Queerbaiting

"Queerbaiting" is a marketing practice that hints at, but does not depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ+ representation. According to scholars, cultural critics and fans, this is intended to attract ("bait") a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion or possibility of queer relationships or characters, while not alienating homophobic members of the audience or censors by explicitly portraying those relationships or characters.

Accusations of queerbaiting have been made towards films, television series, books, music, advertisements and other forms of media, but also towards celebrities who express an ambiguous sexual identity through their works and statements. The term arose in and has been popularized through discussions in Internet fandom since the early 2010s. It comes from a larger history of LGBTQ+ discourse in media representation dating back to the 1970s from subtle marketing to LGBTQ+ people through commercials and books.