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I want to start this rant of by saying I have Logo. What is Logo? It’s a station dedicated to gay and lesbian entertainment. I ordered this channel because I’m a sucker for good documentaries and education television . You rarely ever see me off Discovery Health Channel. Let me tell ya, this station has some awesome ones that feed into my interest in transgendered men and women. Every now and again though I happen to catch a movie on Logo, yes, where the characters are gay/lesbian and the stories often center around that.

And, about half the time, I find them enjoyable and entertaining.

With that said, if I see another crappy coming out story in the OP/S I’m going to shoot a kitten. Right in the face.

Why the kittens you ask?



1. Homosexuality =/= Character Development.

Fun fact, just because you’re character’s gay doesn’t mean you’re done developing them. Also, making them angry/depressed because they’re gay doesn’t mean you’re done developing them. Apparently, a common misconception about homosexuals is that they have no other traits, good or bad, aside from their sexual preference and everything they think and do and feel stems from this.

I blame the media.

The truth of the matter is, gay people are just like you and me. They can engage in normal, everyday behavior and think and feel an array of human emotions that are completely unrelated to the fact that they are homosexual.

2. Homosexuality =/= Story.

I’m going to say it. I know some people aren’t going to like it, some people are going to spam this thread with, well, spam and incoherent crap about how insensitive I am. But oh well.

A coming out story isn’t a story.

*Dramatic music plays*.

I’ll give you people short stories, a couple of pages, that’s totally fair. But something with chapters? Perhaps it’s because I’ve read too many of these paint-by-numbers crap piles, I cannot say. But do we really need three chapters of a person angsting over being gay, three chapters of them crushing on some AMAZINGLY hot dude/dudette (who has an entire chapter dedicated to how OMG hot he/she is and how the MC doesn’t feel good enough for them), ten chapters about them falling in love (complete with mediocre walking in the park scenes) twenty chapters about their first kiss and the MC realizing who they’ve never felt normal and how everything in the world makes sense and how lucky they are, etc. The big and painfully inaccurate love scene all building up to the ‘climax’ where the parents found out/MC gets beaten up/AIDS ending and the two characters run away to San Francisco because that’s the only place where they’ll ever be understood.

Or someone gets f**-bashed to death.

Look, an entire story in a paragraph. Damn I’m good.

‘BUT PRAIRIE!’ You may be crying ‘THERE IS SO MUCH MOOOOORE!’

Is there? IS THERE?

I don’t know, let’s find out.

3. Turn It On It’s Head.

This is a personal technique I like to use in case of writer’s block or when developing a new story. I got the idea when I learned the movie ‘Beetlejuice’ had originally been intended to be a serious, horror film as opposed to the classic comedy it is today but someone got the idea to, you guessed it, turn the idea on it’s head.

What I’m saying is, if you took any other droll little boy/boy story and put a girl in place of the MC.

‘BUT PRAIRIE, IT’S THE SAME!’

How so? Don’t all young girls have crushes, pine for boys whom they think they can never have? Feel confused over their bodies, their new sexual urges? Date boys their parents hate, that they lose friends over, that they do in secret? Truth is, you slip a girl or guy into the position of ‘Generic Homosexual MC’ and you basically have an episode of Degrassi, or whatever the hell teen drama you kids are watching these days. The story is nothing more than the re-hashed schlop that’s been being fed to thirteen year old girls since the birth of soap operas.

‘WELL, WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT?’

Nothing, if you’re thirteen.

My point is people are getting all worked up into a lather over these stories simply because the MC’s gender preference is different. Story could be blander than a Dilbert desk calendar and still have people singing it’s praises. The author could just write the phrase ‘boys kissing’ over and over and still have readers throwing their virginity at them for updates. See point #2 for why this is retarded.

4. I’m Not Gay, Hence, I Could Never Understand.

Yeah, I guess not.

This argument is going to come up, and frankly, what else am I supposed to say?

I guess I could say I don’t go and see every goofy, run-of-the-mill romantic comedy that comes out every month. That I don’t see romantic relationships as the basis for an ENTIRE story, not matter how “interesting it is”. And this is coming from a person who’s very character driven and what she reads and writes.

Perhaps that’s my problem. But my problem also is see crap treated like gold because someone in the story is gay. That’s just all around insulting. I’m sorry, it is. Homosexuality isn’t a shtick. It’s not a gimmick. You can’t write horribly clichéd crap and think because your characters are gay that you’re suddenly tapping into some keg of deep and meaning storytelling. Cause you didn’t.

5. So, Are There Any Good Stories With Gay Characters?

Sure there are, you just won’t find them within ten feet of Gaia.

All I’m saying is this:

Gay =/= good.

It doesn’t make you a better writer. It doesn’t make you story a sudden winner. Doesn’t make your characters that much more interesting.

And to the people who read these things; get over yourself and go read some smut cause, let’s just face it, you’re only reading the stories for ‘lol boys kissing lol Harry Potter’.

Excellent rant with some very good points. You could say some of the same things about a lot of hetrosexual stories out there, really. I'm also glad to say that although one of my stories is going to have homosexuality in it, it will not be having any of the stuff you mentioned it in.

THANK YOU!!! Much lurve to you heart heart heart . I completely argee with you.

Sexual preference is nothing more than who you want to have sex with (and ultimately, who you wish to be with, but that's another thread, another rant, another story for another time *my hair flutters in the passing wind*). Though I understand that a lot of homosexuals are struggling with their identity and equality in America, people have to realize that there is nothing uber special about being homosexual. Now I'm not saying you can't write a story about being homosexual and the struggles of homosexuality and that it can't be good, its just that, its ALL the same! Ya know? And writing angsty stories about a homosexual isn't going to gain anyone any equality or shed any light on the problem.

Like you said, homosexuality isn't like the best thing in the world to write a story on and just because a character is some stereotypical homosexual doesn't make that character the best character ever. If the character has no development, it has no development, thus the character is crap and the story is crap. Homosexuality, while it can play a role in character development, can't get away with being the ONLY development. Or at least that's how I feel.

If I was homosexual, I'd be insulted to be treated as though I'm just some sort of exhibit to be exploited for the cheap thrills of thirteen year old otaku.

But I have one question for you still............

Why the kittens!? gonk

As a bisexual man, I would like to thank you. As a human being, I would like to thank you.

It is possible to make a good story, a long story, that centers around the difficulties faced by a homosexual in, well, most parts of the world. Just as one could write a story about the difficulties faced by an interracial couple twenty or thirty years ago.

It is possible. But just because it's possible doesn't mean everyone should do it. Some may appreate the civil issue involves and want to shed light on an injustice. And some stories have helped there. But it's somewhat overdone, I think, and is often done just to say 'see, they're different!'

No. Gay people are not different. They are often treated differently, but we are no different than straight people, all in all. Sexual preference does not change who you are as a person. The occasional well crafted story about how one is treated differently is well and good. But aside from that, it shouldn't be a bigger focus in a story than how someone is straight is the focus of the story.


Thank you.

Nuuuu, not the kittens!

Thank you! As a writer whose characters are mainly bi or gay, I understand and agree with all of your points.

Characters are people, and people aren't defined by one characteristic; therefore, characters aren't defined by one characteristic. It's a simple thing, but some people have a hard time grasping this concept. Homosexuality doesn't define a person nor does it constitute character development. It may play a part in it though. Homosexuality is an aspect of a person like any other traits of a person and should be treated that way. I find it annoying when writers constantly emphasize one part of a person rather than showing that person as a round character except in the cases of minor characters, but they're a different story.

*keels over* As much as I like reading stories, I cannot stand that generic plotline. It becomes boring after the first story. It's so predictable, and just unrealistic. Sure, books are supposed to be fiction and whatever the author wants, but there has to be a certain amount of realism.

Oh that annoys me too. I hate it when bad gay fics receive a large amount of praise without the writer putting any effort into it. It looks bad for the rest of us who actually plan out our stories and create characters who are more than cardboard cutouts as MCs. Since it doesn't take much effort, I'm not surprsied at the sheer volume of these stories. I wouldn't be surprised if writers who write homosexual stories are stereo-typed either. Tis a sad thing.

Yes.



I could just kiss you.

This needed to be said. This really needed to be said.

The truth is, if you write homosexuality as "lol boys kissing boys!!11" without any understanding that they're humans beings, goddammit! you're just as bad as homophobic bigots with minds that couldn't fit through a mail slot.