Publication upon removal of Teh Gay

[esmeraldus_neo]

Via rydra_wong

Genreville: "The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his sexual orientation."

Let me just repeat that:

The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his

Comments

[cat63]

[headdesk]

I suppose it's not possible to name this bigoted arsehole? Because they seriously deserve never to work again.

[silly_swordsman]

Did you read the article?

[cat63]

After I posted the comment, yes.

But the fact that other agents are doing the same thing implicitly doesn't make it any better.

The implicit ones are probably worse in their way of course, since they're doing the same thing but less obviously so it's more insidious - they none of them ought to be allowed to continue what they're doing.

[silly_swordsman]

You are right, the fact that it's widespread doesn't make it better. But agents are intermediaries, and I expect that only a small minority would decline representing novels with gay (or other minority) protagnoists out of homophobia/principles/reigious convitions. Rather, they decline them because they don't think they can be sold.

I'd say that the agent who was explicit about this should be regarded higher than the ones who aren't. "Love the book, but as it is I can't sell it, and this is why." He or she might be wrong, there might be a huge unfulfilled demand for YA fiction with gay protagonists, but I suspect not.

Most of the ire should be directed at the publishers, I feel. If they would love to see more YA with good gays, they've failed to let the agents know. I suspect the publishers in general refer to not have gay protagonists, especially in USA, since that makes life less complicated for them.

[cat63]

Most of the ire should be directed at the publishers, I feel

This is a very good point. And I suspect, once again it's the publishers underestimating their audience in the way they did by "translating" the Harry Potter books into American English (only worse).

There are, sadly, probably a fair few folk out there who would decline to buy a book with a gay protagonist or even a gay minor character, out of bigotry, but, I like to think, not so many as to make such books completely unsaleable.

And perhaps I'm biased, but I'd hope that Sf fans in particular would tend toward the less bigoted end of things.