3 Ways to Behave Around Gay People if You Don't Accept Them

Contents:

• VIO GAME PLAYERS AVOID GAY CHARACTERS
• I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?
• DEAR HOLLYWOOD: STOP GAYG ALL THE THGS, ESPECIALLY STRAIGHT CHARACTERS...
• HOW CAN I AVOID BURYG MY GAYS?
• ON WRG GAY CHARACTERS THRILLERS
• SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAY GAY ROL? A STAR TV WRER SAYS NO
• HOW TO BEHAVE AROUND GAY PEOPLE IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT THEM
• TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED

VIO GAME PLAYERS AVOID GAY CHARACTERS

Recently, I sat down (virtually) wh my good iend and lleague Vnie Ksella, the edor of Fashnably Late: Gay, Bi, and Trans Men Who Came Out Later Life, to discs a subject of tert to any fictn wrer who se themselv as an ally to queer folks: trop to avoid wh LGBTQ+ characters.

I had the honor of beg one of the first lleagu Vnie me out to (later life, as the tle of his say llectn attts), and like any good book nerd, one of the first thgs he did at that time was to read every book he uld fd that centered gay narrativ.

I LIKE GUYS BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE GAY. HOW DO I STOP BEG GAY?

Here’s another trope wh queer characters that has a direct equivalent wh race: the trope of the Magic Gay Btie—which I have so christened bee ’s a lot like the trope of the Magic Negro.

DEAR HOLLYWOOD: STOP GAYG ALL THE THGS, ESPECIALLY STRAIGHT CHARACTERS...

They’re not particularly plex, and they don’t seem to have much the way of goals or sir of their own—they’re jt there to sprkle a ltle rabow fairy dt on the protagonist’s life, perhaps offerg some sage advice about beg yourself or chosen fay (you know, Thgs That Gay People Know), along wh a ltle ic relief. For stance: A gay male character who A) is a hairdrser, B) owns a small dog, C) is effemate, D) is flamboyant, E) speaks wh a lisp, F) lov to go clubbg, and G) is a die-hard fan of The Goln Girls. As an add bon, avoidg the “tokenism” of a sgle character om this historilly margalized group n also add a note of realism often missg om fictnal pictns of all those Magic Gay Bti.

HOW CAN I AVOID BURYG MY GAYS?

There’s a character like that the Netflix adaptatns of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Lus, one of the boys the protagonist, Lara Jean, had a csh on junr high, turns out to be gay—and so, rather than nnectg romantilly high school (the perd which the story is set), the two rennect as iends, and Lus offers sage advice to Lara Jean choosg among the two suors she wds up torn between. To my md, this pictn manag to avoid Magic Gay Btie syndrome via a scene which Lara Jean and Lus are at a dance: Lara Jean bemoans the difficulty of choosg between the boys she lik so much, and Lus rponds by notg what a privilege is that she actually has this choice. In this scene, Lus go on to note how few boys at their school are openly gay—the fact that, for him, there really are no choic to be ma.

That scene, to me, is where the story do right by this gay character, by acknowledgg his lack of privilege wh regard to the straight protagonist. Remember our gay male hairdrser wh the small dog, who’s flamboyant and effemate, lov to go clubbg, and ador The Goln Girls?

Don’t get me wrong, I love that guy IRL, but…if this is a character your novel, you’ll probably want to remove at least one of those stereotypilly gay male tras, and foc stead on somethg about them that has nothg to do wh the fact that they’re gay.

ON WRG GAY CHARACTERS THRILLERS

A study of gamer behavr fds they shy away om gay characters, regardls of their strengthsA person drsed as the character Genji om the vio game Overwatch durg a recent tournament. Though Soldier: 76 had prevly been assumed by most to be straight, Tracer had been openly gay sce the game was published.

Some players reported the survey that they felt other players see lbians as appealg and tertg, but that the same players voice disgt toward gay men. Y, this stereotype do have a lot of tth (no slut-shamg here), however, ’s important to show younger people that beg gay don’t mean you nnot fd love and nnectn. Dear leftists Hollywood tent on phg csant gayns, even when unnecsary and irrelevant, Today seems Hollywood's primary missn, pecially televisn, is to shove gayns to wherever may f.

SHOULD STRAIGHT ACTORS PLAY GAY ROL? A STAR TV WRER SAYS NO

I ntend like wh most issu our polil climate, the "Gay Agenda" TV is beg shoved by a actn of a percent of the gay populatn. As stated before, the Gaystapo, and now the Hollywood Gay Agenda Phers DO NOT reprent lns of gay people who jt want to live their liv peace.

HOW TO BEHAVE AROUND GAY PEOPLE IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT THEM

How the gayns is picted I'll addrs later, but the rult of vastly over-reprentg the gay populatn has led to the ncln you aimed to draw. Two gay ma characters, a few mor gay characters who sually hook up wh the ma gay characters; one mor transgenr character. Y, there's now a movement the left, which I'm sure will reach y'all Hollywood, to make existg heterosexual characters to homosexual on.

Then and only then, n they tly blossom to a gay butterfly, all their 's even been suggted that Jam Bond should be gay. But we're livg a culture where people feel fortable suggtg a character like Jam Bond should be gay whout beg lghed tryg to appropriate straight characters, what the social-engeerg left is attemptg is to refe what means to be mascule and feme.

TURNS OUT, BARBIELAND ISN'T AS GAY AS S QUEER FANS HAD HOPED

Maybe I'm paranoid, but seems we're gettg close, pecially how gay characters are portrayed: healthy, lovg, never abive toward each other. I know even suggtg such a thg mak me a hateful homophobe, but wouldn't be lovely if you folks the entertament dtry uld foc on you know...