Gay Romance ‘Heated Rivalry’ Is Reigniting a Troubling Debate
Don’t put queer representations into a box.
HBO MaxHeated Rivalry, based on the second book in Rachel Reid’s “Game Changers” series, has been a hit for HBO Max. Critics have called the gay romance about hockey players one of the best queer TV shows, praising it as “sexy” and “significant.”
Beyond these glowing reviews, though, there is another discourse. Heated Rivalry’s success has reignited an unhealthy debate over who gets to tell the stories of marginalized communities — a debate that has proven harmful to closeted creatives in the past and that enforces a rigid litmus test for what counts as “authentic” storytelling.
One flashpoint came in a viral Vulture interview late last week, when I Love LA actor Jordan Firstman, who is openly gay, criticized the sex scenes in Heated Rivalry. He summed them up as “two straight hockey players pretending to be gay.” When confronted with the fact that neither of the lead actors — Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie — has publicly spoken about their sexuality, Firstman said, “A gay guy would say it. I don’t respect you because you care too much about your career and what’s going to happen if people think you’re gay.” François Arnaud, who is openly bisexual and plays Scott Hunter on Heated Rivalry, responded on Instagram by asking a pointed question: “Is there only one way to have ‘authentic’ gay sex on tv?”
Firstman later walked back his comments, but they echo the way the sexuality of the series’ author has also been dissected. From YouTube videos to Reddit posts, people have asked: Should Reid — a woman who is married to a man — be the face of gay male romance writing?