My friend Naomi Kritzer pointed me to this, and I have to say it's absolutely hilarious and dead on. Especially about the woe. So much woe.
So much woe that even I, who read them WAY BACK WHEN--when, yes, there really were almost no gay characters in books* moreover AIDs hadn't really yet brought anyone out of the closet AT ALL, so I actually had only quietly queer folk singers and one college professor as roll models--was like alack, alas, too much WOE.
I was also far more grossed out by the evil guy also being gay and then molesting/raping Vanyel, because, despite the stereotypes (which was new to me, believe it or not, but did I not mention I grew up in the 1970s? and was reading these probably in 1987 or so?) I'd latched on HARD (while kind of hating myself, you know?)
And you probably have no idea how many people pushed these books at me. Maybe you do, but it went like this: You're gay? You should read the Vanyel books! You should read Anne Rice! OMG, PEOPLE, I AM A LESBIAN. But, there were even fewer lesbians in fiction it seemed...
So, yeah, totally. I had the same exact reaction, only more conflicted because it did seem* like we had so few other choices.
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*Actually there were a lot. Not a lot of popular books had queer characters, but they were already out there. In high school, I read Elisabeth A. Lynn's books and loved them. Also, to the credit of SF, the first short story I found with a gay hero "A World Well Lost" by Theodore Sturgeon was published in... wait for it... 1953. That's right 1953.
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So much woe that even I, who read them WAY BACK WHEN--when, yes, there really were almost no gay characters in books* moreover AIDs hadn't really yet brought anyone out of the closet AT ALL, so I actually had only quietly queer folk singers and one college professor as roll models--was like alack, alas, too much WOE.
I was also far more grossed out by the evil guy also being gay and then molesting/raping Vanyel, because, despite the stereotypes (which was new to me, believe it or not, but did I not mention I grew up in the 1970s? and was reading these probably in 1987 or so?) I'd latched on HARD (while kind of hating myself, you know?)
And you probably have no idea how many people pushed these books at me. Maybe you do, but it went like this: You're gay? You should read the Vanyel books! You should read Anne Rice! OMG, PEOPLE, I AM A LESBIAN. But, there were even fewer lesbians in fiction it seemed...
So, yeah, totally. I had the same exact reaction, only more conflicted because it did seem* like we had so few other choices.
--
*Actually there were a lot. Not a lot of popular books had queer characters, but they were already out there. In high school, I read Elisabeth A. Lynn's books and loved them. Also, to the credit of SF, the first short story I found with a gay hero "A World Well Lost" by Theodore Sturgeon was published in... wait for it... 1953. That's right 1953.