SINGER Harry Styles has caused controversy after claiming that depictions of gay sex in movies lack “tenderness”.

The performer spoke about his role in the film My Policeman in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

The movie, filmed and set in Brighton, features Harry playing the role of a closeted gay police officer in the 1950s at a time when homosexuality was illegal.

However, the As It Was singer sparked backlash after claiming that most film depictions of gay sex are “two guys going at it” and that the film’s director Michael Grandage wanted to show what sex is really like between two men.

He said: “So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it.

“There will be, I would imagine, some people who watch it who were very much alive during this time when it was illegal to be gay, and Michael wanted to show that it’s tender and loving and sensitive.”

However, the former One Direction star’s comments caused a stir on Twitter, with one user asking whether he had seen an array of LGBTQ+ films, including the Oscar-winning movie Moonlight.

“Harry Styles codifying queer movies as ‘two guys going at it’ is crazy to me because most queer films are about tenderness, sadness and longing,” they said.

In his interview with the magazine, Harry said that he did not view My Policeman simply as a “gay story” but as a story about love and “wasted time”.

He said: “It’s obviously pretty unfathomable now to think you couldn’t be gay - that was illegal.

“I think everyone, including myself, has their own journey with figuring out sexuality and getting more comfortable with it.

“It’s not like this is a gay story about these guys being gay. It’s about love and about wasted time to me.”

My Policeman releases in cinemas on October 21 and will be available to stream on Amazon’s Prime Video service from November 4.