Billy Porter explains his Harry Styles comments on 'using' LGBTQIA+ community

14 August 2023 , 18:05

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Billy Porter explains his Harry Styles comments on 'using' LGBTQIA+ community

Billy Porter seemingly criticised Harry Styles once again recently, after having previously questioned him wearing a dress on the cover of Vogue magazine three years ago.

The actor, now 53, took issue with the singer, now 29, gracing the cover of the magazine wearing a dress in 2020. Harry became the 'first-ever solo male cover star' to front the fashion magazine when he appeared on the issue.

And while he was praised by some for breaking boundaries, Billy suggested at the time that Harry challenged stereotypes with his fashion simply because "it's the thing to do". He has since further commented on the situation.

Billy Porter spoke about a previous Vogue magazine cover in a recent interview (WireImage)

He discussed when Harry Styles, pictured earlier this year, was a cover star back in 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)

Billy - who notably wore a tuxedo dress to the Oscars in 2019 - told The Times in 2021: "I created the conversation [about non-binary fashion] and yet Vogue still put [Harry], a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time."

The actor said: "I'm not dragging [Harry], but he is the one you're going to try and use to represent this new conversation?" He claimed that Harry "doesn't care" and was doing it because "it's the thing to do". Billy - best known for his role in FX's Pose - said that the situation was instead "politics" for him and that it's his life.

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He continued in the interview at the time: "I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars and not be gunned now." He further commented: "All he has to do is be white and straight."

Billy recently addressed the situation again in an interview with The Telegraph. He said that months prior to Harry's Vogue cover being unveiled, he had himself done a Q&A with the magazine's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, now 73. He said that he was asked at the end of the session how the magazine could "do better". Billy said that he was caught off guard and didn't say "what [he] should have said". The actor went on to share his thoughts in the new interview.

Billy had previously shared his thoughts on Harry fronting the magazine at the time (Getty Images)

Billy said he should have encouraged Vogue to use its "power" to "uplight the voices" of leaders within the "de-gendering of fashion movement." He said that six months after the Q&A, Harry became "the first man on the cover".

Further assuming the singer's sexuality, he said that it's not Harry's fault that he "happens to be white and cute and straight and fit into the infrastructure that way". He added that he calls out the "gatekeepers" within the industry. Billy - who is known for championing gender fluid fashion - acknowledged that he wasn't the first celebrity to challenge gender stereotypes. He gave examples from the past such as the late singers David Bowie and Sylvester.

He claimed that Harry was on the cover because he's "white [and] straight". Billy continued: "Non-binary blah blah blah blah. No. It doesn't feel good to me. You're using my community - or your people are using my community - to elevate you. You haven't had to sacrifice anything."

Approached for comment, a Vogue spokeperson told us: "We of course regret that Billy feels as he does, and Vogue completely recognizes the tremendous amount of work he has done driving the conversation forward around genderless fashion."

Following his initial remarks, Billy publicly apologised to Harry in 2021, saying on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert: "I apologise to you for having your name in my mouth." He also said: "The conversation is not about you."

Billy continued on the CBS talk show: "The conversation is actually deeper than [Harry wearing a dress on the Vogue cover]. It is about the systems of oppression and erasure of people of colour who contribute to the culture."

Harry has been described as "the face of gender-neutral fashion" in recent years and spoke about his style in the interview with Vogue in 2020. He said: "What's really exciting is that all of these lines are just kind of crumbling away." He continued: "When you take away 'there's clothes for men and there's clothes for women,' once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play." Harry said that barriers end up "limiting" people.

Joel Leaver