Are YA Books Being De-Gayed?

In a Publishers Weekly blog post, forwarded to me by a Queens College Library School professor, http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/genreville/?p=1519, two young adult authors discuss their experiences trying to sell their post-apocalytic young adult novel to an agent.  In it they state “…we expected to get some rejections.  But we never expected to be offered representation…on the condition that we make a gay character straight, or cut him out altogether.”

Sheesh!  Where to start? 

1.  What world is this agent living in?  Characters in YA literature are gay and straight, white, Black and multi-cultural, virgins and promiscuous, drug free and drug users, stupid and smart, pretty and not so pretty, thin and fat, funny and not funny.  As in all literature, YA literature mirrors the real world and why shouldn’t it? That’s what people, teens and adults alike, want to read about…people possibly like themselves.

2.  A YA author whose books are typically GBLTQ themed responded and he talked about main characters who are gay can impact a book’s sales.  He continues by saying that GLBTQ themed books are unlikely to be best sellers.  These same books may not make it to library shelves, and if they do, they are likely to be challenged. All of this I’m sure is true.

In my opinion, however, we tend to categorize too much.  Why must the book ‘be about’ gays or bisexuality or transgenders?  Why can’t we get to the point where sexuality is just whatever it is.  Where the characters are people and their sexual bias is just another aspect of their persona like they are athletes or dancers or cute and bubbly. Why must we fixate on one particular issue? (By the way, I’d like to see this in the real world, too!)

I know this is pie in the sky, but let’s judge people by what they do, how nice they are, the contributions they make to the world. Are they good friends? Do they work to make the world a better place?  With Thanksgiving approaching, let’s be thankful for everyone in our lives regardless of their leanings, sexual, political, religious, etc. And with the New Year right around the corner, let’s extend that to everyone.  No categories.  Just unconditional acceptance.