epistasthai | SIGNAL BOOST: SAY YES TO GAY YA

YA lit has some of the best-written lit out there. It's full of angst, fun, love and laughter, meaningful experiences, and philosophical discussion. Not to mention memorable characters. It's the place where young adults go when they want to or need to escape. It's also the place where young adults can get a view of the larger world picture if they're from a small town. Gay young adults have few positive role models. It is outrageous that a publisher would try to pressure an author into changing a gay character into a straight one. (makes you wonder about all the other books on their YA list - what characters have been changed in those books?)

I just read this (thank you serena_dragon!) and thought I'd pass it on:

Originally posted by

darkspirited1 at SIGNAL BOOST: SAY YES TO GAY YA

This comes from an article by

rachelmanija entitled, Say Yes to Gay YA.
(click the link for the full article)

Our novel Stranger has five viewpoint characters; one, Yuki Nakamura, is
gay and has a boyfriend. Yuki's romance, like the heterosexual ones in
the novel, involves nothing more explicit than kissing.

An agent from a major agency, one which represents a bestselling YA novel in the same genre as ours, called us.

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.

This isn't about that specific agent; we'd gotten other rewrite requests before this one. Previous agents had also offered to take a second look if we did rewrites… including cutting the viewpoint of Yuki, the gay character.

It's time to stand up and demand change. Spread the word everywhere if you are just as angry and outraged by this.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm always worried when I see homofobic behave it's something I can't understand.
Just yesterday I saw two girl -not even of age- kissing randomly waiting for the train and I only noticed because of their cosplay -I was in the most popular comics meeting in Italy - but I was happy that no one around were pissed about it.
The fact is that we need to respect each other and see different point of wiew helps all of us.

By the way nice to know you are around ... the journal.

Thanks for your wonderful comments. You're (as usual) full of insight. It's wonderful that no one seemed disturbed by the two girls' public display of affection.

Sorry about not posting very much. I got home in good shape, all my books, household goods, computer, etc arrived in good shape. I even upgraded to Windows 7 and Office 2010 with no problems. Then about three weeks ago I got MRSA in a skin infection, and for a while I felt really terrible. All I do is sleep (thank goodness my hubby can cook! and he is a very good cook too - he's always on the lookout for recipes. He has this fab Japanese curry recipe that he makes from scratch - no box mixes for him!). I have to take the antibiotics every 6 hours, with food, and that's hard, 'cuz it makes me sleep-deprived, having to wake up every 5 hours or so. I can't lie down for a half hour after taking the meds, too. So I've been sleeping in the living room recliner. And my hubby always has something ready for me to eat with the meds.

I've just got back online a couple of days ago (more than just lurking, that is). I'll finish my review of Aiso in a few days.

hope all is well with you these days (running off to check your journal to see what I've missed...)

The fact that you upgraded windows 7 with no problems is a miracle !
I'm so sorry to hear that you got this awful desease, it seams very irritating and exhausting, I hope it wasn't painful and that you will be on your feet soon enough!
A couple of years ago I had a bad pneumonia and for 6 months every 15 days I had high fever and almost every month I had to took antibiotics and cortisone. It was a pain and I was always so tired ... so annoying! So I can understand I really hope you'll be fine in no time ♥
Assure to make the most out of the cooking abilities of your hubby and try to have as much cuddles as you can!
Since he is so good I'll send you in the next days the TIRAMISU' receipe ... you know it means «pick me up»
it seems appropriate!

oh, yes, I'd love the Tiramisu recipe! This is so funny, 'cuz my hubby just said a couple of days ago that he'd like to try to make one. He was looking through some recipes but didn't know which ones were good. (in order to tell if a recipe is a good one, you sorta have to be familiar with the dish.)

I could use a good TIRAMISU at the moment!

As I promised here is the recipe:

TIRAMISU’

Ingredients:
* 4 egg
* 100 grams white sugar
* 500 grams mascarpone cheese
* 1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
* 350 grams lady fingers (see how many you have in the package)
* 1 cup coffee (of course espresso)
Topping extras
* unsweetened cocoa powder (dust)

Procedure
* Combine egg yolks and sugar with the mixer as long as it became frothy and light.
* in another bowl use the mixer to soft the mascarpone. When it became frothy and light add the egg and sugar together and mix very well all together until is fluffy.
* in another bowl beat the egg whites until stiffs then mix them with the mascarpone egg and sugar very very well: now the cream is done !
* Now wet the lady fingers in the coffee (not too much just in order to leave the coffee taste on them) and put them in a pan you’ll use to serve the tiramisu.
* Cover the lady fingers with the mascarpone cream and dust on top with the cocoa powder.
* And now …. Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours … best is to do it at least 12 hours before serving it and only after that enjoy your tiramisù . The tiramisù don’t need to be cooked but you need very fresh eggs. If you can’t find mascarpone you can use a soft cheese (the one you use for cheesecake and add a little bit more sugar). If you can’t find lady fingers biscuits let me know I’ll give you the recipe.

ENJOY AND GET WELL!

ohhhh, thank you so much for this - just reading it is delicious! I think I'll be able to find mascarpone, but if not, I'll use the Philly Cream Cheese and add a bit of sugar. And if I can't find lady fingers, I can always make them (I've a recipe around somewhere). But I've seen them in the bakery section. And I can get salmonella free eggs. I always use my little Bialetti for my espresso in the mornings. I can get fresh roasted coffee from the coffee farms here (arabica beans - yum...)

thanks so much!

Thank you for your support!

To continue to support YA fiction with LGBTQ characters, I have proposed creating Permanent Floating YA Diversity Book Clubs. If you wish to participate, the link will explain how to begin one, join one, or simply pass on the word.

thanks so much for the info! At the moment I may have to simply join one, but as soon as I get back on my feet I want to do more. (I'm already 3 months behind in my PhD thesis 'cuz of illness, so my RL is simply my thesis and no more at the moment.)

I thought you would be interested to hear that we sold Stranger (aka "the Yes Gay YA novel") to Viking. Click on this link for a post with more details. Thank you so much for your support!

Oh that is such fantastic news! I'm so glad! Thank you so much for keeping me up to date with what's happening.

You're very welcome! ;)

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