Which male idols do you think are gay?

[OptimusPremier]

just fully caught up and why are posts about an idol being straight gets loads of likes while candid posts about thinking that an idol is LGBT are disliked...??

[OptimusPremier]

let's

just 

[OptimusPremier]

On 7/5/2022 at 7:59 AM, benarmies said:

There is a huge difference from the attention that Jennie/Taehyung picture got and those others "rumors" . The Jennie/Taehyung rumor trended on naver for days and even got reported on national television programs. None of those others rumors left the kpop twitter bubble. Taehyung reacting so strongly to the Joanna thing for being fake and being zen as fuck to a much bigger rumor accusing him of pretty much home wrecking gd/jennie relationship (lmao) is also a little off character. I don't think it's as a silly of a rumor as people make it out to be, but that doesn't make me believe Taehyung is queer anyless... I just think he is bi. 

I don't see the difference in their daily lives if the rumor stays within the kpop realm or spreads to the korean GP. The GP won't do anything of the info, fans are the ones harassing and invading people's lives.

After their debut, pics surfaced of allegedly JK and his middle school gf in the same class (real), appearing close together and kissing (those are more on Tae and Jennie's pic's level of reliability). Fans generally believed it to be true (even to this day), but Bighit never denied even though it was probably a lie, given that she tried to ride the rumor after they blew up with quite the fantasy story about him giving her a ring and promising to marry her but ghosting her lately, as if they had been dating for years (I do think that BTS have exes but if none of them has ever spoken, it's for a reason).

In 2018 Jin and Solbin were MCs on a music show and on her group's Vlive, she was heard calling his name informally (she's much younger, but it could be that it's more comfortable than calling him oppa). It became a big scandal in SK but Bighit stayed silent, even though Jin didn't appear in schedules for some time and it did trend its fair share for a while. It fueled dating rumors for months and the poor girl got so harassed that she eventually apologized by herself.

Denying is the exception, not the rule. It seems like they only deny when the other party is close to them. Joanna, Suran and Mijoo are the only dating rumors that they denied outside that youtuber's claims and I don't point fingers at fans who still believe that these three rumors were true. Because there is actual material and it can be left to interpretation like we do with idols' sexualities here.

Personally I was quite on the fence before, but after reading carefully about the cases, I feel like these three ladies purposely fueled their rumor (Joanna kept posting pics of the same private places that Tae posted, Suran kept hinting at Yoongi in posts and entertained fans' speculation when she had a cb, and Mijoo kept posting pics of JK's tattoos she had made and liking convos about the rumor). I think the denials were meant to protect them from potential harrassment, but they engaged with fans and ran with the clout. IMO actual gfs would try to stay on the low not to mess with their partner's career and protect their own entourage, so I've decided to take denials as granted.

For Tae and Jennie, I think they didn't deny because it's just that weak of an evidence and free PR. They'll deny if it starts bothering them (for now it only bothers the fans and not even that much, all things considered).

Edited July 7, 2022 by OptimusPremier

[OptimusPremier]

8 hours ago, mEeEeE said:

This response isn't just for you two but for everyone making similar posts. 

First of all, there seems to be somewhat of an erasure of male bisexuality as a separate/different and valid sexual orientation to gay in this thread. 

Secondly, does this thread want to figure out an idol's actual sexuality by looking at all pieces of "evidence" or a thread who wants to hope idols are gay (and only gay), don't want their bubbles burst, and censor other viewpoints? If we only post evidence/opinions that an idol is gay but censor other stuff such as new things we learn about the idol as time goes on, then it can give rise to distorted information/assumptions, can't it? 

I do understand not wanting to be het-spammed in a gay thread, that's why I'm trying to put all my "Taeyong likes women" receipts into a few posts. Like after this post I will go back and add to my previous post everything that's still on my mind, which people can skip reading if they want to/not interested. 

Also Taehyung and Taeyong are somewhat special cases because they're big idols, who have already been heavily mentioned (on here, on Twitter) for years, and can come across/have come across as ambiguous (they're not Ten, Key, Jo Kwon etc). On my part, I kind of want to "make amends" for all of my "Taeyong is definitely gay" posts/spam I did earlier after "my eyes have opened", and now (I think) I understand him (to a degree).

Whether bi or gay, it's the man loving man factor that makes them LGBT anyway, so I don't see the interest in "proving" they like women. Men loving women is the norm so that box is automatically checked until proven otherwise, not the contrary. I think Jimin's bi and I'm not out there spamming the thread with unwarranted het content because I'm not here to convince people. If people ask me why I think that way, I can answer but I'm not going to "prove" I'm right like, who cares? It's the mlm factor that makes him LGBT anyway. I've scrolled past all the het content without giving it a look cause I saw it on every fan platform ever just fine, made my opinion about it already, and that's not what I'm looking for here.

Also what we consider display of "attraction" is highly subjective and idols try to present themselves as potential boyfriends for vastly majorly female fans. Their relationship to women is controlled and distorted for the most part, whether staged or hidden, so 1) it's very hard to judge character out of these and 2) it makes the few times that it happens stands out in a way it wouldn't in normal life. 

And if an idol is bi in SK, chance is that he's going to favor women over men, if only to make his life easier in a homophobic country (to the point that a significant part of gay men also prefer to date women). If a man looks/acts like he's LGBT in SK, I'm going to lean on the side that he's gay rather than bi because he most likely wouldn't make his life harder if he had the option not to (it's not a rule but certainly a factor that I keep in mind). It's not erasure, it's context.

Edited July 8, 2022 by OptimusPremier
changes "present" in "look/act" because apparenly it doesn't have the meaning I thought it had

[OptimusPremier]

5 hours ago, dododododododo said:

Who presented as LGBT in SK?

Probably lost in translation? In my language the similar word kind of means "appear"/"show". So for me, Taehyung with Lady Gaga or the parisians LGBT or his overwhelmingly LGBT niche interests or parading with high heels on a TV show or participate in a drag competition (and win), the kind of stuff that could get you bullied (or asked to "clarify" that you're in fact not gay/that you were just joking or having fun) by homophobic men? Idk which word to use... Who display signs or codes exclusive to gay people in a serious way? 

Edited July 8, 2022 by OptimusPremier

[OptimusPremier]

There were lots of rational takes back then and few of them were widely shared. Personally I did find that there was interesting stuff going on with Jongkey, Yunjae and Verkwan, the 3 that were usually considered as likely. They were convincing for most people because whatever was actually happening, they brought out their dirt in public. They were indeed popular ships but they also often made passive aggressive comments, weird stories telling that felt accusating, blatant ignoring... Just to be fine again (or not). Whether one of them felt led on, or someone's heart was broken, or they had a toxic friendship, I don't know. But there were definitely unusual things going on with these 3 that ultimately caught people's eyes.

I never really bought Eunhae though. It did just feel like a popular ship. I did think there was stuff going on between some other idols (whether one sided or not) but they weren't especially popular takes and just like today, they brought up quite the debates. I don’t personally feel like anything has changed. Users are just more careful but if you read between the lines, you can often sense a shipping perspective. I don't mind personally. I mean, we're talking about possibly gay/bi people living around men 24/7, stuff can be bound to happen at some point and if anything, their interactions with the same sex is an indicator of their sexuality anyway. People can decide for themselves if a take seems like wishful thinking or if it's interesting.

Shipping became a problem when rival shippers of a group started competing with each other (namely BTS). That's when this thread decide to condemn any speculating two idols together as "delusional shipping". It did spare us from those shippers, but also from interesting takes.

 

But well I originally came here to talk about NCT DREAM, so if anyone wants to discuss them:

Spoiler

Mark: I used to think that he was weirdly defensive at times but I now think that it was because he was particularly conservative and grew out of it. Now he looks confident in his sexuality, flirts jokingly, shows affection towards members and partakes in fanservice, but he doesn't show any particularly romantic or sexual interest in men. He still looks uncomfortable when it goes too far. Probably straight.

Renjun: He's a tough case. He's quite soft-mannered with a bit of feminine energy, but he's been raised by like 7/8 noonas and his grandma so... that explains that. And he's quite strict with boundaries when it comes to fanservice. So I'm not that sure but I would lean towards straight.

Jeno: I would say he's straight even though he's softer than he looks. Idk what else to day, he just doesn't seem interested in men like that and not the kind to ever question his sexuality, simply because he is that confident in it. 

Haechan: I used to think he might just like being over-the-top and the center of the attention, but no. Or more like, yes but in a gay way. His flamboyancy could be explained away when he was 16-18 but he's 22 now and he radiates more feminine energy and sassiness than ever and it never looks forced or comical. He seems able to emotionally detach from fanservice but he still shows attraction to some members at times. He has great tastes in handbags, loves his long legs the most and prefers to be lean, not muscled. Idk I just think he's gay now.

Jaemin: I used to think that he was gay. In all of his ships, he was always the convincing factor. Imo he shows obvious attraction to men. Members used to call him weird for calling them oppa, sniffing them, being clingy and doing aegyo (all of that even off cameras). I also felt it from his interactions with fanboys. But he suddenly stopped being affectionate sometime in 2020 and I wonder if someone didn't question his sexuality to his face? If anything it became harder to tell now, he's much more reserved and careful. He's progressively coming back to where he was so I would lean towards gay, with possibly a hard time coming out?

Chenle: He feels pretty straight. Very family-oriented in a conventional way. But he used to be particularly no-homo-bro, adverse to aegyo and shipping (any form of fanservice) until he changed drastically, to the point of getting to Haechan and Jaemin's levels of flamboyancy at times. Now he flirts with Jaemin even though he still refuses to indulge in fan-idol relationship fanservice (idk I find him kind of interesting around Jaemin lately). So straight for now (he might have just grown out of toxic masculinity) but I'm watching him.

Jisung: Hard to say. He's shy and soft-hearted, cries and gets scared easily. The way he loves or admires his hyungs feel a bit crush-y at times, especially Jaemin at some point, then Haechan. I also find his relationship with Chenle interesting on his end (idk some stuff like his adamancy to get Chenle to call him hyung with aegyo even though he usually acts like he hates aegyo, or the way Chenle and Jeno both said that Jisung likes Chenle too much). But he's still openly adverse to aegyo and fanservice (maybe too much?). If he's gay, he's probably in denial.

 

Edited February 25 by OptimusPremier

[OptimusPremier]

15 hours ago, sapphicsunmi said:

What ship is verkwan?

That might also be the case, thats true! But i do think that there has been a shift in what is seen as receipts. Before i would say most fanservice and skinship was taken at face value. And i feel like more broad discussions have ocurred here. For example talking about the fact that if you are queer you might feel more uncomfortable in skinship because you dont want people to know that your queer, even more if you are quite young and just discovering your sexuality. 

I sadly cant add alot to the discussion of NCT dream as i mainly listen to their music, but interesting reading your thoughts 

I don't think so? It's just that back then this thread was also a shipping/gay appreciation place. It doesn't mean that users actually thought that the 2 idols were really together or that they were even gay, just that anything gay-coded was posted and people would just appreciate a guy twerking or two flirting dudes even if it was performative (their behavior towards fanservice could also be telling of one's sexuality). A like didn't mean "I think he's gay" but just "twerk it, boy". Serious discussions and debates still occured. This thread has always made the difference between a Jo Kwon and any other idol, and I remember interesting discussions over Siwon's homophobia or Sungmin's marriage.

People evaluate the quality of receipts when it comes to BTS only. If you look at any other group's dicussion, people still bring up fanservice (which like I said, I don't mind). People talked freely about BTS ships before because it was a smaller group, but when they got bigger, it brought hoards of delusional Taekook/Jikook shippers into the thread. That's why BTS' discussions got policed. The same thing happened to EXO with Chanbaek and DO-Kai shippers back then. Then it was BTS, then Seventeen. The more popular, the more policed. 2nd gen fans had already checked most of their popular ships by the time 3rd gen arrived with theirs, because more than their fans, the idols are the ones who grow out of fanservice. 

Edited February 26 by OptimusPremier

[OptimusPremier]

2 hours ago, mEeEeE said:

@OptimusPremier
 

“Haechan: I used to think he might just like being over-the-top and the center of the attention, but no. Or more like, yes but in a gay way. His flamboyancy could be explained away when he was 16-18 but he's 22 now and he radiates more feminine energy and sassiness than ever and it never looks forced or comical. He seems able to emotionally detach from fanservice but he still shows attraction to some members at times. He has great tastes in handbags, loves his long legs the most and prefers to be lean, not muscled. Idk I just think he's gay now.”

Ehhh??? I don’t think you’ve seen a variety of gay and straight men 

Bold of you to assume anything about my private life.

Haechan acts gay, but I've seen people say that he's over-doing it or performing for the cameras because he's a variety genius, and that everything else points to him being straight (in past discussions on this thread). If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. That's in this context that I wrote my opinion.

 

 

He IS over-the-top and he loves to perform even in his everyday life. And the way he chose to act could be explained when he was younger, he could have just wanted to amuse people. But for him to be this constantly sassy for years, in a homophobic country and even after all the other members switched to manlier images, I think he might just genuinely be this way. Key and Jo Kwon were sassy on stage and cameras, Korean non-fans made their assumptions and the two of them didn't care. I'm starting to think that Haechan doesn't care either. And a "flamboyant straight" doesn't make sense in a homophobic, mysoginistic country imo. But I could be wrong.

Edit: I'm adding the handbags.

And drunk Haechan:

tell me if the tweets are too heavy, I'll put them under spoiler.

Edited February 26 by OptimusPremier

[OptimusPremier]

5 hours ago, mEeEeE said:

You sound like me back in my stupider/naive days

I’ve seen nearly every NCT member be “babygirl” and cute. That “anime girl” is like him being that annoying little brother/cousin/kid. 

The handbags…they’re exposed to feminine things, fashion etc in that industry and it’s seen as acceptable even for straight men (?)

“And a "flamboyant straight" doesn't make sense in a homophobic, mysoginistic country imo.”

Umm what? As far as I know he’s not getting shit from Knetz. How does doing that for his sexy dance-he was being funny in front of the camera/members (I’m not sure if he’s being serious in the first one I need to know context, regardless it doesn’t make me go definitely gay!)…acting cute/doing aegyo to fans…being joked about for wiggling his butt to the choreo…skinship with friend (common among Kpop idols), plus that drunk video… means he likes guys? There are many Korean straight guys who aren’t very “manly/masculine”. 

Edit: there’s also this …I’m not saying it means he’s straight but it’s a “counterbalance” to what you posted. 

 

I explained why I think he might be gay, that's just a feel. Of course, there are going to be signs that point to him being straight, all idols show signs of being straight, especially after becoming adults (it's nothing new or hard to prove). We work with what we have, so basically nothing. And I'm saying this as someone who used to think he was straight. I've also seen any idol on the planet on this baby girl shit, but they grow out of it or hates it, while it became more and more recurrent with Haechan, to the point where he barely can't stay still 5 minutes without doing it. It shows in his mannerisms when he's quiet too. Taemin and Key don't get shit for being who they are either.

Overall, I've just changed my stance on him. But maybe it'll change again.

After all, this is him giving flowers to Ong Seongwoo:

There's fanservice for cameras, and then there's this in the background of a behind video:

So, why not?

Edit: let me add this (that's his wallet)

Might be nothing, might be something.

Edited February 26 by OptimusPremier

[OptimusPremier]

40 minutes ago, DurararaFTW said:

I wouldn't read too much into Haechan's fashion sense, his mom is in charge of dressing him when the SM stylists aren't.

https://www.koreaboo.com/stories/nct-dream-haechan-mom-hilarious-reason-clothes/

That's pretty recent though. I wonder what she disliked that she threw away all of this clothes, he used to dress really good:

Proof that all korean idols can't actually get away with certain fashion choices, at least when it comes to their parents. But that explains a lot of things. I was wondering what had happened to his fashion sense. Like, that's what she's accomplished... :

I think it's getting better lately, so maybe he's finally told his mother off.

Edited February 26 by OptimusPremier

[OptimusPremier]

20 hours ago, miwa201 said:

  Hide contents

Jaemin became guarded and closed down in 2020 bc he got massive hate after a dating scandal he got into with his former co-star. A dating scandal that I actually find quite believable, but either way his attitude completely changed bc of that.

 

Spoiler

Wasn't this proven to be fake? And idk but he thought she was called another name.

If anything, he was already different in 2019 after BOOM's promotions, so long before the scandal (though it probably didn't help). But he still did skinship with members and even seemed to get better in the spring/summer of 2020.

He really started looking closed-off starting from Deja Vu's track video behind and stopped posting on Bubble around the same time (nothing from august to october). That was the moment.

 

 

Edited February 27 by OptimusPremier