Creating authentic queer characters

The world is stuffed full of a wide rainbow of people, from all places, backgrounds, gender identities and sexualities, to name a few differences. As our fiction aims to represent the world around us so our characters need to represent that wide variety of people.

For a long time, queer characters have been underrepresented in fiction. But that’s changing. We are seeing more queer characters arriving across the range of fiction genres, not hidden in niche shelves in the bookstore but across all the shelves.

What is a queer character?

Before unpacking exactly what makes an authentic queer character, we should spend some time understanding who a queer character is.

Queer is a word that has gone on quite a journey! From meaning odd or unusual, to becoming a slur, the word queer is now being redeemed by some parts of the LGBTQ+ community. This blog post refers to queer characters as being from all parts of the LGBTQ+ community.

These are a few of the wide range of sexualities humans can experience. There are many more! Any attraction (or none at all) that falls outside of heterosexuality, can be described as queer.

Alongside sexuality, gender identity is the other aspect of the LGBTQ+ community that is frequently overlooked. Gender identity is, like sexuality, a spectrum, and is different to sex, although the terms gender and sex are often confused.

Remember, we all have sexualities and gender identities. Falling outside of the cisgender and heterosexual experience is what we describe as queer. Characters can be queer, too.

Why write queer characters?

For far too long, queer characters have been excluded from mainstream fiction. Whether that’s because of legal conditions or because of society’s expectations, seeing queer characters accurately represented in fiction makes a big difference, not just to queer people but to all readers.

That could be through developing an understanding and empathy for the queer experience, which can be easily portrayed through fiction. It could be through understanding how people experience and react to the prejudices they face.

But, most importantly, the answer to why write queer characters? Because queer people exist in the world and your fiction should reflect that world!

What genre needs queer characters?

Queer fiction is not a genre in its own right. Queer people exist everywhere and so it’s only right that queer characters should appear in all genres of fiction. Fantasy and science fiction have, traditionally, been seen as safe spaces for queer characters but that doesn’t mean that queer characters cannot appear in crime books, thrillers, historical… you get the point!

And it’s not just adult fiction either. Series like Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper have shown that queer representation is needed in children’s and YA books too.

The range of books is now showing that queer fiction is not all about sex. For a long time, it was thought that queer fiction meant having queer sex but not being heterosexual doesn’t demand sex scenes need to be written. Characters can be queer without the writer having to show this through intimate personal relationships.

What makes a genuine queer characters?

Like any character that you write, queer characters need to be full, rounded people, with backstories, motivations, goals and conflicts. Sexuality and gender identity are just two aspects of an individual’s character and not the basis for an entire personality.

Often, as we will see later, queer characters have played little more than a supporting role (the gay best friend who was there to go shopping with the main character). But readers are entitled to discover everything about the character, including:

Queer characters should have everything that a cisgender heterosexual character would have. They need character arcs, they need conflicts, both internal and external, and they need to be believable.

Don’t be shy about giving queer characters the dark storylines. Although we’ll see some things to avoid later, don’t be afraid to make queer characters the antagonists of your story. It’s not about making queer characters always happy go-lucky people (not is it about making them constantly depressed and downbeat either!).

Often, queer characters’ only character traits are their sexuality or gender identity. This is simply not the case with real people so why is it the case with fiction?

What should I avoid when writing queer characters?

It goes without saying that you should avoid all forms of cliché when writing about queer characters. No writer should want to perpetuate harmful stereotypes, so be aware of some of the tropes and clichés around queer characters.

The obvious ones include the overly camp gay man, the butch lesbian and the confused bisexual or trans person. Of course, characters like this do exist, but relying on stereotypes to build a character is lazy and harmful.

Summary

“Write what you know” is bad writing advice. It might be good for starting out, but for creating a world packed full of interesting and diverse characters, you need to broaden your horizons.

Writing queer characters should not be scary! With a little sensitivity, you can write queer characters that accurately represent the community. And the great news is, there are plenty of editors, beta readers and authenticity readers out there who would be more than happy to help support you if you’re not sure. All you have to do is ask!

Keep away from stereotypes and story tropes. Make sure you flesh out characters fully, as you would do with any characters, and you are on the way to excellent writing!

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