Every so often, a tweet or meme will go around asking people to respond with all the screamingly queer things they did before they knew…
For those of you who don’t know, Becky Albertalli is the author of the book Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which was turned into the sweet teen romcom Love, Simon. She also wrote the spin-off book Leah on the Offbeat, about Simon’s friend Leah, who is bisexual. Albertalli has been the target of a lot of criticism: people (queer people) saying that she was writing for straight people, that her stories are invalid because she identified as straight, saying that she was fetishising mlm and playing for diversity points. In the article linked above, she addresses these accusations by coming out as bisexual.
This is not bravery, and I’m not going to congratulate her, because this is horrifying. She was cornered into this situation, essentially forced to out herself as self defence against accusations that must have been hurtful to deal with, and (as she explains) hindered her progress in understanding her own identity. She has been made to come out as a justification for the stories she has written (uplifting, kind stories), and she is honestly owed an apology.
The Own Voices movement is really important. There is value and significance in stories about marginalised people being told by marginalised people. I’ve said before that queer readers deserve queer stories written by queer authors - but that isn’t mutually exclusive with the idea that closeted and questioning authors shouldn’t be forced into coming out to validate their stories.
Aren’t queer, questioning and closeted people allowed to use writing to explore their identities? Don’t they get the chance to learn about themselves through their writing? Apparently you need to be 100% sure of your own identity before you put pen to paper.
Of course, the fetishisation of mlm in fiction is a very real issue. But that is the realm of erotica, not of a YA book about a gay kid coming out and finding first love. Not all representation is fetishisation: even if Becky Albertalli were a straight woman (she’s not), her book still wouldn’t be fetishisation. If a story is told with respect and care, it shouldn’t matter what the identity of the author is.
None of this even addresses the supremacy of mlm narratives in media, and how they are often the first way that wlw are able to engage with queerness in a way they find safe and easy. Many wlw deal with internalised homophobia and compulsory heterosexuality which leads to them feeling disconnected from representations of their own relationships and bodies - many wlw use mlm characters and narratives to help themselves work through those complex and shame-filled emotions.
I’m really angry about what was done to Becky Albertalli, and I have a lot of thoughts and emotions that I can’t make coherent right now, but basically what I’m getting at is that queer people need to stop policing identities - especially identities of creators who are just trying to make something sweet and kind and uplifting.
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