The Heartstopper gang straight up danced to Whitney Houston in front of a group of religious homophobes at a Pride parade because Pride always was and will be a protest.
Members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies took to the streets of London on Saturday for the 2022 Pride in London Parade. Several members of the cast of Netflix’s wholesome queer series attended the event including Joe Locke (Charlie), Kit Connor (Nick), Corinna Brown (Tara), Kizzy Edgell (Darcy), Tobie Donovan (Isaac), Sebastian Croft (Ben) and Jenny Walser (Tara).
The group at one point during the event walked past an anti-LGBTQIA+ preacher chanting homophobic nonsense at the Parade attendees. They then danced in front of him to Houston’s queer anthem “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” in protest. Locke appeared to be giving the man the middle finger as he bopped to the track according to a video shared by Croft.
It was an incredible scene to witness but spoke to what makes the show and the cast so special. It’s an unashamed celebration of queerness, youth and first loves. So seeing the cast dance around and have fun in the face of homophobia was beautiful.
Locke, Connor, Brown, Edgell, and Croft wore rainbow flags like capes at the event. Fans fell into a puddle of their own happy queer tears when they saw pics of Connor giving Locke a piggyback like his character Nick gives Charlie in art drawn by Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman. Donovan gave Croft a piggyback too.
Folks were cheering the group on as they protested. One fan said in a Tweet it “meant so much” to see them at Pride. Another appeared to say they cried when they saw them in the flesh.
Oh and then the adorable co-stars were spotted later that day dancing at a Pride dance party. Narlie shippers are eating well this week, folks.
You can catch the first season of Heartstopper on Netflix. Joe Locke, Kit Connor, Yasmin Finney, and William Gao also appeared in a special Pride-themed episode of Celebrity Goggle Box in the UK.