"Say Yes to Gay YA"

[cabin-boy.livejournal.com]

Although this isn't directly Queen's Thief related I thought it was relevant and needed to be shared amongst you all:

Apparently, Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith wrote a book that has been denied representation from an agent on the basis that it contains a gay character. The agent recommends they either change his sexuality or remove him entirely.

That is pretty absurd, I think. Characters of every gender, race, and sexuality have a right to be represented in literature- especially YA literature. Everyone deserves to have characters they can personally associate with.

Here is a link to the full article, if you're interested in reading more about it and supporting the authors:
http://rachelmanija.livejournal.com/969022.html

Comments

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

*twitches* That is just stupid and wrong. There is nothing wrong with being gay, but there are so few gay characters in YA fiction, especially in fantasy. As the article pointed out, all this accomplishes is making gay teens feel like they shouldn't exist.

If there were more gay characters, not only would it give gay teenagers a character they can relate to, but it would help straight teens understand that there is nothing wrong with being gay.

This whole thing is just stupid. It's the 21st century! We shouldn't have this as an issue!

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

My reaction exactly. What century is this? Why are we still dealing with this?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I thought you would be interested to hear that we sold the Yes Gay YA novel to Viking. Click on this link (http://rachelmanija.livejournal.com/1075926.html) for a post with more details. Thank you so much for your support!

[chubbyleng.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised that this is an issue, though I am surprised that it's not a more talked about issue. I don't think many "adults" realize how popular gay people are among teenagers. *ahem*... I'm not joking. I know that may sound weird, and perhaps the way we treat gay people in real life do not reflect how we treat gay characters, but from my experience, slash and femslash, 'yaoi' and 'yuri', BL and GL are all VERY popular in many fandoms (and *especially* in anime fandoms).

I don't know how many times I've seen canonically hetero characters twisted into bisexuals or homosexuals in fanworks. Wouldn't it be so much easier if the character was gay to begin with?

I don't think anybody who reads YA would be offended or surprised to see a gay character. I think this agent just worries about what 'parents may think' if they see their children reading something with said character in it.

You know, I'm actually surprised with our QT fandom. There are sooooo many boys, and not enough girls to go around with them, and yet there's nobody slashing on the male characters.

[chubbyleng.livejournal.com]

"And we wonder if some agents were put off because none of our POV characters are white."

SERIOUSLY???

I guess I'm speaking out because I'm considered a 'minority'. I do believe I know what it feels like to be under represented in fiction, and especially in children or YA fantasy. The closest I've ever read to reading a story that is set where I come from is Holly Black's short story "The Night Market".

I mean, yeah, Europe is great, and USA is just as an awesome scene for urban fantasy as Europe, but when I ask for a book set in a different place, the only thing I get recommended is "Silver Phoenix" by Cindy Pon. Great, there are only 3 places in the world according to YA: Europe, US and China.

I just wish that there are more variety in YA in general. Not only in characters, but also in setting.

Meh... sorry for the rant.

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

I completely agree that there needs to be more over all diversity in YA. From a publishers standpoint, I would want to publish books that are about not about the same old "group" of white, heterosexual kids or western European fantasy land. In other words, there is a gap in the market and it needs to be filled.

There is a web site dedicated to diversity in YA. Here's the link, if anyone is interested: http://www.diversityinya.com/.

By the way, can we get that agent a pair of ear hooks? It sounds like he could really use them.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your support!

To continue to support YA fiction with LGBTQ characters and non-white characters, I have proposed creating Permanent Floating YA Diversity Book Clubs. (http://rachelmanija.livejournal.com/976665.html) If you wish to participate, the link will explain how to begin one, join one, or simply pass on the word.

[lilian-cho.livejournal.com]

There are sooooo many boys, and not enough girls to go around with them, and yet there's nobody slashing on the male characters.

Oh, IDK. I was totally slashing Gen/Costis when I was reading KoA ;-)
And Gen/Sophos is totally there too, hero worship-wise.

[theorangethief.livejournal.com]

This really is ridiculous, it shouldn't even be an issue in the first place!

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

The agent has a perfect right to choose to represent or not represent a book on whatever grounds he wants. If they don't like the agent's opinions they are certainly free to choose a different agent.

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly. All they gotta do is find another agent, right?

[zedmeister.livejournal.com]

Please read the full post They're not staging a witch-hunt against one agent but are rather wondering about subtle widespread discrimination in the YA industry. Here are some relevant parts from the post:

The agent suggested that perhaps, if the book was very popular and sequels were demanded, Yuki could be revealed to be gay in later books, when readers were already invested in the series.

We knew this was a pie-in-the-sky offer – who knew if there would even be sequels? – and didn’t solve the moral issue. When you refuse to allow major characters in YA novels to be gay, you are telling gay teenagers that they are so utterly horrible that people like them can’t even be allowed to exist in fiction.

LGBTQ teenagers already get told this. They are four times more likely than straight teenagers to attempt suicide We’re not saying that the absence of LGBTQ teens in YA sf and fantasy novels is the reason for that. But it’s part of the overall social prejudice that does cause that killing despair.

We wrote this novel so that the teenagers we know – some of whom are gay, and many of whom are not white – would be able, for once, to read a fun post-apocalyptic adventure in which they are the heroes. And we were told that such a thing could not be allowed.

And:

This isn't about one agent's personal feelings about gay people. We don't know their feelings; they may well be sympathetic in their private life, but regard the removal of gay characters as a marketing issue. The conversation made it clear that the agent thought our book would be an easy sale if we just made that change. But it doesn't matter if the agent rejected the character because of personal feelings or because of assumptions about the market. What matters is that a gay character would be quite literally written out of his own story.

And:

The overwhelming white straightness of the YA sf and fantasy sections may have little to do with what authors are writing, or even with what editors accept. Perhaps solid manuscripts with LGBTQ protagonists rarely get into mainstream editors’ hands at all, because they are been rejected by agents before the editors see them. How many published novels with a straight white heroine and a lesbian or black or disabled best friend once had those roles reversed, before an agent demanded a change?

It's about a lot more than one agent's opinion.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I didn't read the article, and won't, because I am not all that interested. From the bit you posted, it seems to me that the authors are indignant because they believe that young adult science fiction and fantasy novels should reflect their particular view of the world, and others disagree.

[zedmeister.livejournal.com]

Sorry, what view of the world? That gay youth are people too and should be treated as such?

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

That gay (and lesbian, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, asexual, etc) youth exist and have voices isn't even an opinion or a world view. It's just a fact.

However, for stories written about worlds where everyone is white and heterosexual, fantasy is definitely the genre for them, because that's certainly not our world.

[cabin-boy.livejournal.com]

If you refuse to educate yourself on the content of the article, then please refrain from commenting. I did specify that I was linking it for those interested, and if you feel it does not concern you, then feel free to ignore the post entirely.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

No they didn't. They believe that young adult science fiction and fantasy novels should not exclude their view of the world -- and for simplicity's sake I'm accepting that phrase "view of the world". It's the difference between

a) state religion: everyone must worship a particular way
and
b) freedom of religion: anyone may worship any way they wish, or none

PARALLEL TO

a') imposed point of view: all major characters in YA fiction must be straight*
and
b') free point of view: there can be gay and non-white major characters in YA fiction

* 'When you refuse to allow major characters in YA novels to be gay, you are telling gay teenagers that they are so utterly horrible that people like them can’t even be allowed to exist in fiction. ... We wrote this novel so that the teenagers we know – some of whom are gay, and many of whom are not white – would be able, for once, to read a fun post-apocalyptic adventure in which they are the heroes. And we were told that such a thing could not be allowed.'

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'm not sure that's true. While in the current case the agent is basing his judgment on the content of the story, were he to refuse to represent a book on the grounds that the author(s) are members of a protected class (ie, race, religion, sex, gender identity, etc) I believe that would be illegal.

Of course, no one would ever prove it in court.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

Your friendly neighborhood mod is going to bed and would just like to remind everyone who reads this post that sounis is a safe, inclusive community, and if you find yourself wanting to say something potentially volatile on a sensitive subject, please direct it towards your nearest pillow rather than your keyboard.

This post is a heads-up. Further discussion on the subject may be directed to the article linked above or on Sherwood's post on the subject (http://sartorias.livejournal.com/486338.html). Play nice, and good night! :-)

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

Thanks, friendly neighborhood Jade-mod! I haven't ever been called offensive here before and was not enjoying the feeling, so I appreciate you calling a halt. <3

[cabin-boy.livejournal.com]

Indeed, I was not intending to start any debates in Sounis, just to spread word on the matter. As Jade suggests, any discussion would be best kept to the authors' original posts. :)

Thank you, friendly neighborhood mod!

One more degree of distribution

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Signal boosted (http://thnidu.livejournal.com/903011.html)

[(Anonymous)]

Mod, my apologies. Somehow I misread the post and just registered the "play nice" part...

I'd delete it if I could- apologies, again.

Scotty

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

Comment has been deleted according to your wishes! Your sensitivity is appreciated.

[(Anonymous)]

Eeep - I wasn't apologizing for the comment, just the fact that I'd posted here when you'd requested the comment to be moved to other forums...

I'll take the compliment anyway! (That's what Gen would do, isn't it?)

Seriously, though, I just felt I had to say the above because I feel it's important to stand behind what one says, and I try to think a lot before committing words to screen. So I still would express the same respectful sentiment, albeit in a forum where it would be welcome (i.e., not a friendly Sounis board where the mod asked everyone to move their opinions elsewhere!)

Just clarifying :-)

(PS perhaps it would be best to delete both this and the post remaining above, if you want to just clear up the boards totally.)

Scott