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Still, the secret would still have been an effective tool. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gary talked about how he decided to make Richie's secret about his sexuality.

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"It just felt like a natural part of his character," Gary said of the storyline.

Stephen King did hint at Richie's sexuality subtly throughout the text, but it was screenwriter Gary Dauberman's decision to make it more of a storyline in the movie. Throughout IT Chapter Two, Pennywise's method of tormenting Richie centered on a "secret" that he was keeping: that he's gay.

Related: IT Chapter Two: Cast & Character Guide

That secret is revealed in a flashback featuring the homophobic Henry Bowers and then more overtly towards IT Chapter Two's ending.

"But, I love that love story. “Some people see more than friendship there.” Others don’t. Richie, hating himself for his sexuality, blocks out his feelings for Eddie and subconsciously overcompensates by presenting himself as a big ol’ corndog.

In a landscape where Hollywood releases tend to give lip service at best to LGBT representation — Sulu getting to hug (!) his husband in Star Trek Beyond; Trini maybe being bisexual in Power Rangers; one of Avengers: Endgame’s directors popping up in a cameo as an gay character who doesn’t have a name and is never seen again; and, of course, who can forget Beauty and the Beast’s “exclusively gay moment” — it’s a step forward that It Chapter Two positions Richie’s sexuality as something more than a box to be ticked in order to claim progressiveness.

It Chapter Two treats Richie’s sexuality with respect — not sensationalizing it, but at the same time acknowledging the effect it has on other areas of his life.

But was that always the case, especially in King's source material? It's one of the first things we see from Richie in the movie.

gay it

Only after he and the Losers defeat Pennywise is Richie finally able to come to terms with his feelings for the (unfortunately now deceased) Eddie (James Ransone), filling in the empty space with the letter E. 

“He’s afraid of being exposed, of having his sexual identity exposed,” Muschietti continues. "He has said very nice things," Gary said.

See Richie's character evolution in IT Chapter 2, which is in theaters now.

SPOILERS FOR IT CHAPTER TWO FOLLOW.

Well, the simple answer would be an emphatic no. Directed by Andrés Muschietti, the film starred Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Jack Dylan Grazer (Shazam!) as two members of The Losers' Club, who find themselves tormented by a demonic entity (Bill Skarsgård). “And that echoes the love that Adrian’s partner has for him.

While Eddie might not have been aware of the extent of Richie’s feelings towards him, it confirms that, regardless of all of his insults towards his friend, Richie had a deep fondness for him, allowing the film to end with a more loving outlook, which is refreshing for audiences who just witnessed the immense anger and fear inspired by Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

“At least there’s love involved.

Played by Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) in the first film, Richie is played by Bill Hader in the sequel, and his character has gone through a lot in the years since. He has left the town of Derry behind, and his feelings for Eddie are reignited when the Loser Gang reunites.

When something happens to Eddie in the movie (we'll spare you that huge spoiler), Richie is devastated, and his love becomes more public than he had ever anticipated. The fear of being outed is what drives him throughout the film, but it's also what he comes to grips with eventually.

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Was Richie's sexuality in the book at all?

The idea of Richie being gay is not completely absent from the book version of IT.

Similarly, the novel's Richie has a number of failed relationships with women and had never married.

Director Andy Muschietti and writer Gary Dauberman made some changes to Stephen King‘s IT novel to deliver IT CHAPTER TWO, with one of these changes being more overt references to a character being gay, a change which King supports.

SPOILERS ahead.

The movie is based off the second half of Stephen King's nearly 1,000 page novel, but there were some differences between the book and the final cut for the film script. The sequel comes two years after the 2017 adaptation of the novel that starred Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, a character who taunted a group of kids known as the "Losers Club." The sequel takes place about 30 years later, and the kids are all grown up, and still dealing with Pennywise's cruelty.

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One of the biggest variations in the film from the book edition is (SPOILER) a diversion in character Richie Tozier's sexuality.

Muschietti returned to direct the sequel, which, customary to Pennywise's own pattern, picked up 27 years after IT Chapter One. When Pennywise sticks his red nose back in Derry's business, Richie — along with the rest of his childhood friends — returns to his hometown to hopefully take out Pennywise for good. IT Chapter Two largely followed said adult versions of the characters as they sought to defeat once and for all an even more vicious and vengeful Pennywise.

Though Richie's sexuality isn't definitively stated in It Chapter Two, the subtext that existed in the book has clearly passed on to the “text” stage. And that’s why his trauma is about hiding this sexual identity.”

Pennywise, as part of the “mess with the Losers’ heads tilt-a-whirl,” makes adult Richie relive a situation where, as a child, he was bullied by Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) and his band of roving jackasses for trying to become friendly with one of Bowers’ relatives.