Question about the LGBT tag

[Enthriex]

I was wondering if stories should be tagged or not LGBT if the story isn't about LGBT life but if the cast is majorly LGBT

With this I mean as in, the story plot isn't about the LGBT and their sexualities aren't important for the main plot but the relationships between them are of course affected by it. Like, for example, it may be an action themed story with a plot about escaping zombies (hypothetical, I'm not writing about this lol I actually don't like zombies) but the characters relationships are dunno one is gay, another is bisexual, an asexual and thus their relationships with other characters are indeed influenced by this. (Like the minority here would be the heterosexual couple)

Would this be tagged as LGBT or it shouldn't? If you're someone from the LGBT community, would you think the tag fits it? or would you say it doesn't? If it does or doesn't do say why :0

Would it disappoint you to read a story that is tagged with LGBT but isn't the major focus?

What do LGBT folks expect from a story tagged with it? (Of course LGBT experience stories but what else would fit?)

[NickRowler]

People seeking out the LGBT tag are more looking for rep more than just romance. If the characters being queer is well known right away, then you can use the tag if you want.

If a character being queer is a bit of twist like 300 pages in and is never brought up again, then maybe don't use the tag.

[bulgariansumo]

Like, for example, it may be an action themed story with a plot about escaping zombies (hypothetical, I'm not writing about this lol I actually don't like zombies) but the characters relationships are dunno one is gay, another is bisexual, an asexual and thus their relationships with other characters are indeed influenced by this.

I think this hypothetical situation would be fine to tag as LGBT+. If it wasn't, then I think my own story would be in a bit of hot water.

[Junohugger]

IMO LGBTQ+ isn't a genre per se, it's more a shoutout to the particular audience you want to attract. My comic... although the MC being gay is a core part of the story, it's not a "gay" story I don't think, it's just about a lesbian at the end of the world. It's as much sci-fi and comedy as it is gay romance. Though I dunno what genre would ever suit my comic if I'm honest, the main thing is I do want to highlight it to LGBTQ+ identified readers as they are the primary readers I want to reach. I've heard arguments that it shouldn't be used as a genre at all as the merits of the rep ought to speak for themselves, but I'm not so sure. I get the idea but I do like the more targeted visibility the tag gives me. At the end of the day, it's not for anyone to police, having a mainly queer cast is all I would expect as a reader, really!

[Enthriex]

So, you'd say, if that's not the focus at the beginning and the issue is brought up later and it stays and doesn't go away... It still wouldn't fit the tag cause it wasn't right away?

I mean staying as in, character is visibly asexual and their perspective is influenced by their lack of interest of certain subjects, another gets a boyfriend and so on... It still wouldn't because the story didn't introduce that side from the beginning

I'm asking cause I'm genuinely curious XD (Hypothetical again) If it takes like 300 pages for the issue to be brought up (cause the focus was in something else in those 300 pages) then it's better not to tag it even if the characters are LGBT? :0

Wouldn't people be upset without the tag and almost everyone of the main cast not being heterosexuals?

Ahhh I don't mean to sound offensive, I mention this cause in another story of mine when I mentioned it people were upset and someone even messaged me saying they weren't ready to read a story with that theme even though they had a character like that xD So I was indeed wondering what was better.

(Yes, I'm well aware that person was immature and a jerk but I'm just mentioning it to give more context of what I'm writing)

[Freemints30]

Honestly that tag is as @NickRowler said more for people looking more diverse queer casts. Like unless its only one minor character that is queer and no one else is, then yes people would be disappointed. But if it just majority of the main cast is queer and the major focus is on, lets say epic fantasy, then it would still be fine to tag it. Honestly alot of stories does that and the cast being queer is a small part of the grander story story.

Edit:

Ive seen stories where the characters being ace, bi and gay was more minor but kept being brought up and the romance was a minor part. Honestly wouldnt come up until like 100+ episodes cus the plot was on something else. And they still put the LGBTQ+ tag just cus thier cast was still queer and help people understand that

[Enthriex]

I see, I do find it complicated because the majority of my cast isn't heterosexual and I've had people complain about the tag when I used it, like one person wrote to me saying they would stop reading cause they weren't ready for reading about that even though they had a character like that. I was super bewildered by that tbh, and I was like but... even if he is gay, the story isn't about that specifically x'D

I would like people to know the cast has different sexualities and be okay with that but I'm also not sure if using the LGBT tag would make people think it's about the LGBT experience ú_ù

[Enthriex]

Yess, what you wrote on the edit is what I actually am pondering since the majority of my cast isn't heterosexual, but it is true that it comes up way later since at the beginning they're more in a dangerous situation doing other stuff and it does last a few chapters ú_ù

So yes, I'm actually trying to understand if that would be acceptable.

[Freemints30]

I would say dont worry too much about it. Ive been on this site long enough and Ive rarely seen the majority of people upset at that tag.

I get that though, in the case of "is my story queer enough to have that tag"

I kinda wonder about that myself, mostly although I write a BL, I do have alot of trans characters and small minor discussions of gender expressions and demi/acsexuality. Its silly but I think alot of queer creators feel the same you feel. In a queer creator imposter syndrome is a term, that makes sense

I say put it as a secondary tag and see how you like it, it would not affect where you story shows up in ranking and more decor, due to how tagging works. It would help find a very accepting audience thou . And if you like it you can put it as your main tag. But at the end of the day its your story.

[Junohugger]

That person sounds like they're the one with the problem from what I can tell. No one owns the LGBTQ+ tag. Also remember, those genre tags are not permanent. you can change them up as often as you feel! You could debut your story, when you feel it's not come into its queerness as fantasy or whatever is relevant, and as the queer characters become more key, just go ahead and switch it over. No one has the right to police you on those tags, and I actually think it's kinda gross to be complaining that something isn't the right level of queer, like, sorry, how are queer stories supposed to go? Not all of our stories HAVE to be about coming out! Gays deserve epic fantasy adventures too!

[NickRowler]

A lot of LGBTQ people were aware of their identity from a young age. You don't have to make it sexual. Kids like to talk about dating and crushes even if they don't fully understand how they feel. Like I have heard some adult women say that they were obsessed with a female character as a kid but as an adult they were like "Oh, because I was queer and didn't know that was what was happening". So you can hint at stuff as a means of foreshadowing.

When I mentioned the 300 pages, it's more this thing I see in media where a character's identity would be a huge twist at the end to make the MC look like an idiot for trying to crush on them. Or like with Lando (from Solo) or Dumbledore or Rick (Rick and Morty) where them being queer is never mentioned and you would not know unless you spend time on social media.

[Enthriex]

Hmm I was actually thinking of putting the LGBT tag but on the 10 tags they allow to use besides the main two I like using those tags to simply indicate more of the content found in the story, but as the main two I wouldn't because it would make the relevance higher? Haha I think it fits more into drama fantasy (since there's no thriller option ú_ù) and then it'd be LGBT as the kind of people I'd like to attract but yes, it's just as you say, the queer imposter syndrome thing xD though yours sounds like it fits right in!

In my case, there's like... Maybe one hetero couple in the main cast, the other I'm not sure yet, and the others are bisexual and gay so yeah hets would be a minority or be more balanced, in like the, not everyone is heterosexual in this life XD

Besides their sexualities though, their personalities are influenced a lot so it's not like they're after thoughts... Just that there's no opening at the beginning to care about that

Edit: I also don't know if it would be appropriate to add a warning about the lgbt thing not being touched until later chapters or if it would be unnecessary to say so

[Enthriex]

I was referring to another kind of plot point which makes the slice of life aspect almost impossible to touch before the subject is actually addressed. However, thinking about all that's said in the thread, I do think the lgbt tag wouldn't fit since my focus isn't their identities at all even if their personalities and perspectives are influenced by it.

I see what you mean with the 300 pages thing now, yeah that's distasteful

[Enthriex]

Oh no, I think you misunderstood a better interpretation (or I probably wrote it wrong sorry)

I mean, this person was upset about the queer tag (as in homophobic) but then they said "Although I also have a gay character, I'm not ready to read about other queer characters" thus the reason I was even more bewildered XD

So... I think it's even more awful x'D and why it got me wondering if the LGBT would at least help people not expect straight characters and then say ew, lgbt and leave kinda thing. I'd prefer people knowing about it and choosing to stay from the beginning while also deterring people like this person I described.

Hmm I could do as you say and add it once I'm at that part but new readers would still read the non queer stuff for a few chapters and wonder why the lgbt tag As you see, I tend to overthink a lot xD

Maybe add a warning about the lgbt content being minor and until after a few chapters? Ahhhh OTL (emoticon)

[Junohugger]

OMG Okay yes I did misunderstand, wow yeah that is horrific! What an asshole!

Okay my opinion? Don't put in a warning about underage characters being LGBTQ+. You don't want to be kowtowing to people who choose to be offended about that. My story is also about underage characters and I've never had an issue with this. The belief that LGBTQ+ is inherently sexual is false and just plain uneducated. I would also say that seeing a "warning" or any sort of "beware, this comic has LGBTQ+ characters" as honestly... potentially sort of offensive on the other end? Like, why would that ever be a problem? You know what I mean? Don't play their game. Don't alienate your LGBTQ+ or allied audiences in order to warn off bigots.

I personally wouldn't want people who have that sort of mindset to so much as click on my comic link let alone darken my door with an ignorant comment such as that. I admit I do like the filtering aspect of using the LGBTQ+ tag, I attract the audience I want and I frighten off the audience I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT!! Lol!

[Enthriex]

The worst thing is, the person who commented on this, did so on a story in which the characters were adolescents and nothing lgbt was going on XD not like sexual, but like literally there was no content but the tag was enough for them to go over to my deviantart and comment the "I was interested but saw the tag and had to stop reading" and even told me if I did any other stories without the theme they would read and it was like okay f*ck you XD

Oh the warning I was considering was actually telling people the lgbt content was gonna be seen in later chapters! I wouldn't warn about there being lgbt as consideration for awful people, I'd add the content being later on for people that want to see it right away haha. (As in, I'm thinking more on how lgbt people would take it kinda thing)

And yess I feel you, I'd rather have the audience that would not mind that from the beginning thus why I'm deliberating on what to do haha, but thanks for your kind words :'D I felt so wronged when that person did that but I was like, just ignore them, it's better they left if that was all it took for them to lose interest and even approach you to complain like that -_-

Yeaaah you're right... Maybe it'd be better to tag it LGBT once they're on the second part of the story (though it comes the question of whether people would be upset for not knowing the majority were lgbt from the beginning not out of consideration for them... it's more, out of consideration for me and have a better chance with the audience )

[Junohugger]

Aaah, I get you! I think part of my confusion comes from the use of the word "warning" when I think "preview" or "assurance" might be more apt?

A good way to do that is something I've seen other creators of LGBTQ+ works do (and I'm considering myself actually) is, once a character makes their first appearance, at the end of the episode, they put like a little character profile including a little flag of their identity be it gay or NB or trans etc, so it shows you are representing without having to state it in your story. I think that's an elegant solution where you want to rep for certain invisible identities without rushing to include it in the text earlier than is appropriate!

Here's an example of what I mean https://tapas.io/episode/1723621 might be a good option? A good method to state your rep right off the bat whilst giving you the time you need to develop your story in your own time?

Also I want that commenter to know I am their enemy.

[Enthriex]

Ahhh sorry, I'm not a native english speaker so some words may come off as wrong! Do tell me though, it helps me know how natives do take those words I think I've read manhwas saying "Content Advisory" instead (?)

Ohh I was indeed thinking of adding character profiles, I did so in my other (discontinued) story like:

But yess I think you're right BD that's something I could add there.

And loool with the commenter thing XD aaa I'm sure with that attitude they'd get a lot of backlash with whatever they try with their gay oc lol

Edit: I saw the example you talked about and yes, I could add a little flag somewhere haha

[Junohugger]

"Content Advisory" has the same issue as "Warning" I'm afraid, they both signal something that is potentially negative and harmful to more sensitive readers. LGBTQ+ characters on their own is not negative or something likely to trigger mental trauma (unless you're a bigot) so it's not an appropriate framing in this instance. I only say this as treating it as such (as in, lumping it together with topics such as racism or sexual assault or even queerphobia itself) would be potentially quite hurtful, but I can see that's not at all your intention here, just worth saying just in case!

That said, if you were to explore homophobia, transphobia or any other form of general queerphobia in your work a content advisory would be something audiences would appreciate! In that case, the negative you are warning about isn't the queer characters themselves, but the adverse conditions you may be depicting against them which is worth giving a heads up about.

[Enthriex]

Ahhh alright so the term is better not used for a statement like "LGBT content will be featured on future chapters" (as an example. After our exchanges I think it'd be better to do the flag thing on the character profile)

And I see! Thanks for kindly explaining ^-^ I think I'll limit myself to content advisory that is actually sensitive and not about any themes! I wouldn't like that a misplaced warning was interpreted as something else, so yes, I really appreciate it.

Ahhh... So I'm back to ponder if to add or not add the LGBT tag on one of the 10 tags x'D, though I can always just foreshadow something on the first chapter to give the idea I think I'll think about this more but this could be it hmm