Liam Payne Responds to Homophobia Accusation by Doing Gay Magazine Cover

Accused earlier this year of being homophobic, popular One Direction member Liam Payne is letting his fans and the entire world,know that he is accepting of LGBT people in the best way a boy bander knows how -- by posing for the cover of a popular gay magazine.

Payne announced yesterday on his Twitter account that he would be on the cover of the October issue of Attitude, and although there was quite a lot of fanfare about his announcement, many speculate that the main motive for his appearance in the U.K.'s most popular gay magazine is to clear himself of perceived homophobia.

Last year, Payne came under fire after tweeting support for antigay Duck Dynasty cast member Willie Robertson. He caught more flak last month when he made a careless comment at a One Direction concert about girls not being able to like girls, which fans saw as enforcing heteronormative values.

"It upsets me that people believe that, because I know I'm not [homophobic]," Payne said in his interview with Attitude. "I know what I am like, so it doesn't matter massively what people say about me."

He continued:

"I don't pay attention to whether people are gay or not. I am just into people. Loads of people are into all sorts, but if they are my mate and I get on with them, then that's all that counts. That's why I'm disappointed when they call me a homophobe. Because it's totally not true."