Singer Harry Styles has once again commented on speculation around his sexuality, denying suggestions that he '' his LGBTIQ+ fans with a deliberate aesthetic of 'sexual ambiguity'.
Despite never labeling his sexuality, Styles has around the world, . He has also offered a more ambiguous alternative to heteronormative pop music, with tracks ' and 'quickly branded 'bisexual anthems' by queer fans.
Speaking to about the creative process behind his new album Fine Lines, Styles let slip that a friend of his, singer-songwriter Tom Hull, also known as Kid Harpoon, had advised him to "Just date amazing women, or men, or whatever."
"Let it affect you and write songs about it.”
Intrigued, the interviewer later questioned whether Styles has ever been asked point blank about how he identifies.
“Um. I guess I haaaaave been asked?" Styles responded. "But, I dunno. Why?”
He continued: “It’s not like I’m sitting on an answer, and protecting it, and holding it back. It’s not a case of: I’m not telling you cos I don’t want to tell you. It’s not: ooh this is mine and it’s not yours. It’s: who cares? Does that make sense? It’s just: who cares?”
Styles went on, saying that he doesn't make his creative choices through the lens of sexual identity.
“Am I sprinkling in nuggets of sexual ambiguity to try and be more interesting? No,” he said.
“In terms of how I wanna dress, and what the album sleeve’s gonna be, I tend to make decisions in terms of collaborators I want to work with. I want things to look a certain way. Not because it makes me look gay, or it makes me look straight, or it makes me look bisexual, but because I think it looks cool.
"And more than that, I dunno, I just think sexuality’s something that’s fun. Honestly? I can’t say I’ve given it any more thought than that.”
Opening up further, Styles pondered: “What I would say, about the whole being-asked-about-my-sexuality thing—this is a job where you might get asked.
“And to complain about it, to say you hate it, and still do the job, that’s just silly. You respect that someone’s gonna ask. And you hope that they respect they might not get an answer.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Styles spoke freely about his developing sense for fashion, saying he doesn't feel restricted by gender.
“What women wear. What men wear. For me it’s not a question of that,” Styles said. “If I see a nice shirt and get told, ‘But it’s for ladies.’ I think: ‘Okaaaay? Doesn’t make me want to wear it less though.’ I think the moment you feel more comfortable with yourself, it all becomes a lot easier.”
He added: “A part of it was having, like, a big moment of self-reflection. And self-acceptance. I think it’s a very free, and freeing, time. I think people are asking, ‘Why not?’ a lot more. Which excites me. It’s not just clothes where lines have been blurred, it’s going across so many things. I think you can relate it to music, and how genres are blurring.”
