LGBT Folks - What Was the First Time You Wrote Somebody Like You

[Kura]

Subconsciously since I started writing when I was maybe 10? Looking back at old stuff and realizing that kinda blew my mind. I'd just kind of innocently throw it in there with that just being how they were, no explanations, sexualization, or even explorations, it was just there mater of factly and that was that.

I think even before that though it was a thing even before I started writing because all my teddy bears and toys would be the same. I remember legitimately getting mad at adults when they would call my bear Cuddles a girl, so I would get mad an argue with them as a dumb as 5 year old "Cuddles is a BOY he just likes wearing dresses!!"

[indagold]

I think its always been in my work, never imagined characters as sexual or romantic though I think sex repulsion was to blame since it cause I got over that eventually and changed how I wrote characters. Although It is hard though making romantic relationships in stories cause I just see them as friendships. Eh who needs couples anyway, no one makes stories of friends who kiss and cuddle.

I did make a character of mine asexual when I came out but it really did reflect that sort of socially awkward trapped in the closet aspect. Kinda a generic soft uwu pure in every way asexual you see on every site. It wasn't blatant or was the identity made apparent just felt it was just too stereotypical for my tastes. I think it was just a reflection on myself how easily I bought into the culture around stuff like that.

Now I wanna make characters who aren't asexual who are in unconventional relationships people are quick to slap the asexual label on because I feel it needs more exposure.

[Drewbie]

I- I also got started writing fanfics... pokemon... Wattpad was truly an interesting place

[erma]

wattpad and fanfiction.net... quite the experience :')

[kiplothedungeoneer]

I never wrote anything for her, but didi was some science nerd lesbian who’s only distinguishing features from me where a bob instead of short hair and glasses! I was so obviously gay lol.

[alliascompany]

The first character I made who was the same sexuality as me was a female spy who was "seduce proof". They'd sent her on a mission whenever they were dealing suave womanizing villians XD.

I didn't know asexuality had a name when I created her, but I was starting to realize, I didn't fawn over guys like my sisters and friends. And after giving it a lot of thought, I knew I didn't like girls either.

After found out that yeah it has a name, I came up with Codex who is cryptologist... That works at a spy agency XD. Guess I just find that idea funny.

[dawgofdawgness]

All of the characters that I’ve ever created are lesbians. Including the male ones. They’re all lesbians.

[Drewbie]

I literally STRUGGLE to write cishet characters.

[Maps]

I wrote a lot of characters based off qualities of myself, but when I created my character Saive so many years ago, he was based off me. Saive is definitely asexual and very confident about it without realizing it. It was how I felt for so long. I used to go on ace forums to try to understand my sexuality but realized maybe I was Demi. Regardless, writing my characters have made me research a lot into my own sexuality. Something I’m still not sure of to this day. And something I’m not really searching to understand anymore, if I’m being honest.

[NickRowler]

I created a character in high school called Sky. His mother passed away and he was abandon by his father, who he taught committed suicide. He was raised in a society where taboos on presenting one's body and everyone were covered up except for their hands and faces. One day his father returned and Sky was shocked. His father was also shocked and said, "I don't have a son, I have two daughters." Sky then realized that despite being raised as a boy, they were born female. He went into a deep depression. His father then approached him and said, "I don't care if you are a boy or girl, you are my child and I still love you."

I guess it played heavily into me thinking about identify during a time where I had a hard time coming to terms with it.

[malverav]

I wrote so, so many LGBT+ characters into my work before I even consciously realised that i was queer - they all helped me come to terms with myself and explore my relationship with being queer. That, and my characters often feel like they're on the outside of society or feel like an outsider; that kind of thing really struck a chord with me before I even realised why I was writing it. I even wrote a script for a comic ages ago where magic needed to be hidden away and was something to be ashamed of, and it was only reading over it later that I realised it was a metaphor for my own feelings.

I feel like how you truly feel always comes out in your work without even realising it. What you create really is like a mirror into yourself. Now, I'm aggressively out of the closet and super open about who I am, so thanks fiction for giving me the courage, I guess?

[ForLackOfStars]

In my first completed novel, there was a side character who I wrote as transgender, even though in the story her identity is never brought up. She was my favorite character, as well as all the beta reader's, but I didn't think much of it. In the same novel, I tried writing a female lead instead of a male lead for the first time, and things just clicked. I was able to get inside the main character's headspace so much more easily than with any character I had ever written.

I figured out I was trans several months after finishing the novel, for unrelated reasons. When I go back to the novel now, the whole thing reads as a massive struggle with gender identity. The main character is obsessive about being able to hide her powers and be seen as "normal," she has an enormous amount of self-loathing and internalized shame, and only after trusting others and letting them in is she able to begin to accept herself. It's legitimately a little hard for me to read, because it feels both like a novel and a frank, unflinching portrait of me when I was figuring myself out. On one hand, it's affirming knowing how much happier I am now, but on the other, wow.

Compare and contrast to now, where I end up writing most characters as LGBT+ without even thinking about it.

[sesamebutdifferent]

Sorry if this is aimed more at writing rather than art or a combination of the two, but my lesbian comic on Tapas and Webtoons is the first time I've based any creative work on my actual life/relationship:

Sesame But Different | Tapas

Having spent most of my formative years in a more conservative environment, it took me a tremendous amount of time accepting that I was a lesbian, let alone creating anything (writing, art, etc.) that reflected my sexuality. Most of my work in my adolescence largely lacked any indication of romantic interest, probably because I was so deeply closeted at that time.

Now, after many years in a healthy and happy relationship with my gf, I wanted to revisit that initial discomfort and provide some visibility for others who may have been like me.

[Cricketreadscomics]

eggsplain pls??

[Eightfish]

Never.

For some reason I feel odd writing characters that are too similar to myself. The vast majority of my characters are completely different from me, in sexuality or gender or status or ambitions or race or, usually, all of the above and more.

I don't know why I'm like this. I wonder if anyone else is the same?

[charliesackett]

I had genderqueer characters before I even knew that was a thing. I created the original iteration of my characters from my comic in high school, and even then it was very crucial to one of them that he was wearing womens clothes and bounced around with what he refered to himself as.
I've always been aggressively genderqueer and it was a giant relief when the word started to exist because things made a lot more sense.

[laurendeland]

I used to create visual novels/date sims before getting into comics and I had this game I was making where a girl was the protagonist and she dates 3 to 4 guys. I was really into writing it but also deeply conflicted with impostor syndrome. I ended up developing a female rival for the protagonist and in every situation I put them in there was this tension between them. I couldn't figure it out at first but its like my characters wrote themselves and I was just standing by lol. I created some undeniable chemistry between them and finally pushed myself to explore it (writing-wise).

After that I realized how much I thoroughly enjoyed pushing their boundaries until finally I made her rival a love interest, then my writing passion for wlw characters emerged. I had never written GL stories before (enjoyed reading it though).

I ended up never releasing the visual novel, but I haven't stopped writing wlw stories since.
I might re-write the whole thing someday and make it a complete GL story.

[Oso050]

Can non LGBT but just any oddsexuals post here. I'm pansexual.

[Wumbl]

I'm pretty sure I have more characters that are LGBT than characters that are not. I have about 10 different characters with similar orientations to me, but I like to make changes as well.
Radical Jason? Bisexual. Lladro Allchurch? Bisexual. Tobias McTavin? Bi and trans. Noiseboy? Bi, homoromantic and trans. He's the only one who's EXACTLY like me. Even my self-insert character doesn't have entirely the same orientation as me, but Noiseboy does.

I mean, I've also written LGBT characters that aren't like me (homosexual, biromantic, asexual and non-binary characters)

[MissEljebel]

I discovered I was bisexual when I was 15, I believe. After that I made my favorite OC Sagiv bisexual as well. Now I have a bunch of LGBT characters!