Author Stt Swenson giv his sight on how to wre Gay men for our How To Wre LGBTQIA+ Characters article seri.
Contents:
HOW TO WRE LGBTQIA+ CHARACTERS: GAY MEN
* writing gay characters in fantasy *
The primary arc, where some meangful way, the primary plot is about the protagonist's homosexualy, or profoundly nnected to . A "gradual reveal" arc, where the character's homosexualy is ially unknown, and effectively "secret"; we get hts and clu.
"signifint tails will prove to be important; otherwise you wouldn't put them the first place" - and om popular social mor, by which most people nsir a character beg homosexual as a "signifint tail, " while nsirg heterosexualy to be a sort of unremarkable, flt expectatn. If you want to al wh the risk of "rmed homosexualy, " you pensate by fdg other ways to make her sexualy evint and signifint. Another big advantage here is that a subplot lets you figure out some aspects of homosexual life that you're terted spotlightg; beg a lbian affects a person's life far more than jt "what genr is my partner", and sounds like that one qutn isn't what you're terted wh this character.
BEYOND THE CLOSET: WRG GAY CHARACTERS
One approach is to say "What the heck, " and accept a balance that feels ls than perfect - errg on the si of "rmed homosexualy, " or g a simple "revelatn: lbian" arc. A month after my weddg, one of my bt iends told me he was gay. That she falls love wh a woman is important—I’m not dismissg her sexualy—but she falls love wh Fna, a human storyteller, bee of Fna’s fire and passn—not jt bee she happens to be a one we meet real life is a rdboard cut-out or stereotype, so there’s no need for any of our LGBTQ+ characters to be, gay?