odds :: Gay characters in YA lit :: ends

[pauraque_bk]

eponis asked a good question the other day: Didn't Fred and George ever wonder why this bloke named Pettigrew was always shown on the map in Ron's dorm?

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scarah2 has a post on the perennially popular topic of whether particular characters may be gay in JKR's mind, regardless of whether she'll ever tell us so.

This put me in mind of a discussion keladryb and I recently had on the subject, more focused on whether JKR can/would explicitly state that a character is gay in the books. I'm not sure what purpose it would serve, beyond diversity for the sake of it. Remus is already figuratively queer, so it would seem a bit odd to make him literally queer as well, wouldn't it?

We agreed that JKR can write whatever she wants; no one could possibly stop her. We also discussed the precedent of gay characters in children's/young adult literature. Kel brought up Annie On My Mind, one of the very first YA novels about gay characters.

I've read Annie On My Mind, and it was pretty frank for the age-bracket it was aimed at. With that as a standard of what's acceptable, allowing Remus Lupin to be gay as a small part of an epic series seems like something that should be taken in stride.

Yet, it doesn't feel like it would be taken that way, at least not to me. We talked about the fact that Annie On My Mind is not just a novel with gay characters, it's a gay novel. You'd know that as soon as you read the back cover. It's in its right place on the Gay Interest shelf, where it's easy to avoid if you don't like it.

But mentioning at this point in the HP series that Remus is gay -- that's quite different. It tells us that he's a human being first, a teacher, a wizard, an expert on dark creatures, a person who makes mistakes -- all these things first, and then he also happens to be gay. It tells us that being gay isn't the end-all-be-all of someone's personality and life experience. It tells us that there isn't a great divide in the world with all the gay people conveniently Over There on their proper shelf where you don't have to see them (separate but equal).

And that's what I think would cause the controversy if JKR did decide to tell us Remus is queer. Even if it was only a passing, minor point -- perhaps especially if it was a minor point -- the message that being gay simply isn't anything to get worked up about is something I think a lot of people would have a huge problem with in a very mainstream YA series.

Any thoughts?

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On a totally different note: If you, like so many of us, are possessed by an unexpected love for movie!Remus, go here to add 'lupin's cardigan' to your interest list.

Comments

[pauraque]

I almost mentioned Dean Thomas, actually. I didn't intend to say that diversity-for-the-sake-of-it is bad -- I was merely contrasting it with making a character gay for narrative purposes. Dean Thomas isn't black for any specific narrative reason, but acknowledging that people from various ethnic backgrounds go to Hogwarts is a nice touch that does add something to the created world.

[tagore.livejournal.com]

It's fascinating to see such a politically charged (and really, you can't get away from the politics in the thing) issue from another perspective.

From reading above, I assume you're a gay man, and that you really wouldn't care if there happened to be an explicitly gay character in the HP universe. My gay friends who read HP, on the other hand, would be thrilled if Rowling were to write an out/proud gay man into this blockbuster of a book. I mean, from their POV, let the delicate sensibilities of her reading audience be damned, you know?

So it's good to see another side of the story.

[pauraque]

I'm not really worried about anyone's delicate sensibilities. It's just that I believe making queerness out to be something special is actually detrimental to gay people being accepted in society. Politically detrimental, if you like.

I'm not especially proud to be queer -- it's not as though I accomplished something, it's just how I am. I know a lot of people feel differently (I can't fail to notice the massive yearly parade that takes place in my hometown!), and I wonder if it's partly a generational/geographical thing. I'm young, and I've lived in the Bay Area all my life. Queerness really *doesn't* seem that special to me, nor does a relatively queer-accepting atmosphere.

I'm not the kind of person to get up and chant "I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it". What I'd like to be able to say honestly is "I'm here, I'm queer, and absolutely no one cares".