LGBT characters in your MTS??

Exile87 · Jul 31, 2010

Meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered characters, of course! I'm already familiar with the forum here devoted to that, but I'm much more interested in those LGBT characters in the MTS genre!

I'll go first...(as if I have any other choice!)

I have several supporting LGBT characters in my trilogy, as I wanted my characters to be as diverse as possible. Plus, I'm gay myself, and I wanted to show that yes, a gay character can be masculine, capable, in the armed forces, fly a helicopter just as good as any straight AND maintain a stable relationship! He can also beat the snot out of anyone who insults his gayness! LOL

So yeah, I have a masculine couple composed of the Aussie helicopter pilot and his medic boyfriend. They've been my most stable couple thus far (yay for them!) but in the last book things are going to get insanely rough for them. I'm quite looking forward to that, as every demented god-playing writer does!

I also have two bi characters, though now one is dead! They're both part of a terrorist organization, which makes it all the more interesting, I think...

Then I've decided to hint at a lesbian relationship in the final installment. It should be...interesting...

And once I start work on that fantasy-eqsue story I've hinted at in one of my other threads, I'm certain the lead character is going to be gay. Can't wait for that!

Now your turn! You better have some LGBT characters, or else!
hehe

alleycat · Jul 31, 2010

While not explicitly stated, Agatha Christie had some characters that were clearly gay.

Kitty27 · Jul 31, 2010

I adore Milo from the Jonathan Kellerman books. I worry that he's working too hard or I wonder how things are going with Rick. I get pissed over that way his bosses and fellow officers treat him. I want him to get a good stylist to remove those skunk stripes but that would change who he is.

I swear I act like he's real! I read more for Milo and his life than Alex and all his drama.

gothicangel · Jul 31, 2010

My protaganist's best friend is bisexual. He's just as masculine as anyone else! He's great fun to write.

It was until the latest draft (several moths ago) that I even realised he was bisexual.

And no, he isn't in love with the hero.

Sassy3421 · Aug 1, 2010

in my second mystery, it involves mention of Ménage à trois. my vic was a bisexual.

I also have a secondary series character whose sexual preferences are a bit of a mystery, leaving most of the other characters to conclude an interest in both sexes.

I believe to completely disregard the existence of alternative lifestyles in a book isn't realistic. I don't think it necessarily needs to be in every book but at the same time, if it suits, I don't see why it wouldn't be included.

ToddWBush · Aug 1, 2010

Unless the sexual identity of a character is crucial to the story, why does it matter what their sexual orientation is? Just a question, not an indictment.

mirandashell · Aug 1, 2010

One of my side characters is gay. But not for any PC reasons. He just is. Same way he's tall and strong and bad tempered.

It does worry me that if my MS gets published, people will accuse me of putting in a 'token gay' but I hope not.

He's also black. But that doesn't get mentioned. It's just the way I see him in my head.

Exile87 · Aug 1, 2010

I like that, Sassy! I agree, not every book needs an LGBT character, but it can make things more realistic.

Todd: A character's sexual identity doesn't necessarily have to matter to everyone, but it's something I'M interested in! LOL. Being a gay writer, I do tend to prefer a book that has at least one character who I can relate to, at least one character who is not lusting after someone of the opposite sex! Plus, sexuality can make for interesting subplots, in my opinion, even in MTS.

Aside from some more minor supporting characters, my other characters are all usually getting it on! I don't write graphic stuff, but trysts, relationships, and making out and the like are quite common occurrences! There's a lot of screwed-up love triangles between heroes and anti-heroes, and sometimes villains, so in my story sexual identity definitely plays a big role. Adding two bi characters in my latest book had a major impact on the plot, too.

mtrenteseau · Aug 1, 2010

My stories are set at a publishing company, where the main character's girlfriend works for a fashion magazine.

Of the six editors who report to the editor-in-chief, one of them is a gay man. He and his husband live in Connecticut.

In some ways, I use them as a Greek chorus. They have a right to be more candid and shocking than everyone else, and say what they really mean.

Charles is actually based on a specific person, who's in his mid-fifties, a lawyer, a Mason, and always sounds like he knows exactly what he's talking about, because he won't bring up a topic unless he does!

Mara · Aug 1, 2010

ToddWBush said:
Unless the sexual identity of a character is crucial to the story, why does it matter what their sexual orientation is? Just a question, not an indictment.

Social expectations based around gender roles have a strong impact on almost everyone, especially people who are outside the most traditional understanding of such. In addition, LGB people (and to a much lesser extent, T people) have our own subcultures that will affect us, but how much it affects us depends on location, the age we grow up in, and our level of involvement. Some LGBT people aren't really part of the subculture, while others rarely leave it.

It's the same as race/ethnicity. For some people, it won't make much of a difference. For others, it makes a huge difference. And many people fall between those extremes.

EDIT: Also, it hasn't been mentioned yet, but LGBT doesn't refer exclusively to orientation. LGB is orientation, but T is gender identity and a separate axis. (I'm LT.)

Deleted member 42 · Aug 1, 2010

You can have a character refer to a same-sex partner in passing even, or refer to a picture on a desk, if it seems like it's part of the character's ID, just the way you might refer to his kids, or siblings, or whatever.

You don't have to make it a plot point, any more than having green eyes, or being tall has to be a plot point. No neon flashing sign is required.

lexxi · Aug 3, 2010

If I'm writing plots set in the worlds of theatre production or figure skating, I'm going to people my fictional world with the kinds of folks who really do populate those milieux. That would include a higher than average percentage of gay characters.

In most cases I know their sexual orientation, and for major characters that may reflect a significant part of their personality and behavior as it affects the plot of the story, so it would be evident to readers as well. For minor characters it may not be relevant.

And characters do wonder and gossip about each other's sex lives, gay and hetero. That's just part of the ambience and interactions, and in some cases key to the plot.

ToddWBush · Aug 3, 2010

Exile, I meant no personal attack with my comment. Just commenting...

Exile87 · Aug 3, 2010

Oh, I didn't think you meant it that way, Todd! I was just caught up in the moment. HA!

kaitie · Aug 4, 2010

Not that I've explicitly stated, but there actually is a character in my current story I think might be in the closet. I'm not 100% certain on that, and even my narrator doesn't know if he is, so it wouldn't ever come out even if he was, but it's something I've wondered on. It's just something I could see him coming out with one day. He's not comfortable with the idea, though, so it'd be a long way off if he ever did. It's not really relevant to the story, though, in any case.

Exile87 · Aug 4, 2010

It's fun to keep the reader guessing sometimes, too!

mtrenteseau · Aug 5, 2010

Exile87 said:
It's fun to keep the reader guessing sometimes, too!

When I started watching Mad Men from the beginning, I already knew that Sol was gay.

It seemed annoyingly obvious when, in the first episode, he comes in and shows Don a picture of a shirtless man that he drew, and later in a strip club he agrees with a woman who says she enjoys going there because of all the good-looking men. Crappy crappy foreshadowing.

Camilla Delvalle · Aug 8, 2010

In one of my older thriller stories the protagonist is bisexual, or maybe lesbian but she has a boyfriend in the beginning. Her love interest is bisexual and seems to be transsexual, even though it is not clerly stated. The antagonist seems to be bisexual and seems to have had an earlier relationship with a minor antagonist who is gay.

Anyway, in the story noone says anyting against same-sex coupling. And the parents of the protagonist are happy when she tells about her new girlfriend.

Recently most of my characters have been straight. Maybe time to go LGBT again sometime soon.

ToddWBush · Aug 8, 2010

Hey, I'm trying (third time for those of you who are counting) to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Isn't the main character, Lisbeth Salander bi?

Camilla Delvalle · Aug 8, 2010

Yes I think so. I don't remember if she was in the book, but at least in the movie she seem to have a girlfriend, and later she sleeps with a man, so she seems to be bisexual.

LGBT characters in your MTS??

Exile87

New kid, be gentle!

alleycat

Still around

Kitty27

So Goth That I Was Born Black

gothicangel

Toughen up.

Sassy3421

Plotting murder..most of the time

ToddWBush

mirandashell

Exile87

New kid, be gentle!

mtrenteseau

Mild-mannered accountant by day...

Mara

Clever User Title

Deleted member 42

lexxi

bold enough for both those XXs

ToddWBush

Exile87

New kid, be gentle!

kaitie

With great power comes

Exile87

New kid, be gentle!

mtrenteseau

Mild-mannered accountant by day...

Camilla Delvalle

Dreaming of other times

ToddWBush

Camilla Delvalle

Dreaming of other times