There's been a lot of commotion in the YA community over gay characters lately. First, it was the whole debacle with the anthology that several very prominent YA authors were doing, and which they all withdrew their stories from after the editor had an issue with a gay couple in the one of the stories. More recently, it was the issue with two co-authors who were told by their editors that they needed to basically take out any reference to their characters being gay.
And my question is: Why?
The most common argument for why gay characters shouldn't be prominent in books, (or anything else, really) is "It gives kids the wrong impression."
And what exactly is the wrong impression? This is the point where people say "That being gay is okay, and it's not." To which I say-- but it is. Maybe not to you ('you' meaning the people who are against it), but to someone who is gay, it is okay. It's who they are, how they feel. Not everyone has to agree with it, but is it necessary for so much antipathy? If it doesn't affect you directly, then it's none of your business who someone else chooses to love.
There are many stories that I've read where the only gay character is the female protagonist's sassy best guy friend, and he's only there for a few snarky punchlines and to feed the female protagonist ice cream when she's pining over her insta-love crush. To me, that gives kids the wrong impression. Sure, there are those sassy gay best friends, but they have their own stories to tell, and their own romances to pine for.
More often than not, the people that have a problem with homosexuality are just scared and ignorant of it. They think that if their kid reads a book with a gay main character, then that might influence their kid to become gay. How does that even make sense? Being gay isn't just a 'phase' or something that a person can decide to be one day, and then the next say "Oh, that was fun, but I'm straight again." It's just who they are. I don't want to get cheesy here, but, to quote the lovely Lady Gaga, They were born that way. Of course, society sets a double standard. For girls, it okay to hug their friends and to kiss them on the cheek and to get dressed in front of each other. But boys? "No, don't do that, that's gay!" How? The only way it would be gay is if the two people doing it were gay. And you know what? Even if one boy was gay, and the other was straight, so what? The straight boy isn't going to just magically turn gay because he took off his shirt in front of a gay guy. Come on, people.
THESE THINGS ARE ONLY A BIG DEAL WHEN YOU MAKE THEM A BIG DEAL. If everyone could just be more accepting and open-minded, there wouldn't be a problem. To those people that are against gay YA characters, think for a moment about the message you're sending gay teens everywhere: you are not important enough to have your story told. You are not 'normal' and therefore should not be represented in literature. How you feel and who you are is irrelevant. If we ignore you and deny you, maybe you'll go away.
The gay community has to deal with a lot of hatred and crap that they don't deserve. They have fought, and still have to fight, long and hard for acceptance that, unfortunately, some people are not willing to give them ever. Don't let this be another obstacle.
So, to summarize: I totally and completely support gay characters in YA. I want to see more of their stories being told. To any authors reading this, can we please make that happen?
What are your thoughts on this subject? As I said above, I welcome all opinions. But again, please remain respectful.
