After the release of his 'bisexual anthem', we need to talk about why Harry Styles is a lesbian icon

First there was Stormé DeLarverie, the butch lesbian who most likely started the Stonewall riots. Then there was Audre Lorde, self-defined as “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”, who famously said: “Your silence will not protect you”. Then there was Ellen Page, standing at that podium with a small yet mighty voice, saying: “I am tired of lying by omission.” And then there was, er, Harry Styles… a boy from One Direction.

Eh? Yes, you read that right. Harry Styles is not just someone who entered the X Factor, went on to be a member of the biggest boyband of the 21st century and can hold a tune. Harry Styles is also a lesbian icon.

Although not a celesbian (celebrity lesbian) like Samira Wiley, Ellen Degeneres or Lea DeLaria (it’s important to make the distinction), Styles has managed to capture the hearts of the LGBT+ community – especially queer women. Harry Styles is to queer women what Beyoncé is to queer men. And now that he may or may not have come out as bisexual – the lyrics to his latest song have left him being referred to as a “bisexual icon” – the “stans” (like a fan, but even more committed) have exploded across social media with, well, fan-speak: “My wig flew off” for Harry, and “I’m shaking, I’m quaking in my boots”.

The big question is: why Harry Styles? What does he have in common with Tegan and Sara or Shane from The L Word? Yeah, he has great hair. And yeah, he wears some of the most beautiful suits I’ve ever seen in my life. And yeah, he has tattoos on a par with Ruby Rose. And even I’ll admit he’s not bad-looking (for a guy). He’s no Ari Fitz or Andrea Gibson, but he could pass as a cute lesbian if he tried.

Maybe it’s also his “activist” side that appeals. After all, he’s held the rainbow flag on stage more than once and has multiple times reportedly told the other members of One Direction to stop being sexist pricks. He also never denied the “Larry Stylinson” rumours, in contrast to Louis Tomlinson who had a heteronormative strop about how unfair it is people could ever imagine a romance between them.

Harry is no Riley J Dennis or Aderonke Apata, but I could see how some queers might appreciate a cisgender man not being completely awful, and actually just being a decent human being. But I have to say that in the end, I think it’s probably the patterned shirts that do it. I mean, no lesbian can resist a good flower-pattern shirt – that’s a well-known fact.

Harry might not be a woman, but he sure as hell is a femme. Years on from Prince, Bowie and Freddie Mercury (unfortunately) it’s still a massive statement to see a boy in mainstream culture in a pink flower-patterned button-down. Harry challenges traditional masculinity with his coiffed hair and effeminate style choices at a time when most celebrity men still ooze carefully staged masculinity.

He is one of the only men nowadays to be doing this. There are of course others – Olly Alexander, frontman of Years and Years, and singer and producer MNEK spring to mind. But no man challenging gender norms has quite the reach Harry Styles does. He is ridiculously famous and the fact that as a feminine, possibly bisexual, man he has made such a name for himself is huge.

In a time where bisexuality is still so stigmatised, especially among men, it’s heartwarming to see Harry Styles singing about boys on stage like it’s no big deal. He exudes a softer, more gender-fluid masculinity that we can all get behind. It’s not about dominance or control or showing who’s the “toughest”. It’s just him being sweet. This is probably why all the lesbians love him. And, of course, those patterned shirts.