Everything Harry Styles Has Said About His Sexuality

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Fans have speculated about Harry Styles' sexuality since he was in One Direction — a boy band famously formed on "The X Factor." To this day, a large portion of his One Direction fans believe him to be secretly in love with his bandmate, Louis Tomlinson, whom he once shared a close friendship with. Tomlinson, for his part, has stated numerous times that what fans have perceived as romance was simply a conspiracy that got out of control. "What I realized a few years ago is that there is nothing I can say. There is nothing I can do to stop those who believe in this conspiracy," shared Tomlinson with G1 in 2024. "They are so connected to what they believe that they will not see the truth for what it really is."

Beyond Tomlinson and One Direction, fans have also used Styles' androgynous flair for fashion to fuel their beliefs about his sexuality. As for his thoughts about that? "What women wear. What men wear. For me it's not a question of that," he shared with The Guardian about his style preferences. "If I see a nice shirt and get told, 'But it's for ladies.' I think: 'Okaaaay? Doesn't make me want to wear it less though." Styles also explained why he'd never publicly labeled his sexuality. "It's not like I'm sitting on an answer, and protecting it, and holding it back," he said. "It's not a case of: I'm not telling you cos I don't want to tell you ...  It's who cares? Does that make sense? It's just: who cares?" And yet, the topic has continued to come up in Styles' interviews. 

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In 2022, Harry Styles sat down with Rolling Stone to promote his third album, "Harry's House." Styles also talked about his relationship history in reference to the stance that, because he's only ever dated women in public, he was queerbaiting his fans with all of the hints about possibly being bisexual. "Sometimes people say, 'You've only publicly been with women,' and I don't think I've publicly been with anyone," said the star, adding, "If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn't mean you're choosing to have a public relationship or something." When discussing his film, "My Policeman," he shared that he felt everyone, himself included, journeyed through figuring out their sexual identity. 

His comments echoed his earlier thoughts to The Guardian when he denied using the LGBTQ community to enhance his artistry. "Am I sprinkling in nuggets of sexual ambiguity to try and be more interesting? No," he said during the conversation about his sense of personal style. He continued, "In terms of how I wanna dress, and what the album sleeve's gonna be, I tend to make decisions in terms of collaborators I want to work with. I want things to look a certain way. Not because it makes me look gay, or it makes me look straight, or it makes me look bisexual, but because I think it looks cool." Styles buttoned this topic by saying that he believes sexuality is "fun" — and something he hasn't given much thought about beyond that, although it's clear that his fans certainly have.