Approaches to Setting in LGBT Speculative Fiction?

[Nick]

While writing my novel a thought occurred to me about the role of setting in LGBT fiction, specifically speculative fiction, where setting can be much more fluid and varied than it might otherwise be.

When building a setting, which do you prefer? A more idealized setting, where homophobia and transphobia don't exist, or a more realistic setting that will necessarily paint a somewhat darker picture of the world the characters inhabit? By the second option, I don't mean the overly tragic sort of "morality plays" that always ended in the death (often suicide) of the LGBT character(s). Perhaps there is another option I haven't considered?

I personally prefer a more realistic approach, because I tend to work through my problems by reflecting on them, and seeing them represented in books or on screen gives me a feeling of validation and opens an opportunity for reflection. I would vastly prefer to read a story that addresses issues like LGBT youth homelessness, suicide, self-harm, etc. over a story that presents a utopian situation where those issues no longer exist. If I were to cite a film example, (even though "A Beautiful Thing" still dealt with homophobia) I'd say I prefer "The Boys in the Band" over "A Beautiful Thing," particularly due to the latter's ending.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? I'm interested to see where people fall on the idea.

[Kaje]

I'm more one for realism, so I liked Tales from Foster High better than Boy Meets Boy, for example. But I am a happy-ending person, so even though life isn't full of happy endings, I do like them in my fiction. I totally rewrote the end of Brokeback Mountain for myself.

I do enjoy fantasy where there can be a more utopian appraoch to LGBT though - like Magic's Pawn or Luck in the Shadows where being gay isn't a big deal in the context of the existing society.

[Anna]

Nicholas wrote: "I personally prefer a more realistic approach, because I tend to work through my problems by reflecting on them, and seeing them represented in books or on screen gives me a feeling of validation and opens an opportunity for reflection."

Plenty of real world cultures in human history were not hostile to homosexuals and transexuals. It is perfectly "realistic" to depict cultures like that.

I use feudal Japan as a baseline culture for my current fantasy series. Homosexuality is so not a problem. (Mostly, anyway. They had rather interesting ideas about what's a "proper" m/m relationship.)

[Nick]

Yeah, I'm aware of the Feudal Japan attitude towards it (my upcoming graphic novel takes advantage of it, in fact). I was strictly speaking about modern American context (and even that changes drastically according to region). I probably should have specified that.

[Gino]

It really depends, I just follow the characters and if the author says that's what it's like in that world then that's what it's like.

[J.]

I think that real world/realistic settings do more in terms of providing teens with things that they recognize and can connect with. I think that fantasy settings, be they Sci Fi or swords and sorcery, settings have a better chance of showing better, more accepting societies. While there are societies and settings available that are/were accepting, a well-constructed fantasy setting allows the author more control to make whatever other points they want to make as well as making LGBtQ teens feel more welcome.

[Nick]

Gino wrote: "It really depends, I just follow the characters and if the author says that's what it's like in that world then that's what it's like."

You know what? You're absolutely right. I think I must've been on crack when I wrote the original post, lol. I went through my collection of books, and it's speculative fiction I have the least amount of trouble suspending disbelief about the lack of homo/transphobia in a setting.

It's usually the more "literary" YA that assumes a modern setting that I have trouble dealing with, especially when it becomes too Utopian. "Boy Meets Boy" is a perfect example (I couldn't think of its name at the time). There's something about those settings that rub me the wrong way.

I think I get the impression that my experiences with homophobia are erased or irrelevant, and that my experience was somehow "broken" for not having an opportunity to express my feelings in a utopian environment like the straight kids did. I tend to feel the same way about LGBT film that has two impossibly attractive white kids falling in love in high school.

[Kaje]

That's an issue with being too utopian, that some readers will feel it's almost disrespectful of the difficulties they face. But for others, it's perhaps sweet to think that situation could exist somewhere. I like it better with a slight fantasy element or near future (like Wide Awake). Levithan did once say, apparently, that many of the first readers of his book were teen girls - maybe he was paving the way for this generation of adult women who read M/M and support gay rights with his soft approach.