A Gay Potter Character?

[Petra]

Thread partially moved from Main

in Main#178172, David asked:
> why do so many gay characters in popular fiction have to be
> so damn tragic, especially in their romances?

Petra:
Because at this time, not only is the tragic aspect truly
representative of many GLBT's experience in our society and
an aspect too often closeted, it is also an aspect that is 
dramatic and tends to capture people's imagination?  Makes
for rich fodder for popular fiction, no?

David:
> Why can't there be a main character who just happens to be gay?

Petra:
Here you can run into a few problems.  One of these problems is
based on the fact that our society is so polarized right now.

Because readers are polarized as to how they feel about this
topic, writing characters who are gay can elicit wildly
divergent reader's responses.  Very problematic when developing
themes in fiction.

Also, make an issue of someone being gay and they can no 
longer "just happens to be gay."  Yet, if the trait just happens 
to be, it can appear to be "closeted" unless the author makes
an issue of it.

I'm not advocating for either the rock or the hard place!

Petra
a
n  :)
 

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