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Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but do not depict, Homosexuality romance or other LGBTQ+ representation. The purpose of this method is to attract ("bait") a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion or possibility of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while not alienating Homophobia members of the audience or Censorship by actually portraying queer relationships.
Queerbaiting has been observed in popular culture and fiction such as films, television series, books, music, ads, various forms of media, but also in celebrities who convey an ambiguous sexual identity through their works and statements. The term arose in and has been popularized through discussions in Internet fandom since the early 2010s. It comes from a larger history of LGBTQ+ discourse in media representation dating back to the 1970s from subtle marketing to LGBTQ+ people through commercials and books.
Fans have derided, for instance, queer characters being used as plot devices rather than as characters for their own sake. Glee, for example, a series with many queer series regulars, was criticized by fans for presenting "superficial stereotypes of queerness for dramatic effect".
Queer fans consider queerbaiting as "a way to throw us a bone when we normally wouldn't have anything, to acknowledge that we're there in the audience when the powers that be would prefer to ignore us." Emmet Scout wrote that "queerbaiting works on its audience because it offers the suggestion that queer people do have a vital place in these stories, that they might even be the defining figures, the heroes. The suggestion—but not the reality." Rose Bridges summarized the practice's effect on queer fans as receiving "just enough" representation "to keep us interested, but not enough to satisfy us and make us truly represented."
Various businesses and corporations, such as Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, and Tylenol have showcased queer people and queer families in advertisements, helping to normalize and increase awareness surrounding the queer community.
Queerbaiting has brought the spending power of the queer community to light, and businesses make economic decisions that promote and support the queer community and its representation that ultimately entices the Pink money. Terms associated with the queer community, like pink money, have shown the importance of queer people within an economy and a society.
In May 2020, reviewer Sophie Perry, writing for a lesbian lifestyle magazine, Curve, noted how queerbaiting has long endured in LGBT representation, noting how She-Ra and Harley Quinn both had same-sex kisses, happening within stories that could have turned out to be "typical queerbaiting" but did not. Perry added that the "queer conclusion" of the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is thanks to ND Stevenson, describing it as very different from the conclusion of The Legend of Korra, which confirmed Korra and Asami Sato's relationship but left it "purposefully ambiguous" so it could air on a children's network. She concluded by calling She-Ra and the Princesses of Power culturally significant and added that as more creative queer people come to the fore, inevitably queerbaiting will "become a thing of the past".
In March 2021, a writer for Vanity Fair, Joanna Robinson asked when "queer coding" veers into the territory of "queer baiting", with Dana Terrace saying it happens a "lot in modern anime", and Robinson saying this is also seen in shows like the end of Supernatural or the "hubbub around Finn and Poe in The Rise of Skywalker".
Characters in some Superhero film and series falling within the superhero genre have been noted as examples of queerbaiting. Josh Engel of the New York Times and scholar Michael McDermott in the chapter of a 2019 book entitled Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities described the relationship between Kara Danvers and Lena Luthor in Supergirl as one example. Reviewers for Polygon, The Gamer, and The Washington Post said that the films and queerbaited audiences with the characters Valkyrie (both films) and Korg (first film). Okoye and Ayo in Black Panther and Bucky Barnes and Captain America were cited by reviewers for Full Circle Cinema and CBR as other examples.
Certain Procedural drama, Crime film, police, teen, and Comedy drama dramas were described as having character relationships that could be considered queerbaiting. ScreenRant and PinkNews cited Evan "Buck" Buckley and Eddie Diaz in 9-1-1 as one example, while AfterEllen and scholar Mélanie Bourdaa said the same about Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles in Rizzoli & Isles. Reviewers for The Daily Dot, Autostraddle, and The Next asserted that the relationship Johnlock Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in Sherlock was another example, even though the cast and crew denied this was the case. Other reviewers pointed to other series as examples. One critic for Bustle said the same about the relationship between Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge in Riverdale. Critics for The Advocate, Teen Vogue, and Georgia Voice asserted the same was the case for relationship between Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski in Teen Wolf.
Some critics described specific Musical film, Romantic comedy, and Dark humor Comedy film films and series with queerbaiting between characters. Beca and Chloe in Pitch Perfect were described as one example by Them and Film Inquiry. AfterEllen cited Max Black and Caroline Channing in 2 Broke Girls as another example. The Spectator said the same about Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray in Glee. Viewers and critics for PinkNews and Junkee alleged the same between Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair in Wednesday.
Others described certain fantasy films, and other media, as queerbaiting. Critics for Den of Geek, Capital FM, and The Guardian pointed to possible queerbaiting in two media within the Wizarding World. This included Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald in and between Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. CBR asserted the same between Qing Ming and Bo Ya in .
Reviewers pointed to some animated series as having queerbaiting. Polygon noted that queerbaiting controversy over , between Shiro and Adam, and Keith and Lance was addressed by the series co-creator Joaquim Dos Santos. Other critics for TheGWW and CBR asserted the series Naruto queerbaited between Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, Anime News Network asserted the same between Izetta and Princess Finé in . The relationship between Kumiko Ōmae and Reina Kōsaka in Sound! Euphonium was described as queerbaiting by Fotogramas and Anime News Network. In contrast, Christopher Farris and Steve Jones of Anime News Network disputed that the series was queerbaiting was misguided and erased "the concept of bisexuality" and Misty Schultz stated in Anime Feminist the series had "queer subtext".
This contrasted to those series did portray a same-sex relationship after being criticized for queerbaiting. Killing Eve was criticized by The Independent, Cosmopolitan, The Guardian, CBR, and Meaww for queerbaiting with main characters Eve and Villanelle's relationship during seasons 1 and 2. The two characters then kissed one another in season 3. In the series Supernatural, the relationship between Castiel and Dean Winchester, sometimes referred to under the shipping name "Destiel", was seen as queerbaiting by fans as noted in The Advocate. In the fifteenth season, Castiel confesses his love to Dean immediately before dying, prompting criticism that the show was playing into the "bury your gays" trope as noted in Polygon and BuzzFeed News..
Many "challenges" or "trends" on TikTok or Instagram were accused of queerbaiting. This includes kissing others of the same gender, posting false coming out narratives, or falsely claiming to be in a same-sex relationship. Many celebrities, including Billie Eilish and Normani, were accused of queerbaiting for their posts on Instagram.
Although this has been criticised, others have argued that the popularity of this trend is an example of the growing acceptance of LGBT people and (among males) a homosocial embrace of a "softer" form of masculinity.
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