingly problematic casting can totally work earlier in 2026, after he played a gay role in Twinless. “Permission goes a long way,” O’Brien said at the time, crediting Twinless director James Sweeney. “James is a gay man, and coming from a place I could trust. ... It was nice to have his insight, support, and calibration. He’d be like, ‘Go crazy on this one. We can dial it back if it doesn’t feel real.’”

That said, O’Brien clarified that both he and Sweeney understood criticisms of straight actors in LGBTQ+ parts, where the performer clearly had no connection to the subject matter. “We had a similar take on straight actors playing gay parts, especially in recent years,” O’Brien continued. “You started seeing straight actors playing a queer role completely straight. It started to feel inauthentic.”

Even if a straight actor is playing several LGBTQ+ characters, it doesn’t necessarily constitute queerbaiting. It does get into murkier waters, though. Nicholas Galatzine, who’s played multiple queer characters, has admitted to struggling with saying yes to these parts out of “guilt” over thinking a queer actor should instead get the role.

“I identify as a straight man. I have been a part of some incredible queer stories. I felt a sense of uncertainty sometimes about whether I’m taking up someone’s space, and perhaps guilt,” Galatzine said in 2024, after the success of his gay rom-com Red, White & Royal Blue. “At the same time, I see those characters as not solely their sexuality.”

Though Galatzine himself is straight, his LGBTQ +roles in Red, White & Royal Blue, Mary & George, Handsome Devil, and The Craft: Legacy don’t constitute queerbaiting, since all of his characters are actually engaging in queer romances — not just cheekily hinting at something that’s really not happening.

When “queerbaiting” first originated as a term, it was addressing a much more common problem in media. But now that it’s became such mainstream verbiage within the TV and film world, showrunners, writers, and actors are clearly more aware of its pratfalls. Sure, queerbaiting still exists, but it’s not just some catchall allegation for anytime a straight person plays a queer character. So let’s reserve this word for when it actually needs to be brought forward, and try not to dilute its real meaning.