What justifies the LGBTQ tag?

[pixxiepinks]

I've gotten a lot of mixed feedback about how to tag my stories, mostly about if I should tag my work as LGBTQ.

As a member of the LGBTQ community myself, there are always a bit of LGBTQ themes and content in my stories. But how queer does a story need to be for it to "count" and warrant the use of the LGBTQ tag?

• Do the main characters need to be queer?
• Does the story need to focus on queer struggles?
• Is having one side character being a member of the community enough?
• Is there a hard line or is it more of a case-by-case?
• If your readers say it should have an LGBTQ tag but don't agree, should you change how your story is tagged?

What is Queer Enough?

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Personally, I do not use the LGBTQ tag, even though I do write queer characters, their queerness is not a main point of the plot. And I have always viewed the LGBTQ tag as something that is placed on works that heavily focus on the queer experience.

So, in your opinion, what justifies the LGBTQ tag?

[Kelheor]

I wouldn't put a tag if it's not the main point. Just like I won't put a "romance" tag on a comic that only has romance as a side story line. I think it's ok to put it there if you want to do it and consider it important, but I don't think anyone should make you?

[KSlinger]

I'm the same as you. I don't use the LGBT+ tag because, for me, it's intended for those whose stories contain representation and possible unpacking of LGBT+ characters and lifestyles as a part of the story or theme. In West, the orientations of characters doesn't come into question or under scrutiny because-- in that universe-- it just isn't unusual. The story also contains elements of romance and horror but I wouldn't tag it as those either for the same reason. It's not what the story is about.

I undertand your confliction though because as members of the LGBT+ scene and as authors of a story where LGBT+ lifestyles are normalised shouldn't we also be included? Yes...but if we don't feel the need to make that kind of story perhaps we should step back and make room for those who do?

[ThunderChicken]

I think if LGBTQ issues are a big part of the story (IE main character or even important secondary characters are LGBTQ and this is an important plot piece) then it should be tagged LGBTQ. Not necessarily as the main tag, but it should be there.

Tapas allows you to put three genres down for your story, and one of them is the main genre. My first book is a true story coming of age/coming out focusing on my struggles as a young man who is gay. Since this is the whole point of the story, I chose LGBTQ as the primary genre with coming of age and slice of life being the other two. My second story is a shapeshifter fantasy featuring gay characters (indeed all shapeshifters are male, and all hecates, or woods witches, are female). I used Fantasy as the main genre, but added LGBTQ as one of the secondary ones.

Keep in mind that tagging something LGBTQ can both attract readers (such as myself) or turn them away (such as a straight person who has no interest in reading LGBTQ stuff). It is not necessarily a bad thing to turn those readers away, and they are not bad people for not wanting to read about it. Tagging your work as LGBTQ if it is actually LGBTQ is just being honest with your readers, and it is better to let those readers know up front. Nobody wins if a person who isn't into LGBTQ stuff starts reading your story and discovers that it's all about the gay. They will abandon your story at best, or they will bad mouth it and deride it as being "woke" at worst.

On the opposite side of the coin, if your story is almost 100% straight but has a token gay character, and that character's struggles with LGBTQ issues is only a tangent to your story, tagging it as LGBTQ might come across as pandering, or it might discourage non-LGBTQ people from reading it because they think it's all gay all the time.

[darthmongoose]

Here are my thoughts, as somebody using the LGBTQ+ tag whose comic isn't about being queer.

I used to put my comic in Action, because it has a lot of action in it. It's basically a shounen manga in a lot of ways, so that makes sense right? But... Look at the Action category... and look at the LGBTQ+ category. The Action category has a lot of comics featuring a dark haired cishet man who levels up in Isekai land and becomes the most powerful warrior. The LGBTQ+ category has lots of colourful comics about a bunch of misfit friends from queer identities having feelings while solving some sort of problem. The LGBTQ+ category has lots of similar comics to mine, at least in vibe, like Magical Boy, Pandora's Devils, Hard Lacquer... things where it's like "If you like this, you will probably like my comic too". So I moved to LGBTQ+ and I've never looked back. It's just a better place for people who like stuff like my comic to find my comic, because it's where a lot of stuff like my comic lives.

Plus, I'm a lesbian, and pretty much my whole main cast are some flavour of LGBTQ+, but it's not immediately apparent, and I feel more comfortable in a category where I know nobody's going to mind when the main character realises she's bisexual several chapters in, or one of the characters expresses a preference for they/them pronouns, because the alterative is being in a category where somebody might start reading, thinking it's just a "standard action comic" and then complain because suddenly I've put in gay content out of nowhere.

If the secondary categories on Tapas actually functioned in searching instead of being purely decorative, then I'd consider moving... but for the time being, LGBTQ+ is where all my comp titles are, so it just makes good sense to be there where I can actually get seen by the right people.

[KSlinger]

This is all very valid and something I should probably think about a little more because, in doing the opposite to you, I run the risk of 'jump scaring' readers with an action/fantasy laced with LGBTQ+ content. There are characters in drag, non-binary, asexual, and queer folk throughout. I could see myself getting some of the comments you describe.

[moontokkym]

I had the same question, my comic is sci-fi but also the entire main cast is some flavour of queer, the main character transitions in the story, and a lot of the narrative is reflective of a queer experience, even though it isn't necessarily specific to a queer experience. Stuff like found family, colourful misfits, fighting for rights, not feeling right in your own body, keeping secrets from loved ones, not being seen for who you are, outcasts by choice because it's easier to live on the fringe of society authentically than to conform within it... Some mixes of those things will make a story feel like a queer story because it speaks to queer experiences.

I made use of the multiple category system personnally, my comic is still sci-fi drama first and foremost, but it does have a lot of queer themes and queer characters who, yes are sci-fi protagonists and antagonists first, but they're also queer and that's a part of the story that can't be erased without taking out a substancial chunk of the story. Khay is a qatari refugee in France while France and Qatar are at war, she's stubborn and stuck up and mistrustful of those around her, but she has a fundamental kindness and moral compass that she can't seem to shake. She's also trans and comes to terms with her gender and able to become a better person, more comfortable with herself and more open with new friends as the story progresses through them accepting her and helping her even when she's vulnerable. Take her transness out of the story and there's no catalyst for her to open up and learn to trust her found family. Her character arc goes out the window.

That'd be my barometer for if your story should be classed (or sub classed) as lgbtq+:

• Would it be possible to take away queerness without fundamentally changing large parts of the story?

If yes, all the characters could be cis straight people and nothing else would need to change, then no tag. If not, depending on how much the story would change I'd put it as a tag in first, second or third place.

[pixxiepinks]

@moontokkym
I have never considered that the narrative (not the characters) could be a reflection of queer experience, but it is an interesting point. Found Family and Questions of Identity are topics that I weave into all my works, and perhaps that is why I'm getting such mixed feedback. It's not overtly an LGBTQ novel perhaps, but it feels like one.

I'll give it some more thought, but I think you might have hit the nail on the head here. That explanation at least seems to be what's going on. While I do think taking out the queerness of the characters is possible without ruining the action/fantasy plot, it would make a few of the relationships very weird, (especially the married lesbian couple). But the story would completely fall apart if I were to remove the found family and questioning identity themes.

I'm still on the fence, but I'm starting to think the story might need the LGBTQ tag. But, no matter what I decide, thank you for your insight, it was a perspective I have definitely never considered before.

[Mic_Mac_Roni]

Many of us agree in order for the tag to be used it has to be the main focus of the story. It has to be the very skeleton of the book as it focuses on social norms and issues that the LGBTQ community faces. They do differ to the heterosexual community. It isn't enough when it coined because the main/support character is LGBTQ.

My current stories do focus on heterosexual/bisexual characters right now. I have plans for a pairing of a man with a genderfluid individual (fantasy so they can change between the two), but I feel really uneducated when it comes to same sex relationship or even the strife in the community. I have full support towards the LGBTQ community, even as a straight female, but I am an outsider.

And I feel unwarranted to write about the issues or pretend that I know how it feels. So, I do not see myself ever using that tag out of respect towards LGBTQ community. That's my opinion, of course.

[UrMom]

I use the LGBT+ tag because my main cast is queer. Although despite their identities not being a major focus, it's still an inherent part of them story wise given it's based in the real world, their sexuality and genders still come up because those things are ingrained in society. You can not live in most places without dealing with those two things at some point, not unless you're a hermit living off the grid in the woods. Also I just don't want to deal with some bigoted asshole finding my comic, and getting butthurt because the characters are queer. Granted, it's pretty obvious, but some folks need things spelled out for them.

Personally I think the tag should be used based on the author's comfort level with it, what kind of audience they want to attract, and how intertwined the character's identities are in the setting, or how important those identities are to the story. Like, you can totally have a fantasy story with a queer cast, and it not be a thing at all because the society(ies) in the story don't care. Or some idealist version of the real world where everything is gucci, so it doesn't come up ever.

If you don't want to use the tag then don't do it.

[TheLemmaLlama]

If I actually liked to find stuff to read by looking through genre tags, I'd find the 'focuses on LGBTQ+ issues' classification more helpful that the 'features lots of LGBTQ+ characters' classification, since I'm not generally interested in stories focused on coming out/acceptance/etc, but I don't really care either way about characters being LGBTQ+ and displaying their LGBTQ+ness to the same extent cishet characters display their cishetness.

But maybe LGBTQ+ people who cared about representation would feel differently? (As well as anti-woke people who care about representation in the opposite direction and don't want to be 'jumpscared' lmao* :P) Either way, I guess the matter of preferences is a moot point since the fact of the matter right now seems to be the LGBTQ+ tag is classified by prominence of LGBTQ+ characters

*

Just for the record, I'm a huge proponent of freedom of association and believe people should be able to avoid anything, including LGBTQ+ content, for any reason. But I think the 'default' should be to assume a work contains LGBTQ+ characters/etc unless otherwise specified, and for works containing no LGBTQ+ content to specify as such, rather then the other way around where no LGBTQ+ content is the 'default' and stuff containing LGBTQ+ content are the ones making a disclaimer.