Let’s start with Key. Personally, my gaydar pegged Key as “the definitely gay one” since my first exposure to SHINee,
the Lucifer video. This impression has been strengthened with every
subsequent video, interview, variety show, etc. His voice! His facial
expressions! His dancing! His fashion! He’s clearly different. Everyone
knows this and acknowledges it. To me, I can’t imagine him straight.
Could he be somewhere in the middle? Sure, why not. But here’s the
thing: he hasn’t expressed a lot of interest in women. He’ll admit to
this. Some people have taken this to mean, “he’s just not that sexual!
He’s too into himself to pursue other people!” Is that possible? Yeah,
ok, it’s possible. But I find it VERY unlikely that he doesn’t have
strong attractions. Even men who aren’t very interested in acquiring sex
partners still watch ****, masturbate, have fantasies, have
attractions. I’ve met many men like this. Could he be lying about his
attractions to women? Could he secretly be a big hetero horndog? Yeah, I
guess. But he’d have no real reason to lie about this. If anything, I
think he’d be praised for upholding the expectations of basically EVERY
Korean citizen and fangirl. So I don’t think he’s lying about his lack
of attraction to women. He’s just not telling the full story.
Of course, asexuality does exist, but it’s pretty dang rare, and it’s
even more rare in males. The same is true for bisexuality, actually.
While more common than asexuality, bisexual women FAR outnumber bisexual
men. Is this due to cultural expectations? Upbringing? Biology?
Probably a mix. But there is it. Statistically, most men report being
either primarily straight or primary gay. So to me, all this talk of “he’s not that interested!” or “maybe he’s just a little gay” seem like wishful thinking from fangirls.
On the subject of wishful thinking, I am certainly not exempt. I like to imagine all the SHINee members as gay, because it’s fun and it makes them more relatable. But I really, honestly think that Key is gay. Of the gay
men I’ve known in my own life, many of them prefaced
their official coming out by claiming themselves as “just not that
interested in girls” or “bisexual.” In this society, the word “gay”
carries a LOT of weight (more so in other countries), and it’s easier
for some to accept themselves as undecided or somewhere in the middle
before embracing their homosexuality. This is NOT to say that being
undecided or in the middle aren’t legitimate identities, because they
totally are. I’m just saying that it’s pretty common to use these
identities as crutches before accepting oneself as a full-blown
“homosexual.”
In this respect, Key may in fact be gay
without acknowledging it. ESPECIALLY in the context of Korean culture,
not to mention being a public figure. I think it’s very likely that Key watches gay **** secretly, perhaps not even admitting to himself that this practice makes him gay. I think so because I did it myself. I played with gay fantasies and images starting at age 14, but I didn’t consider myself “gay”
until I was 19. I didn’t tell anyone until a year later. Also, I was
terrified. Also, I hated myself. It’s too much to confront. It’s much
easier to rationalize, “yeah, so I like watching men have sex, but I’m
still going to marry a girl, because DUH. I’m not like one of those
creepy homosexuals. Eww.” So maybe Key
WILL marry a girl and have 3 kids and live a publicly acceptable life,
but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like dXXk. And frankly, it’s gonna take
a LOT to convince me that he doesn’t.