Being Pressured to Straighten Gay Characters
I’m at a conference today and won’t have much in the way of internet access, but wanted to signal-boost this post:
http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/genreville/?p=1519
“The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight…”
I’m sure lots of you have already seen it, but I’m equally sure that some haven’t, and it’s worth reading.
My thanks to Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown for choosing to make this story public, and for refusing to compromise and change this character. And to Rose Fox for sharing the post.
This also makes me want to thank my own agent and publisher, for never once suggesting there was a problem with Talia being a lesbian, or asking me to change that.
It’s a great post, and I strongly encourage people to read, comment, and share.
Michael Z. Williamson
September 13, 2011 @ 10:42 am
I’ve been fortunate not to encounter that. I’ve got bisexual characters, transgender supporting characters, an entire mishmash of race and genetics (it is the future, after all), and Baen’s never mentioned it. To the best of my knowledge, DAW is fine with such, also. I do need to remind myself to make all my future elements a bit more different. It’s the struggle between a character a contemporary reader can grasp, and not being too mundane. Though I do have a comment on that when people mention it.
Consider that Baen also published LMB’s Ethan of Athos.
The link to the Poking Badgers blog had a listing of YA with gay characters, and there was a dispute over whether or not Valdemar is YA. I responded with this:
~~
I write in Misty’s Valdemar universe anthologies, and she’s quite specific on it being a YA universe with YA rules for violence, politics and language, but gay characters are perfectly acceptable. I know the Valdemar readership tends to the younger end. So regardless of what it is “officially” marketed as, it’s a YA universe.
Which of course could lead to an entire debate on what constitutes the YA ghetto, couldn’t it?
~~
Really, what is this need to categorize everything as to genre, religion, sexuality? An interesting character in an interesting story stands for itself. Write/publish/read the damned story and worry more about quality than pigeonhole.
Uh, Jim, my 13 year old is reading all your books. Is there anything I should know about their “category” regarding this? 😉
Jim C. Hines
September 13, 2011 @ 7:45 pm
“Uh, Jim, my 13 year old is reading all your books. Is there anything I should know about their “category” regarding this?”
Oh, my books are totally going to transform her into a liberal anti-gun extremist. Sorry, did I forget to include that warning on the cover? 😉
(Actually, I did have a teacher once tell me in all seriousness that she thought the publisher should include some sort of warning on the book about the “lesbian content.”)
Michael Z. Williamson
September 13, 2011 @ 9:25 pm
Well, that would probably sell more books…
holly
September 13, 2011 @ 10:47 pm
If anything, having Morrigan read the Princess novels is just going to make her a stronger, more powerful female — after all, she does have to live up to her name . And anti-gun? I think she’ll be shooting, as long as the guns are pink. ;-}. And just wondering if Morrigan has met John Scalzi’s daughter Athena? And Jim, don’t you have a daughter?
Hmm, a YA series based on ‘real’ girls, written by Jim, John, and Mike? I’d buy them for my library!
Michael Z. Williamson
September 13, 2011 @ 10:54 pm
She’s met Athena, and not all of her guns are pink. Only one of her swords is purple (A katana).
holly
September 13, 2011 @ 11:01 pm
a purple katana! I so want.
Michael Z. Williamson
September 13, 2011 @ 11:06 pm
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh119/mzmadmike/Blades/SwordKami.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh119/mzmadmike/Blades/SwordTsuka.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh119/mzmadmike/Blades/SwordBlade.jpg
Because I worship the water she walks on.
Jim C. Hines
September 14, 2011 @ 8:10 am
Sweet! I want one!
Michael Z. Williamson
September 14, 2011 @ 8:12 am
I sell them when I can find them. Even the “catalog” katanae (see what I did there?) are hand made and vary.