Harry Styles is the pop star of the moment. Styles plays with gender roles like no other singer of his generation, and his concerts are a “protected space” for his queer fans. The hype surrounding the British singer shows that queerness is no longer necessarily defined by who sleeps with whom.
Pop star in the succession to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury: Harry Styles was nominated for the Grammy nine times, and in 2023 he won twice for his third album “Harry’s House”.
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Harry Styles is coming to Munich, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt
Sequined hats, feather boas, colorful clothes and rainbow flags: “Colorful” is the most obvious word to describe the fans of pop star Harry Styles. For three years, between 2021 and 2023, Styles toured the world with his “Love On Tour”, a total of 169 concerts.
On stage, in interviews and in interactions with his fans, the singer repeatedly emphasizes his support for the LGBTQ+ community. He waves gay and trans pride flags or encourages his fans to come out to their parents. Everyone should feel comfortable at their concerts. The fans thank him.
“I haven’t felt as confirmed in my queerness as I did there in a long time,” wrote journalist Aamika Khan in a 2018 article for the US-Magazin Them. This is only partly due to the singer himself. It is much more the fan base that attracts Harry Styles. For them, the Brit, who presents himself as particularly androgynous, offers an ideal projection surface and a strong “queer ally”, an ally in the fight against homophobia and transphobia.
Harry Styles – The star of the hour
His first solo album was already a complete success in 2017 and started at number 1 on the Billboard album charts in Great Britain. With his debut single “Sign of the Times” he replaces Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” at the top of the UK charts.
Today, Styles is one of the most successful musicians in the world, both artistically and commercially: his third album “Harry’s House” was awarded “Album of the Year” and “Best Pop Vocal Album” at the 2023 Grammys. The single “As it Was” (2022) reached the top of the charts in 45 countries, and at times four songs competed for the top position at the same time.
Styles is also successful as an actor: in 2017 he starred in Christopher Nolan’s war drama “Dunkirk”, in 2022 he starred alongside Florence Pugh in the psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” and in the melodrama “My Husband’s Lover” (director: Michael Grandage).
Harry Styles gained fame in 2010 as a member of the boy band One Direction, which was made up of participants in the British talent show “The X Factor”. The group has officially been on hiatus since 2016.
Colorful crowd: For Harry Styles’ fans, his concerts are a kind of happening. US journalist Aamika Khan writes that she has rarely felt as supported by a community as she did at a Syles concert.
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Number 1 in 45 countries: The successful single “As It Was” (2022)
One of the visible supporters of the LGBTQ+ movement
As a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, the singer doesn’t mince his words, but he generally answers questions about his own sexual orientation with silence. Styles flirts with homoerotic images, for example in the clip for the song „Lights Up“ or in the film “My Husband’s Lover,” in which Styles plays an unouted police officer.
Even though only relationships with women are known from the tabloid press, Styles finds the expectation of publicly professing a gender preference outdated. He commented in an interview in 2022 Better Homes and Gardens:
“It’s about not having to label everything and not having to make it clear which boxes you tick.”
For Harry Styles, fashion is an expression of his personality, not his gender. At the premiere of his film “My Husband’s Lover,” Styles wore an emerald green jacket with a large lily brooch.
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In a ruffled dress on the cover of “Vogue”
The fact that there is always speculation about Harry Styles’ sexuality is not least due to his fashionable appearance. In the Interview with the Guardian the musician explained himself in 2019:
“I want things to look a certain way. Not because it makes me look gay, straight or bisexual, but because I think it looks cool. And more than that, I don’t know, I just think sexuality is something that’s fun.”
Playing with gender is part of the singer’s core brand. He likes to show himself in a dress, with colorful printed blouses or those with lace trim. He made the pearl necklace a trendy fashion accessory for men.
Styles’ influence on fashion is also recognized by experts: in 2020, he was the first man to grace the cover of “Vogue” in a solo shoot – in a floor-length ruffled dress with a black dinner jacket. The dress itself later became an exhibit in a men’s fashion exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
In addition to all the praise, there is also criticism of Styles’ ambiguity, especially from the queer scene. The US actor Billy Porter (“Pose”), himself known for his extravagant fashion style, criticized the magazine cover: For him, as a black, gay man, it was a political statement to show himself in a dress at award ceremonies. Styles is celebrated as “courageous”, but as a white, heterosexual man he takes few risks. Porter later apologized for his comments.
Identity change: new fashion for men
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The glam icon of the TikTok generation
Harry Styles flirts with the aura of queerness. This alone doesn’t break new ground: Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Prince also played with gender images. But with Harry Styles, the crossing of boundaries seems less provocative and inflammatory than with his famous role models. The queerness that Harry Styles embodies is desexualized and, admittedly, that of a privileged, white, cis male.
In the age of social networks, queer people no longer lead a niche existence. They network early, exchange experiences and create their own digital safe space on the Internet. With his message of mutual acceptance, free love and taking things for granted, Harry Styles creates safe spaces in concert halls and on the Internet. What his own sexual preferences are is irrelevant.