How do I write LGBT characters without looking like I'm trying to be politically correct?

Depending on how you ask, between one and ten percent of the population of Europe and about five percent of the US population identify as LGBT. About two thirds of them come out beyond their family. Despite the fact that only a few percent of the American population are opently LGBT, Americans think that about a quarter of the population are lesbian or gay and two thirds of the population find being homosexual morally acceptable. The number of LGBT characters in the media (e.g. 4.8% on tv) roughly equals their actual percentage in the population, that is, their numbers are currently represented fairly.

While nine in ten Americans know someone who is gay or lesbian, one third of the American population still believe that homosexuality is unacceptable. I don't have numbers for how many readers will think this way, but I believe it is fair to assume that for a not unsignificant number any LGBT character will appear to be "inserted" into a book (or other media) for political reasons.

And maybe that assumption is not completely false. Agents are actively seeking books with LGBT and other minority characters (see for example the interviews with agents at Kirkus Reviews Pro Connect). Some will call that "political correctness", others will think of it as a necessary correction in misrepresenting reality. However that may be, it is certainly a conscious effort (on the part of the publishing industry), and you as a writer cannot really avoid being viewed in this historic context.

What you can do, though, is twofold:

1. If the sexual orientation of a character is irrelevant to the story, don't mention it.

   For example, I have no idea whether Hercule Poirot is gay, straight, or asexual, and yet I enjoyed reading of his adventures immensely.

   The whole idea behind the fight for equality is that gender or sexual orientation shouldn't be an issue, so don't make one of it, if it isn't.

2. Write engaging characters.

   I have never worked as a fisherman, and yet I can understand Santiago's attempt to break his unlucky streak in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I'm not female, and yet I can feel with Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. I'm not gay, and yet I can more than sympathize with E. M. Forster's Maurice Hall.

   While the details of the problems that people of different sexual orientations or genders or ethnicities face may not be identical, the basic experience of struggling with difficulties and attempting to live a good life is always the same. If you portray any character in a realistic and meaningful way, most readers will enjoy reading of them, regardless of the color of their skin or the gender of their sexual partners.

But in the end, acceptance of your characters will mostly depend on how you market your book and who you market it to.

posted about 6 years ago

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System‭

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LGB characters:

Just treat them like any other character. Gay people are normal enough in modern western society that you will probably do a reasonable job if you want to.

T characters:

Best avoided unless you know whereof you speak. Most representations are cringeworthy, as trans people appear to be the latest, hottest trend in our culture. You’re likely to do a bad job unless you do a ton of research.

These two groups are so disparate that you cannot possibly address them in the same breath. It would be like properly representing both sex workers and Canadians.

posted about 6 years ago

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Amy Dee Dempster‭

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There are two types of LGB (and to a much lesser extent, T) characters in stories, be it books, movies or otherwise.

One kind where their sexuality is the primary defining character aspect. These characters tend to be one-dimensional, have little depth outside their sexual identity, and are generally perceived as the kind of political insertion that you are trying to avoid.

The second kind is a perfectly normal character with depth, strengths, weaknesses, history and oh, by the way, he's also gay or she's also lesbian or they are also bisexual.

If you want to avoid the political correctness taint, the sexuality of your LGB characters needs to take the same dominance as the sexuality of your heterosexual characters. If sex is a big topic in your story, being homo- or bisexual is a big thing. If sexuality takes a backseat, so it should for all characters.

There are stories where this would be a major revelation or subject. If your story basically revolves around romance and/or sex - like Sex in the City or many coming-of-age stories, for example. Most adventure or crime stories don't include any sex or sexual topics, and would have maybe one "oh btw" moment and then immediately continue without dwelling on it.

So it depends a lot on the story you write, but the general principle is that non-heterosexuality should get the same - not more, not less - attention than heterosexuality.

Unless it is important to the story. If the main character is on his epic revenge quest because she was harassed for being lesbian, then of course things change completely. But your question doesn't point in this direction, so I mention it only for completeness sake.

posted about 6 years ago

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Tom‭

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If it doesn't propel the story, there is no need to even mention it.

For example, I've heard an interpretation of Sam and Frodo (from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings) as being a bit of a gay love affair. And this was the perspective from a family member of mine who IS gay. Now, the beauty of that perspective, is that, there is nothing to disprove that Sam and Frodo didn't have more than just friendly feelings towards each other. Maybe they spooned a bit when they took a rest? I mean, who's to say? The point is, it really doesn't matter. But it's great that someone can imagine more to the story. And that is the beauty of great writing. Actually the beauty of great art, where people can interpret all the facets of the work from their own perspective.

A very famous example of where mention of this DOES propel the story is Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain (short story turned into movie). This is more of an in-closet form of sexual expression, but it does address the complexities of emotional attachment regardless of sex. I did read this story (long time ago), and there was quite a bit of detail that get's into the psychological aspects that these two men faced in their lives. That's part of the story. But the great part about it, is that it wasn't trying to be an exclusively "gay" story. It's a love story that is specific to these two characters.

Aside from the story, examine what you mean by LGBT

There's a too much generality in the term LGBT. I don't know anyone who would call themselves that. They are either one or the other... not lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and also transgendered at the same time. And if you want to get a bit more specific with all 4 groups... there are even "sub-groups" (for lack of a better way to put it). So when you say your characters are identifying as LGBT, that's not really saying anything other than they are not straight. And on the flip side if a character is not lumped into the LGBT category, why would it be interesting to even let it be known that they are straight? Again, it should all come back to the story.

It's been mentioned in other comments, but what would be best to focus on is the characters as an individual. Whatever group they identify isn't what makes them an individual. As much as I don't want to make this an opinionated answer, I think an injustice you would do to your characters (any of them) is to put too much focus on their group identity. It'll just make your characters bland and stereotypical. It makes them more 2D and cartoonish because in real life, there is much more to an individual than their sexual preference and gender identity.

posted about 6 years ago

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Carlo‭

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How do I write LGBT characters without looking like I'm trying to be politically correct?

Don't Try. Do.

Actually BE "politically correct." "Politically Correct" is originally (and in my view still is) a pejorative and dismissive term for being fair and unbiased in your writing. Anybody that accuses you of "trying to be politically correct" is insulting you for trying to write a fair and unbiased portrayal, so ... screw them! The only way to appeal to them is to never violate their unfair and biased cultural expectations. If that is your market, then go for it, but guess what? They are a minority and niche market in the overall book / writing market.

To be fair and unbiased, avoid using stereotypes, they don't apply. There are both butch and girly lesbians, there are both manly and camp (effeminate) homosexual men.

Avoid positive stereotypes as well: Don't idolize them, don't make them paragons, give them flaws and shortcomings like any other character. Don't make them exclusively villains.

Don't hide their sexuality in public anymore than you would a heterosexual couple, and don't try the cop out that "some heterosexual couples are just not very romantically expressive in public, so I chose that as a trait for my homosexual couple."

Don't assume because they are LGBT they are promiscuous or into group sex, either. They most probably are not.

Make them average.

In real life, LGBT or asexual persons really are minorities; a super-majority of people, by nature or culture, truly believe they are heterosexual.

A minority character (relative to other characters in the work) presents a conundrum for the writer, because there are not enough of them to show any spectrum of traits for that race, religion, sexual orientation, size (say of people with dwarfism), or person with a disability.

Because you cannot show such a spectrum, your character becomes the designated representative of that minority. It is fairly easy on the Internet to find details of what that particular minority finds offensive, what an unbiased portrayal looks like from their perspective.

So just BE fair and unbiased and make your character unoffensive to the group it represents. Make them the average. If they have exceptional traits (as many characters must), try to pick traits that don't have anything to do with whatever that minority objects to as stereotyping or insulting.

You can give yourself leeway on "being average" if you have multiple instances, the more you have, the broader a spectrum of traits you can portray, but I would still try to vary them in their non-sexual traits instead of sexualized traits (like promiscuity or romantic aggressiveness).

The average sexual trait for all humans is ... we like sex with mutual sexual attraction, in private and alone with our partner. We like romance, love and closeness, and we are demonstrative without being over-the-top in public. Remember Al Gore's ridiculous passionate kiss of his wife on TV? That's heterosexual but was widely ridiculed, as if he was trying to prove something, because it was beyond the norm of public expression. We hold hands in public, we kiss on closed lips (unless we are teenagers), we embrace without grabbing any sexualized body part.

posted about 6 years ago

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Amadeus‭

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Well, first, you cannot write about any politically charged issue without being read as taking sides. If you are ideologically aligned with one side, the other will throw rocks through your window. If you are not ideologically aligned with either side, both sides will throw rocks through your window.

Second, the job of the artist is to portray the world as they see it, as honestly and objectively as they can. This is a controversial position. There are many who feel that politics is the most fundamental human activity and that all art should therefore serve a political end and argue for a political cause.

But there is a very obvious flaw in this position. All politics bends towards an interest. It is about people getting what they want. However laudable or sympathetic their aims may feel to us, the greatest political advantage will come from exaggeration, passion, and, in some cases at least, outright lies. This is a universal. It is not about the rightness or wrongness of any one cause. It is just the way human beings get swayed to support one cause or another.

But truth matters. The distortions involved in supporting any cause, however sympathetic, do harm, and, in many cases, eventually undermine the cause they were designed to support. There is a role for art then, in stepping back from the political fray, and trying to tell the truth, to examine and report on what the human experience actually is. In other words, it is art can play a vital role by being purely descriptive and diagnostic, without being prescriptive or engaging in advocacy. (Sometimes it is the most honest and revealing descriptive work that turns out to change things were no amount of advocacy could.)

But doing this in the midst of any heated political topic means that both sides will identify you as an enemy and both will throw rocks through your windows. Such is simply the passion with which people defend and promote their causes.

There are two ways for an artist to deal with this:

1. Be brave. Accept that you are going to get rocks thrown through your windows and move your valuables to the center of the house.

2. Be oblique. Find a way to talk about the experience that interests you in a way that avoids direct engagement with the political passions of your time. People in a state of political passion tend to be very literal and you can often examine the experiences behind the issue without their noticing simply by dressing the experience in different clothing. Thus, for example, authors have used encounters with aliens to examine all kinds of issues of encounter with otherness without the specific overtones of current racial or cultural disputes. This technique has been used to create art under the noses of tyrants and despots and the mob through all the centuries of art.

On the other hand, if you are in fact trying to use art as a tool of advocacy, you just have to expect and accept the flac that comes with the territory when you do that. You can build a very lucrative career in advocacy art because it has a built in audience. You don't have to be as good an artist if you can get people to read you because you are supporting their cause. But brickbats will inevitably fly from those on the other side of the issue. There is no way around that.

posted about 6 years ago

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Mark Baker‭

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