Here’s why some gay people hate happy queer TV like ‘Heartstopper’

Cutesy gay TV shows like Heartstopper have always been divisive. Some folks think they’re too unrealistic. Some folks find their overt optimism annoying. And for some, their issues boil down to jealousy.

Gay TikToker Steven Morea (@aprilf00lsday) just posted a video expressing his issues with Heartstopper and other shows like it.

“It’s kind of crazy how I just can’t consume any content relating to a happy gay couple, because the anger I experience is so primal, it’s really concerning and should be studied,” Morea said. “I couldn’t even watch Heartstopper, because why does that twink get to experience love and I don’t?”

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For the uninitiated, Heartstopper is a queer teen romance on Netflix that tells the love story between Nick and Charlie. The two have their ups and downs, but ultimately it’s a positive portrayal of first love between two teenage boys — something all too rare in the real-life queer community.

It’s understandable that Morea would be jealous of a relationship like Nick and Charlie’s, and he was far from alone in that feeling. His comment section was chock full of other gays desperate for their own Heartstopper moments.

“I couldn’t finish Heartstopper either,” wrote one commenter. “I was getting so mad/crying.”

“It makes me SCREAM,” wrote another. “If I’m not happy none of you can be.”

“I cried through the entire first season of Heartstopper and the second one may never get watched,” wrote a third.

“I can watch it,” conceded another. “I’ll just be deeply envious and sad for a while.”

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Heartstopper isn’t the only show or movie getting single gays riled up: Young Royals, Red White & Royal Blue, and Fellow Travelers all got shoutouts in Morea’s comment section (despite those shows having their own heavy doses of trauma, too). If there’s gay romance involved, it’s a no-go, even if it doesn’t have a happy ending.

Morea’s frustrations extend beyond the world of TV and movies: real-life gay couples can be just as upsetting.

“I just saw this TikTok of a guy being like, ‘On my way to bae’s house to make cookies!’” he recalled in the video. “Cool, I’m on my way to Hudson Yards to jump off the f*cking Vessel.” (The Vessel, of course, being a New York City landmark that infamously closed after four people jumped off.)

Again, Morea’s sentiment was painfully relatable to other gays.

“It’s so valid,” one commenter wrote. “LIKE WHEN WILL IT BE MY TURN I AM CUTE.”

“So real,” commented another. “I don’t have patience anymore, only anger.”