So here's something we've kind of been avoiding discussing for a little bit, but we do feel that it needs to be addressed:

One Direction's Liam Payne on the cover of the gay lifestyle magazine, Attitude.

We're going to be totally honest with you guys, okay? We thought it was weird that Liam, of all people, was on the cover of a gay magazine when he himself is not gay and with the exception of a few tweets defending himself against accusations of homophobia, he has stayed pretty quiet when it comes to addressing these issues. Nonetheless, the cover promised an interview with what he had to say about "gay rights and why homophobia should be a thing of the past" so we were looking forward to what he had to say. Yahoo News UK summed up our feelings pretty well on this, before and after the interview came out:

So here's the issue: unless you've been living under a rock for the past day or so, you're probably aware that all is not well within the One Direction fandom. Some are assuming that fans are over-reacting or being dramatic, and some are totally missing the point of why fans are upset.

Liam's interview started out nice enough. Discussing homophobia, the 22-year-old explained: "I have a couple of older gay friends who have been in my life for years, and they were hilarious when I was growing up, squeezing my bum and going 'Ooooh!' But that's the relationship we had. I didn't mind. A lot of my friends are gay and I don't think anything about it. I actually find it funny that being gay is still something that's talked about as though it's not natural. I mean, I don't go around saying 'oh, this guy is gay'. I don't make a big deal about it. I will just say 'this is my mate'. My mates are my mates, regardless of their sexuality."

Seems good so far, right? All very positive and accepting things were said. That's awesome! That's what we thought too.

"We were in America at that time [the same-sex marriage ruling passed] and there were loads of great parties and flags flying everywhere. It's strange to me that countries are still refusing to pass the law […] When the law changed in the US there were loads of rainbow flags flying at our shows, but I think that was mainly because people think of the Louis and Harry thing [that they're secret lovers], which is absolutely nuts and drives me insane."

Wait, what? He notices that the amount of rainbow flags at shows definitely increased after the Supreme Court decision, but he is quick to overlook the fact that American fans we're overjoyed to finally have equality in our country. Liam decided that this was the perfect opportunity to knock a huge majority of his fans who believe in Larry Stylinson. He even went so far as to say that the rainbow flag fliers were only doing so because of the false romance.

Please understand that the issues that fans have with his comments has nothing to do with the fact that he "denies Larry", as so many have unreasonably assumed. It's more due to the fact that he turned the iconic #LoveWins movement into something as shallow as fans only brandishing their pride and/or support for the LGBTQ+ community because of their, "strange and sad" beliefs, as Liam so nicely put it. This is especially hurtful because LGBTQ+ fans consider One Direction concerts to be a "safe space," where we can unapologetically be who we are and express our sexualities without fear of the judgement or backlash that we may otherwise be subjected to at home. Now, fans are expressing fear about doing things like bringing rainbow flags to shows.

Another issue fans had was about the fact that he denies things that happened with an ex-girlfriend he was with for four years and things he said that were perceived as being in love with his current girlfriend while he was still dating his ex, but that's an argument for another day.

Liam did not take kindly to the criticism and animosity he started, either.

What do you think?