It’s actually a little scary sometimes to hear cis straight people talk about how ~hard~ or ~impossible~ LGBTQ+ characters would be to write into their stories.
Like, the topic of LGBTQ+ representation comes up and you get responses like this:
“How could I ever write this character without them coming off as incredibly phony? I spent all the research and effort I could just to write for lesbians and I already had to make conceits for them not working the same way in my particular book-world; as a cis white guy, if I have to go further than that then I’m just pulling it out of thin air! Nobody’s going to respect it, least of all me.”
And “You ask a cis, heterosexual white female to write something she probably had no clue about” … “you have to try understand that not everyone knows how to write trans and gay people.”
(And yes, these are real, actual, word for word quotes)
and I’m just like…
We aren’t aliens? We’re people? Like normal, regular people?
Like, why is acknowledging the fact that we exist some difficult, herculean chore for cis straight people? Where does this bizarre lack of empathy and inability to see us as human come from?
Like, I’m bi. But amazingly, I’m able to write CIS STRAIGHT characters just fine. It’s not a problem for me? I don’t find cis straight people to be some unreadable otherworldly enigma whose inner machinations are unknowable.
So why? Why is it so unrealistic for us to expect cis straight people to be capable and willing to portray US in fiction and to portray us WELL?
Why is that scary? Its someone literally saying that they have difficulty accurately portraying LGTBQ characters in their stories.
If that scares you then you need to grow up
Listen, I’m straight and i don’t write about LGBT characters because im not a lesbian or bi so i cannot write about LGBT people because im not one of them. You think its easy but when you have no idea what they think or experience its hard. And if you are complaining about how other people write THEIR stories, you need to get off the internet or go write your own version of it with gay or bisexual characters.
Ok, but I’m a bi woman, and I’m able to write stories that have straight men in them.
How is that possible? How is it POSSIBLE that I know how straight men think or experience the world when I’m not one of them?
Because I HAVE written a book, and it’s not filled with white, cis, bisexual women from central texas who are oldest children and literally nothing else. I am capable of creating characters who are both similar and different than I am.
It is a skill that human beings are capable of.
yes but you are BISEXUAL so you are attracted to both sexes, plus you know how many writers get ripped on for adding gay characters in their story because they are either stereotypical or the author is not gay/bi themselves? You can write the mind of a straight man because you are attracted to girls AND boys and if you wrote a straight character you can still relate to them! Write your own fucking story and quit crying about representation when that SHOULD NOT BE THE POINT OF THE BOOK! If you write about bi or gay characters good for you! Don’t be telling other writers what to do with their talent! I’m a straight woman, i do not see anything attractive about other women so i DO NOT know what a lesbian or boy thinks about a girl in a sexual way, go write your stories but stay the fuck away from others if you can’t handle people not writing it for YOU! You can write all you want about them, but im not going to write about gay or bisexual characters and act like i know what they think and experience.
Are you seriously telling me that you are incapable of writing a straight male character? Because you don’t know what is attractive about women.
Because this is a hell of a ride.
actually im saying that you can’t know what a gay or bi person thinks or goes through everyday if you aren’t one. And yes its possible to write ABOUT them, but its difficult when you aren’t one yourself. I put them in my stories for representation, but i do not write ABOUT them because im not one of them. Some writers can do that, i cant its a weakness and if people think thats a tragedy, get over it every writer has a weakness and ive tried to overcome it but can’t. I will also quote the person whos response was the best because she is a writer as well and knows how difficult it is to write about someone who is different from you ‘ When a female writer write a male perspective, you have to get into the male mindset. If you are white and you want to write a non-white character you have to get into a different mindset. If you want to write a character that was abused but you yourself were not abused, its a different mindset. Writing a character that you don’t identify with is a challenge and almost all writers have done it at least once. So I would think other writers would be more understanding of that. ‘ So there. I never said don’t put them in your story, i just said its difficult to write about someone that is different from you. Once again, if you don’t agree, find another story to read or write one yourself.
So wait.
You’re saying that YOU, as a straight person, CAN’T know how a bi person thinks or goes through everyday, because your mindset is fundamentally different.
But I, as a bi person, “can still relate” to straight men because I am attracted to women like they are?
Do you not see the disconnect there?
And, as I TOLD YOU, I have written stories. I’m working on my second book.
