No tags yet.
I write about a lot of queer folk. A lot. They end up in my stories, and no it's not a conscious decision. This will sound weird, random and perhaps down right insane, but I have to let my character's choose their own identities. I can't pick them; and trust me I've tried.
A lot of times, I'll see people upset over the amount of queer people in a media. Some show will have a queer character and heterosexual people will scream, "I don't care, just don't put it in my face!" I've never understood this idea.
In fact, in a lot of ways, I almost prefer the outright homophobes. At least they can say they don't like us. But this idea that we can exist, just not in the mainstream world, is odd. We live in the same world straight people do, people interact with us regardless of if they know our identities; why can't we be visible in shows or books?
I've been asked why I'm so "political" in my writing; in other words, why do I feel the need to put queer folk in my work. The truth is, it's not an effort on my part. I am a queer person, so perhaps I am inclined to write about identities like mine. But it's more than that. I also have POC characters, disabled characters, other gendered characters... Identities that I don't experience make their way into my work.
It could be because I have a circle of friends, who I love dearly, that all come from different backgrounds. I don't have friends that simply look like me of have lived a life akin to my own. There are a ton of fellow queer individuals in my life, so why then should I reflect a reality that isn't mine by only having one queer person?
The truth is, I don't do this for some political agenda. My characters have their own respective identities that they reveal to me as I write; it's not for tokenism or the sake of diversity for diversity. In fact, in many ways it could very well be lacking in said area.
The Nexus is very big and full of rich lives that have very different identities; they can't all be the same. Just like, in real life, none of us are the same. Not every queer identified person is like the other because there are other parts about us that make us whole humans.
My goal with PRIDE this year on Black Moor is to clearly state what my characters identities are in terms of the LGBTQ+ spectrum. These posts are short and they most certainly don't talk about their other identities either; despite being equally as important and a part of their queerness.
I don't do this to jump on some bandwagon. If you listen to the shows closely, you'll see that their identities have been there from the start. The shows simply aren't about them coming out or falling in love; though most of them do have love interests.
I've said this before, and I'll say it a thousand times if I need to. While I recognize that Origin is most certainly influenced by my world, I also saw it as a place we could see ourselves without fear of all the problems real life holds. I just wanted to see queer kids kick ass for a little bit, rather than them being subjected to homophobia. In a lot of ways, it's the same for other identities; through what I've heard and also my own selfish hopes.
I don't want to be told I'm doing groundbreaking work. The truth is, I'm not. There are plenty of queer people, like me, out there writing these kinds of stories where people can hopefully escape for a while. The selfish part of me hopes that some people can heal through Origin, because in a lot of ways it has healed me.
For PRIDE, I wanted to celebrate my characters' identities. This is not to cater to other queer people and market so much as it is to show we stand in solidarity and want to represent during the most important month for queer people. I hope I can do this with other important months and celebrate with my friends, colleagues and characters.
The truth is, I just feel blessed to be able to have this world that I, as a queer person, can feel safe and escape in. I hope that other queer fictional writers receive this kind of happiness too and have a wonderful PRIDE.