Michael Sam may not be finding friends in major sports networks like ESPN, but he is receiving some great support from voices that are easily way more influential with a younger generation.
This week at a tour stop in St. Louis, One Direction frontman Harry Styles was sporting a Michael Sam jersey while on stage during a performance at Edward Jones Dome Wednesday, where the St. Louis Rams play.
Styles has easily been the most vocal One Direction member in support of equal rights. In July 2013, he publicly condemned the Westboro Baptist Church, and in September, he chatted with Tyler Oakley about gay fanfic. He is not to be confused with Liam Payne, the 1D member with an affinity for Duck Dynasty and “family values.”
Sam hopped on Twitter yesterday to thank Styles for the support:
How about we take this to the next level?
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@Harry_Styles thank you for your support!!! #RamNation
— Michael Sam (@MichaelSam52) August 28, 2014
This makes Styles the second British ally to stand in solidarity with Sam this month. Speaking with Out shortly after Sam started playing in the preseason, Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe said “I think it’s fucking awesome…Hopefully Michael Sam’s taking the plunge for everyone who will come after him.”
[Photo: TMZ]
Xzamilio
Ugh… that phrase “family values” makes my skin crawl. Anything with “values” in it, uttered by a Conservative is almost always followed by hate mongering vitriol and appeals to traditions.
Black Pegasus
I’m gonna wait to see if Michael makes the roster before I order his jersey. I’ll get a kick out of wearing it and watching the reactions of homophobes.
calista
You have a mistake in your article. Louis is not the most vocal One Direction member in regards to equal rights, Harry is. However, Louis IS the one that’s always been on the radar as the most probable “gay one.” Thus why he’s a bit less vocal about it than Harry (tho Louis does change song lyrics to things like “’cause you’ve got that big dick” instead of “you’ve got that one thing,” has a triangle tattoo on his ankle, and wore a t-shirt advertising a gay beach in an interview).
I’m hoping that Queerty is keeping an eye on these guys because I smell a coming out sometime in the next 6 months or so.
jjose712
@calista: I don’t think there’s more rumours about Louis than about Harry, the difference is that Harry just doesn’t care at all.
He was with one of his beards (he doesn’t even fake he is interested in the girls his PR tells he is dating, watching any of his pics with Taylor Swift make that evident) to a gay bar. He is best friend with a famous gay dj.
I don’t know if he is gay or not, but he doesn’t care at all about the rumours.
Louis in the other hand gets angre everytime someone mentioned it, but guy, if you don’t want to be labeled as gay maybe drop touching your bandmates asses and fake performing oral sex on them on the concerts will be a good idea.
I don’t think Liam Payne is homophobic, he is one of Tom Daley’s best friends, but he made a big mistake with the Duck Dinastry twitter. At least he was smart enough to shut the fuck up
RyanC
The phrase “family values” in the UK has an entirely different meaning, you have to understand. In America it basically means “anti-gay”, but in the UK it just doesn’t mean that. It would mean somebody who is close to their family, still has family dinners, respects their parents etc etc. We just don’t have all of these conservative anti-gay groups like NOM and FRC and such, even our Conservative party supports gay marriage. I honestly think this was just a poor choice of words from somebody who didn’t realise what it meant in another country.
Queer4Life
@RyanC: I must agree. There are a lot of people in the US who think “Speaking English” means American. The differences between British English, Irish English, Australian English, are more subtle but they are there. American English though is a wholly different creature. After the split with Britain there was a deliberate radical linguistic split between the two countries. That split is wide enough to cause major confusion. American English is not quite its own language yet its more than a dialect.
I miss Larry Stylinson.
Side note: There is a really great novel based on the theme of Larry Stylinson called “Catch My Breath” its cute and funny and I wonder how much is true.
jmmartin
Now I have something to confront a 12-year-old girl of my acquaintance. When I asked her why her allegiance had switched from Justin Bieber to Mr. Styles, she said, “Justin is gay.” I am left to wonder, who’ll be the next celeb she crushes on?