Billy Porter Calls Out 'Vogue' For Featuring Harry Styles In A Dress

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        Billy Porter Calls Out 'Vogue' For Featuring Harry Styles In A Dress: 'I Had To Fight My Entire Life'
    

        David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
    
By Sam SpadaforeOct 20, 2021
Sam Spadafore
Sam Spadafore (he/they) is a writer, poet, theatre artist, sex educator and activist. Beyond The Social Edge, his writing centers around mental health, trans and queer issues, sex and sexuality. When Sam isn't dismantling gender norms and the patriarchy, you can find them roaming the beaches of Maine with their dog or cooking a delicious meal.
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Actor and singer Billy Porter is not a fan of Harry Styles' Vogue cover appearance which features the former One Direction singer in a dress.
The cover shoot made Styles the first man to appear on the cover of Vogue solo.
Porter, who plays Pray Tell in Netflix series Pose, isn't unhappy because it's a dress. He's upset because he has been wearing gender nonconforming clothing on the red carpet for years.
And Porter's nonbinary styles have not always been received with such open arms.
Billy Porter criticizes Vogue for featuring Harry Styles in a dress on their cover.\n\n\u201cI created the conversation [about non-binary fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time.\u201dpic.twitter.com/1AhlRFJQ7F
 — Pop Base (@Pop Base)
        1634575038

In an interview with The Sunday Times excerpted by Rolling Stone, Porter said:
"I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to.""I'm not necessarily convinced and here is why.""I created the conversation [about gender nonconforming fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight White man, in a dress on their cover for the first time.""I'm not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you're going to try and use to represent this new conversation?""He doesn't care, he's just doing it because it's the thing to do.""This is politics for me. This is my life.""I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars and not be gunned down.""All he has to do is be White and straight.""I changed the whole game," Billy said. "I. Personally. Changed. The. Whole. Game. And that is not ego, that is just fact. I was the first one doing it and now everybody is doing it."
 — BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed)
        1634578555

Until as recently as 2011, a person could be arrested in New York City for "impersonating a female" which came from a law enacted in the 19th century prohibiting "dressing as the opposite sex." These laws were used to arrest gender nonconforming people, crossdressers and transgender individuals.
Transgender and gender nonconforming people of color have faced the highest level of discrimination, higher than any other segment of the transgender community—especially Black and non-White Hispanic people.
Trans and gender nonconforming POC are assaulted and killed at an alarming rate in the United States.
Styles' dress wasn't universally well received. He caught outrage from conservatives.
However, Porter's statements have become a point of debate. 
Is Styles' cover moment a step in the right direction or an example of racial bias and heteronormativity?
Imagine attacking Billy Porter because he has a problem with publications centering a straight wh*te man like Harry Styles for doing something that Queer folks have been doing yet get ridiculed and harassed forpic.twitter.com/aivL9bgCjG
 — jeremy\u261d\ufe0f\ud83c\udffe (@jeremy\u261d\ufe0f\ud83c\udffe)
        1634568114

Billy Porter when he gets nominated for an Emmy and none of his trans co-stars don't: Patience, babes, this is important recognition and I deserve this\n\nBilly Porter when Harry Styles wears a dress: I, a cis man, invented crossdressinghttps://twitter.com/people/status/1450100358433415175\u00a0\u2026
 — Dillon (@Dillon)
        1634582139

Also Harry has never labeled his sexuality. Harry has literally never said \u201cI am the only one who has done this.\u201d I understand his frustration with not being acknowledged but it seems his anger is directed at the wrong person.
 — madeline cano (@madeline cano)
        1634576103

David Bowie and Freddie Mercury just rolled over in their graves after hearing billy porter say \u201cI changed the whole game\u201d.pic.twitter.com/jk2uKjgfJo
 — S (@S)
        1634585144

Dennis Rodman, who was at a previous event in the 90s, has entered the chat to also say a word to Billy\u2026pic.twitter.com/F5Q6U4MjWd
 — DoveZ_PhenomBlu (@DoveZ_PhenomBlu)
        1634616498

Big ups to Billy and he\u2019s to fking right!  Excellent job @theebillyporter LOVE YOU!!!!
 — \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffbSophia\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffb\u2764\ufe0f (@\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffbSophia\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffb\u2764\ufe0f)
        1634590324
I'm not gonna lie, I understand, like I get it, Harry shouldn't have been the first...but why is he assuming his sexuality and assuming that he's just doing it just to do it...like
 — Dija \u2615 (@Dija \u2615)
        1634589366

How does he know Harry is straight? + and even if, isn\u2019t the point that clothing has nothing to do with gender or sexuality?
 — Yours truly, THE babysitter (@Yours truly, THE babysitter)
        1634587068

Someone should explain to Mr. Porter that Vogue does not care about his struggles, they just want a famous young man (no matter his skin colour) that looks hot in a dress.
 — Stella Mar (@Stella Mar)
        1634593009

He\u2019s right. Harry Styles makes the whole spectrum of queer dress more palatable for the (esp female) heterosexual audience and that\u2019s a snub for all the ACTUAL queer fashion icons who remain underrated and underrepresented.
 — rudest little clownery (@rudest little clownery)
        1634583204

billy porter isn\u2019t wrong that POC do not get the recognition until a white person does it. this is seen in literally everything. what is wrong is the way he assumed harry styles\u2019 sexuality and the reason behind how he dresses. call out the industry, hold them accountable.
 — Alexis (@Alexis)
        1634588989

@otbeans/Twitter


Billy Porter, you must NOT label someone as a 'STRAIGHT' white male when they haven't already revealed their sexual orientation.\nHarry Styles has not ever talked about being straight at all.pic.twitter.com/HiBl3tzqdS
 — \u00b2\u2078Justice for Medicine\u00b9\u1d30 (@\u00b2\u2078Justice for Medicine\u00b9\u1d30)
        1634524575

I understand Billy\u2019s deserved frustration for wearing non-binary apparel when it could have been life threatening to do so. He took risks when they weren\u2019t safe, and he deserves proper recognition for that. \n\nThat said, every generation finds inspiration from ones before them\u2026pic.twitter.com/SFOTLybjH4
 — Melissa Enchanted (@Melissa Enchanted)
        1634587742

Last year when Styles' covershoot dropped, he said gendered fashion is "limited."
"I've never really thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something."Though it seems like a step in the right direction for fashion and acceptance of gender nonconforming individuals, it's also important to lift up our most vulnerable.
 That being transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming queer folks of color.
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Actor and singer Billy Porter is not a fan of Harry Styles' Vogue cover appearance which features the former One Direction singer in a dress.

The cover shoot made Styles the first man to appear on the cover of Vogue solo.

Porter, who plays Pray Tell in Netflix series Pose, isn't unhappy because it's a dress. He's upset because he has been wearing gender nonconforming clothing on the red carpet for years.

And Porter's nonbinary styles have not always been received with such open arms.

Billy Porter criticizes Vogue for featuring Harry Styles in a dress on their cover.\n\n\u201cI created the conversation [about non-binary fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time.\u201dpic.twitter.com/1AhlRFJQ7F
— Pop Base (@Pop Base) 1634575038

In an interview with The Sunday Times excerpted by Rolling Stone, Porter said:

"I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to."

"I'm not necessarily convinced and here is why."

"I created the conversation [about gender nonconforming fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight White man, in a dress on their cover for the first time."

"I'm not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you're going to try and use to represent this new conversation?"

"He doesn't care, he's just doing it because it's the thing to do."

"This is politics for me. This is my life."

"I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars and not be gunned down."

"All he has to do is be White and straight."

"I changed the whole game," Billy said. "I. Personally. Changed. The. Whole. Game. And that is not ego, that is just fact. I was the first one doing it and now everybody is doing it."
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) 1634578555

Until as recently as 2011, a person could be arrested in New York City for "impersonating a female" which came from a law enacted in the 19th century prohibiting "dressing as the opposite sex." These laws were used to arrest gender nonconforming people, crossdressers and transgender individuals.

Transgender and gender nonconforming people of color have faced the highest level of discrimination, higher than any other segment of the transgender community—especially Black and non-White Hispanic people.

Trans and gender nonconforming POC are assaulted and killed at an alarming rate in the United States.

Styles' dress wasn't universally well received. He caught outrage from conservatives.

However, Porter's statements have become a point of debate.

Is Styles' cover moment a step in the right direction or an example of racial bias and heteronormativity?

Imagine attacking Billy Porter because he has a problem with publications centering a straight wh*te man like Harry Styles for doing something that Queer folks have been doing yet get ridiculed and harassed forpic.twitter.com/aivL9bgCjG
— jeremy\u261d\ufe0f\ud83c\udffe (@jeremy\u261d\ufe0f\ud83c\udffe) 1634568114

Billy Porter when he gets nominated for an Emmy and none of his trans co-stars don't: Patience, babes, this is important recognition and I deserve this\n\nBilly Porter when Harry Styles wears a dress: I, a cis man, invented crossdressinghttps://twitter.com/people/status/1450100358433415175\u00a0\u2026
— Dillon (@Dillon) 1634582139

Also Harry has never labeled his sexuality. Harry has literally never said \u201cI am the only one who has done this.\u201d I understand his frustration with not being acknowledged but it seems his anger is directed at the wrong person.
— madeline cano (@madeline cano) 1634576103

David Bowie and Freddie Mercury just rolled over in their graves after hearing billy porter say \u201cI changed the whole game\u201d.pic.twitter.com/jk2uKjgfJo
— S (@S) 1634585144

Dennis Rodman, who was at a previous event in the 90s, has entered the chat to also say a word to Billy\u2026pic.twitter.com/F5Q6U4MjWd
— DoveZ_PhenomBlu (@DoveZ_PhenomBlu) 1634616498

Big ups to Billy and he\u2019s to fking right! Excellent job @theebillyporter LOVE YOU!!!!
— \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffbSophia\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffb\u2764\ufe0f (@\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffbSophia\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffb\u2764\ufe0f) 1634590324

I'm not gonna lie, I understand, like I get it, Harry shouldn't have been the first...but why is he assuming his sexuality and assuming that he's just doing it just to do it...like
— Dija \u2615 (@Dija \u2615) 1634589366

How does he know Harry is straight? + and even if, isn\u2019t the point that clothing has nothing to do with gender or sexuality?
— Yours truly, THE babysitter (@Yours truly, THE babysitter) 1634587068

Someone should explain to Mr. Porter that Vogue does not care about his struggles, they just want a famous young man (no matter his skin colour) that looks hot in a dress.
— Stella Mar (@Stella Mar) 1634593009

He\u2019s right. Harry Styles makes the whole spectrum of queer dress more palatable for the (esp female) heterosexual audience and that\u2019s a snub for all the ACTUAL queer fashion icons who remain underrated and underrepresented.
— rudest little clownery (@rudest little clownery) 1634583204

billy porter isn\u2019t wrong that POC do not get the recognition until a white person does it. this is seen in literally everything. what is wrong is the way he assumed harry styles\u2019 sexuality and the reason behind how he dresses. call out the industry, hold them accountable.
— Alexis (@Alexis) 1634588989

@otbeans/Twitter

Billy Porter, you must NOT label someone as a 'STRAIGHT' white male when they haven't already revealed their sexual orientation.\nHarry Styles has not ever talked about being straight at all.pic.twitter.com/HiBl3tzqdS
— \u00b2\u2078Justice for Medicine\u00b9\u1d30 (@\u00b2\u2078Justice for Medicine\u00b9\u1d30) 1634524575

I understand Billy\u2019s deserved frustration for wearing non-binary apparel when it could have been life threatening to do so. He took risks when they weren\u2019t safe, and he deserves proper recognition for that. \n\nThat said, every generation finds inspiration from ones before them\u2026pic.twitter.com/SFOTLybjH4
— Melissa Enchanted (@Melissa Enchanted) 1634587742

Last year when Styles' covershoot dropped, he said gendered fashion is "limited."

"I've never really thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something."

Though it seems like a step in the right direction for fashion and acceptance of gender nonconforming individuals, it's also important to lift up our most vulnerable.

That being transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming queer folks of color.

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