Recently I found myself in an argument with someone after telling them that taking a canon gay character and shipping him with a woman was a homophobic act because it erases his identity and the struggle he went through to be openly gay in a homophobic culture, and takes away from the representation the character gives to gay people, young and old alike. The person claimed that straight people needed representation because of how much fanwork there was for same-sex ships and couples and how little there was for straight couples, and that if LGB people were allowed to headcanon supposedly straight characters as LGB, then straight people could make canonically LGB people straight.
I can understand how someone whose identity has been shown to them to be normal and acceptable since they were able to consume media with a romantic plot or subplot would think this is solid logic, but the flaw in their argument is that same sex attracted people aren’t allowed that luxury. Same sex attracted people have to actively seek out anything that may show even the slightest hints that a character is gay or bisexual, and often it’s only one character or couple in a sea of cisgender, heterosexual characters and couples, whereas straight people can just turn on the television or flick through the books in the romance section of Barnes & Noble.
Such ideas also contribute to the toxic ideas that with enough effort, with enough prayer, or with therapy, a person can change their sexuality, and that being gay or bisexual is “just a phase”, something we can grow out of and laugh about when we’re comfortably settled down with our opposite sex partner and not attracted in any way, shape, or form to the same sex.
A recent analysis by GLAAD shows that only 4.8% of regular characters expected to be on television were LGBT, and over 70% of these characters are white. LGBT people, especially LGBT people of color, are severely lacking in good quality representation of LGBT characters with storylines that don’t focus wholly on their sexuality or gender identity. Too often I see LGBT characters who aren’t multifaceted people with ideas and a personality that doesn’t revolve around who they’re attracted to. Too often LGBT characters are boiled down to a stereotype, too often are they killed off or put through hell while the cisgender, heterosexual protagonist breezes through life without a care or worry in the world.
Never are they allowed the opportunities of straight people in media, they always have to fit in a box acceptable to cis-het viewers.
A study conducted by Sarah C. Gomillion MS and Traci A. Giuliano PhD suggests that LGB identifying people are influenced by whether or not they see LGB characters in media. They can influence the self-discovery of one’s own identity, help them come out, and help them find pride and comfort in their identity. For a person to say, “I don’t accept this character as a gay character” and instead express to a community of gay people who are desperate to see themselves that they’d rather see a gay male with a woman or a gay female with a man is a homophobic act. It’s telling gay people “your identity doesn’t fit my aesthetic wants”, and expressly stating that they would rather a gay character be straight or opposite gender attracted because it suits their wants rather than allowing gay people the few characters they have to relate to.
