Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer John Allenson:
“It used to be the only gay characters were the villains. How is it possible to have gay villains given the history of homophobia? Will you stop reading a story if the antagonist is gay?”
For a long time, back before the best representation we could manage in fiction was the gay best friend, queer characters were almost always the villain.
And once we pushed back, it was pretty much verboten to write a queer villain anymore, because history.
But now, have we moved past that taboo? Have we put enough time between us and our old villains? Or do you still cringe when the gay guy (or lesbian chick or non binary person or bi woman etc) is the bad guy?
Thanks to Alex Woolfson for my underhanded borrowing of his gay villain.
Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks!