Because we all have a story

My problem isn’t with your ship. My problem isn’t with the fact that you blatantly disregard anything Louis and Harry (and their families, friends, girlfriends) have ever said in pursuit of your ship. My problem isn’t that there are a certain few large and popular Larry blogs that have purposely withheld certain things from their followers that does not line up with their theories or prove their ship (sadly, I’ve seen this happen and I’ve heard ex-Larries talk about how they only learned about certain things after they stopped shipping Larry; most of which had to do with Louis and Harry’s romantic involvements- the most recent being one Larry blog making a post how they should completely ignore the photo of Louis holding hands with Tamara at the festival and not talk about it). Nor does my problem lie with you guys turning practically everything that Louis or Harry say/do/tweet into Larry proof. 

My problem is with the fact that you use the LGBTQ+ community as a crutch. My problem is that there are adults in this fandom that still don’t understand why your way of shipping Larry is wrong.  My problem is that you guys are teaching any young person that comes onto your blogs and reads your posts the wrong way to support gay rights I don’t understand how you can truly be a supporter of gay rights and be a Larry tinhatter. You guys preach equality and want to make this fandom a safe place for all gay/trans/queer fans but you can’t even offer the same for two of the band members. You completely disregard anything any of the boys have ever said about their sexuality, treat their romantic relationships and platonic friendships as some sort of conspiracy theory  (and subsequently treat the people involved in a horrendous manner), and use uncertain “proof” to explain why they are gay and in a relationship together, but completely shut down anything that has been said by them. Regardless of whether or not Harry or Louis are gay, or may realize they’re gay or bisexual or any other sexuality down the line, you have no right to assume anything except for what they (and their friends and family) have clearly and explicitly stated.

You can’t be a true supporter to the LGBTQ+ community and be a Larrie, even if you are gay/trans/queer. You can’t. You guys use stereotypical views of what a gay person as proof of your ship. Not only is that unfair to the boys, it is unfair to any LGBTQ+ person, but especially young gay (and also straight) males. You’re teaching these kids that it is “gay” for them to act a certain way. You’re teaching these young straight boys that they can’t act, dress, or look a certain way unless they’re gay. You’re essentially enforcing gender and sexuality stereotypes. And what’s more, you’re teaching other people that it’s okay to make assumptions about someone’s sexuality based on trivial things such as their outward appearance and the way they interact with their friends. Louis’ wrist of Harry’s shirts do not make them gay. The only thing that makes a person gay is who they are attracted to. Unfortunately, over 4,000 young children commit suicide every year as a result of bullying. A national survey conducted among “760 students, ages twelve to seventeen, indicates that the most likely group to be bullied are “kids who are gay or thought to be gay“ and “lesbian, gay or bisexual youth are more than twice as likely as their peers to be depressed and think about or attempt suicide (Russell & Joyner, 2001). The risks are the same whether youth are LGBT, are heterosexual but are wrongly perceived to be LGBT, or choose to hide their sexual orientations.”. We should be teaching kids to listen to what their peers tell them, to respect what they are told by them. We should not be teaching children that it’s okay to brush off what someone else has told them because they are convinced the opposite is true. We should not be teaching children that it is okay for them to then go around and continue talking about that other person’s sexuality when they’ve already commented on the validity of those statements. What the Larry community is teaching young children and adolescents is that bullying based on sexuality and perceived sexuality is essentially okay, simply because you believe that you’re actually just supporting the boys and the gay community.

You must understand that what Liam is saying isn’t an attack on the rainbow flag as a symbol of the LGBTQIA community. What he’s saying is that many Larry shippers have taken the rainbow flag as a sign of Larry being real, when he knows it’s not real. It is unfortunate that for so many of you, Harry holding up a rainbow flag is no longer a symbol of his support for the community, but also somehow a sign or a message of his own sexuality and relationship to Louis. It is unfortunate that you’re teaching children that if they support gay rights, they are somehow also gay or making a statement about their own sexuality. Now, I understand that is not at all what you’re trying to do, but young children/adolescents will read your theories and gather that Harry holding up a sign=him being gay, and they will not want to be supportive of that community in fear that they will be perceived as something they’re not or something they’re not yet ready to admit. There’s clearly always been an underlying current of the rainbow flag being associated with Larry in this fandom to the point where even Liam’s noticed it. And this is what I meant by Larry shippers using the LGBTQ+ community as a crutch. There’s a difference between being homophobic and intolerant and something simply being untrue yet taken to the point where it annoys someone and makes them uncomfortable. For example, Julian had to go on and tweet how he “think[s] anytime anyone constantly says one thing about you when its the opposite would feel th[e] same”. You cannot attack Liam for that. The only people responsible here for making the rainbow flag stand for anything but what it was meant to stand for are the Larry shippers. I think it’s great that Harry doesn’t care about what anyone assumes about his sexuality in order to support the LGBTQ+ community, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t annoy him or the other boys when their actions are twisted to mean something else. It’s not fair that you guys are allowed to hide behind the LGBTQ+ community and act like you’re not doing anything wrong, but that’s not true. It’s so hard for young children, especially, to deal with their own issues of sexuality and gender expression and this fandom makes it so hard for it to be a safe place for these kids. It’s not fair that if someone disagrees with you or criticizes the way that you operate, you automatically call them “antis” or assume they’re “homophobic”. That’s not what we should be teaching young kids and teens.

There are so many more things I won’t even get into here, like the way an overwhelming and alarming majority of you (especially the grown women) here treat the women Louis and Harry are linked to (Note: I’m not saying you can’t be a grown woman and ship Larry or like One Direction. I’m saying it’s not okay for you to be making certain comments you’re making about these girls when you’re clearly older and the younger girls in this fandom look up to you and will assume that it’s okay to make those same exact comments) or the way you assume every friendship the boys, especially Harry, has is somehow a cover-up for Larry. I’m just trying to make it a point that you guys need to learn how to distinguish between actual support for the LGBTQ+ community that allows this fandom to be a safe haven for those that are struggling with coming to terms with who they are and those who need someone to talk to about it without being judged, and using the community as a shield to hide behind whenever you are criticized for things you say and do and act like anyone making a comment about that is automatically homophobic or unsupportive.

And that’s my problem with Larry shippers.

Sincerely,