The “world’s largest” “LGBTQ+” news site is reporting that criticism of celebrity JoJo Siwa is going “viral.” Siwa, who announced in 2023 that she is a lesbian, this year entered into a relationship with a man.
Frankie Cena, an LGBTQ commentator, criticized the pop star/former child TV star on Friday for feeding into conservative narratives. “JoJo Siwa is pissing me off,” he said on TikTok. “If you’re a queer person or an ally, you are f**king up and doing a disservice to the queer community.”
Cena further explained that Siwa’s relationship and comments about it are reinforcing the idea that LGBTQ identity results from social contagion rather than a discovery of an inherent reality.
“The issue here,” explained Cena, “is that you are feeding conservative views that the queer people, or the queer community, pressure people to come out, that queerness is on the rise because of some sort of societal pressure.”
One commentator on the video, to which Cena responded “Precisely,” fretted that Siwa’s heterosexual relationship affirmed the idea that women who identify as LGBTQ would be happy if they found the right man. She wrote, “I also can’t stand the whole oh ‘Im so soft and calm now’ when she finds a guy because this is all the conservatives needed to be like see just find the right man and you’ll fine true happiness,” referencing the fact that Siwa has adopted a more feminine look since beginning to date her boyfriend.
In a follow-up video on Monday, Cena said, “Again, we cannot turn people gay or straight in this community…. [S]he’s now making her ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ music video in a very specific type of womanly outfit. She’s now with a man. Like I’m just saying that you need to be tender when you have a platform. You need to watch your words when you are a celebrity.”
Cena especially took issue with Siwa’s comments that she felt “pressured” by the LGBTQ community to come out as lesbian.
In an interview on Saturday, Siwa’s boyfriend, Chris Hughes, responded to the criticism by clarifying that she still identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community. “Joelle has been with girls all her life,” he said. “She is bisexual. She’s not now straight just because she’s with me.”
Last week, Siwa suggested in a TikTok post that she may be pregnant.
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