When I wrote WEETZIE BAT, published in 1989, I included a gay male couple, handsome punk rock Dirk and cute surfer Duck. I never really thought twice about this but these characters, and the threesome they have with the protagonist Weetzie, was quite controversial for Young Adult literature at the time. Since then LGBT characters have appeared fairly frequently in my work. There is Izzy from GIRL GODDESS #9, and Cubby from the same book, Griffin in I WAS A TEENAGE FAIRY, Pace from THE FRENZY and others. In LOVE IN THE TIME OF GLOBAL WARMING LGBT characters abound. I didn’t plan to write a book for or about the gay community; I just wanted to tell a story based on people I love.
It would be nice to think that America has evolved to the point where no one questions sexual orientation or gender choice. Of course, this isn’t true.
In 2009 members of the Christian Civil Liberties Union sued to burn BABY BE BOP, Dirk from WEETZIE BAT’s coming out story, because of its “controversial” subject matter. It will be interesting to see if LOVE will cause any similar reactions or if the voices of people who support gay rights have grown loud enough to drown out other voices.
In The Name of Love,
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Question of the day: What are some of your favorite books with LGBT characters? What type of stories would you like to read about LGBT characters?
