SIGNAL BOOST: SAY YES TO GAY YA

[epistasthai]

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.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

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.

[epistasthai.livejournal.com]

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.)