The stars of Netflix’s “Heartstopper” were determined to keep the party going at the Pride in London March Saturday afternoon, joining in the celebration and giving the finger to anti-LGBTQ+ protesters standing on the sidelines of the parade.
Series leads Kit Connor and Joe Locke were joined by their costars Kizzy Edgell, Corinna Brown, Tobie Donovan and Sebastian Croft at the march, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The group was determined to keep the proceedings festive, at one point moving in front of a group of protesters gathered against a police barrier to dance in front of them as Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” played on parade speakers.
Following a small altercation in which a parade participant appears to break free from a protester’s grasp, some of the cast members raised their middle fingers at the group.
Connor shared footage of the incident through his official Twitter, praising Locke and Croft for moving right in front of the protesters.
“I was videoing and screaming at them but please don’t be mistaken, it wasn’t ‘Kit Connor and the rest of the cast,’ it was [Joe Locke] and [Sebastian Croft] front and center,” Connor wrote. “Please give them credit for doing something so powerful.”
uhhh I was videoing and screaming at them but please don’t be mistaken, it wasn’t ’Kit Connor and the rest of the cast’, it was @joelocke03 and @SebastianCroft front and centre. Please give them the credit for doing something so powerful. https://t.co/SjvJFCHwKD
— Kit Connor (@kit_connor) July 2, 2022
Locke also shared footage of the incident, writing that he “had to do [his] job properly.”
Had to do my job properly 🤷♀️ https://t.co/wqIazo4yJ1
— Joe Locke (@joelocke03) July 2, 2022
“Heartstopper” has found a devoted fanbase since debuting on Netflix in April. A month after its premiere, the series had accrued 1.05 million engagements on Twitter, according to Variety’s Trending TV chart, as well as 4.3 billion views on TikTok for the hashtag #heartstopper. The streamer recently renewed the series for a second and third season.
”To have a show where you see queer people being happy and being together and united as a group, I think there’s something really beautiful about that,” Connor told Variety in Mays. “I think that shows like ‘Euphoria’ that are very queer are still very much sort of adult in many ways because they are very dark and gritty. I think it’s really important to have a show that is just portraying queer love and queer beauty.”