Writing Queer Characters

So ... it's bigoted and egotistical for me to watch 50 tv shows with exclusively straight casts, then hit on one or two with say, a single gay or bi character each and say "Hey, wow, I like this better"? It's egotistical to like seeing someone like you in media, even when that happens very rarely? It's egotistical to wish for more than "now and again"? I'm not getting you.

 

I read your post. I found it confusing. Probably because, as far as I can tell, no one originally said they wouldn't watch a show without someone like them in it. @CEMO just said that it's nice to see someone who is like you.

 

@Selbbin It's not about wanting to be on top, it's about wanting to exist:

Exactly: someone, not everyone

 

That's what we're doing. What's the problem?

 

I pretty much agree with everything The Moose said here and in other posts. Characters need to interact with the world. Readers should know what and/or who they want. If I am going to spend a novel-length amount of time with a character, I should be able to tell you if a character was LGBTQ.

It seems like you might be confused a little or just haven't read a real lot. A story is far more than just the actions it contains and not every detail about a character has to be tied to the plot. You seem pretty sure of yourself, but you might want to look into it a little more or just ponder as you continue to read that not every little thing in a story is there to push the plot.

 

And I'm glad that you've never not had anybody say that before.

 

Nobody's complaining that not all characters tend to be LGBT+, we're complaining that no characters tend to be LGBT+. Do you see the difference?

 

So it's kind of a straw man, then, because I don't think anyone (anyone here, at least) is saying that they absolutely cannot identify with characters who don't share a certain characteristic with them. They're saying that they appreciate being able to identify with a character that does share a certain characteristic.

There must be something about you that's not mainstream. Say... say you were a straight white male in a traditionally female profession - kindergarten teacher, maybe. Say that whenever you meet people and tell them what you do for a living they give you a weird look, and some of them seem to actually think there's something morally wrong with you because you must be a paedophile or something. Whenever people talk about your profession they always use the female pronouns. When you go to a conference for other kindergarten teachers there are activities planned for spouses and those activities are all male-oriented. etc. etc.

And then you read a novel with a male kindergarten teacher in it.

Wouldn't that be kinda nice?

And being a kindergarten teacher is something you chose to do, and something you could leave behind if the difficulties became too much. Other people don't have the option of leaving behind the parts of themselves that don't fit the dominant paradigm, so I think it's even more important for them to see themselves represented. Sometimes.

 

That's what it's about for everyone else. I mean, what if suddenly the entertainment industry decided that we'd only show straight white guys if the story required a straight white guy? You might feel okay about it for a few months, maybe even a year, but wouldn't it start to bug you after a while? There would barely be any movies or TV shows or books ever with straight white guys. There would be no straight white guy chosen ones, no straight white guy romantic interests, no straight white guy secret agents. Nothing. That wouldn't make these TV shows, movies, or books bad, but it might surprise you and make you happy if you find a show that shows a straight white protagonist that's finally a good representation of your experiences as a straight white male, and not just a plot device. Just like how, I don't know, you'd be really happy to see someone from your home town win gold in the Olympics.

 

Dude, if I only read books and watched tv/movies that had queer character in them, I wouldn't be a writer because I wouldn't've been exposed to nearly enough creative fodder. There's no way on earth that queer people aren't enjoying media that doesn't represent us. We obviously do not 'need' a character to be like us in that regard.

 

I Have not.

I have a feeling major publishers have some in the pipeline. I would imagine there is a balance trying to be found to sell to the largest audience and debates of how queer a genre can be. I think it will take some time for things to be figured out as far as money vs population numbers vs distribution methods. The more breakout sellers in the self publishing field will bring mainstream on quicker. Unfortunately becoming a breakout self pub author usually is a full time job of marketing yourself.

I can say that for me and what I typically read, it really wouldn't matter either way. I generally don't care much for people's lives, so I don't read much about it. For me it would mostly be a change of Reacher tumbling into bed with Tom instead of Amy, or a female character calling their wife instead of their husband.

 

@Selbbin Let's think of it this way:

If we only look at one character in one story, then whether that one character is or is not more similar or different to a specific reader should not play a role in whether the reader connects with the character. This is not up for debate; everybody has already agreed.

Now imagine 100 stories with 10 characters each, and every single one is different from the reader in a very specific way that does not reflect reality.

Do you see the difference?

 

I think you're off on a weird tangent with this "need/not want/to identify to enjoy something". Nobody here is saying they need all characters to be gay in order to enjoy the book. Nobody is saying they can never identify with characters unlike themselves in certain aspects. They're saying it's important that sometimes characters have things in common with them.