Age ranges for GBLT characters?

[Kaje]

I wrote a fourteen year old gay character in so I obviously have no problem with it.

In fact YA is often considered more like 13-18 year old readers and protagonists. College age only if the story is focused on coming of age or coming out without a lot of sex content.

[Antje གརས པཅ]

I personally believe that if a character is old enough for a heterosexual romantic encounter then they're old enough for a homosexual romantic encounter

[Antje གརས པཅ]

Great to see someone does

[Sam]

Please write younger LGBTQ characters. I was out as gay at 13, and it wasn't easy finding books that reflected that. While I would say the average age for coming out is about 16-25, there are people as young as 12 that I know that are out, as well as people that didn't come out until they were in their 30s. Teens are coming out younger and younger, and it's hard to find middle grade LGBTQ fiction. Age range also depends on what part of the LGBTQ community you're talking about. Some trans* people come out as young as 4 or 5. From the rest of the responses I'm guessing you're talking about somewhere in the LGB part of the community, though.

[C.]

Hear, hear! to Sam.

Sam wrote: "Please write younger LGBTQ characters. I was out as gay at 13, and it wasn't easy finding books that reflected that. While I would say the average age for coming out is about 16-25, there are peopl..."

[Cheryl]

Yes please, I'd love to read about younger characters. I've been given to understand it's fairly common for children as young as 8 or 9 to know that they'd rather get a Valentine from a member of the same sex. There doesn't have to be any kissing, but just an exploration of what it means to be still a child, but to know that one is 'different' and how to figure that out.

[Nick]

Antje གརས པཅ wrote: "I personally believe that if a character is old enough for a heterosexual romantic encounter then they're old enough for a homosexual romantic encounter"

Thank you!! =D

[Gino]

To Cheryl, I just wrote a 2 minute movie called Shoes about a boy who steals his moms shoes and she finds out and buys him his own dress and high heels in his size, he's 8. Ill post it on my videos page when it's made!

[C.]

Can't wait to see it, Gino.

Gino wrote: "To Cheryl, I just wrote a 2 minute movie called Shoes about a boy who steals his moms shoes and she finds out and buys him his own dress and high heels in his size, he's 8. Ill post it on my videos..."

[Gino]

Thanks ill keep you updated and add you as a friend. Ill probably be filming it this month in May!

[C.]

Slick.

Gino wrote: "Thanks ill keep you updated and add you as a friend. Ill probably be filming it this month in May!"

[Rachel]

Blue Boy
This is a wonderful book set in middle school. I don't recall the main characters age right off bat. There is no romance but there is a funny and touching homoerotic scene where the main character is looking at a nudie magazine. If you are looking for a younger LGBT character its worth looking up.

[Gabby]

When I write stories, I have a range of ages and characters, and one of my gay characters is 13. Another couple are 16, then some are 21 so it really just depends with my writing :)

[Nick]

I definitely have a range when I write. The median seems to be between 15 and 21.

To be quite honest about my own experience, I remember having romantic feelings toward the same sex as early as 1st grade (I still remember the first time I saw the kid I had a crush on from 5 years old until I was 12, lol!), though I probably can't convincingly write a character quite THAT young.

I've written gay characters as young as 12 before, though those stories might need some editing and updating before I put them online somwhere. I think the youngest in my novel is 15 (at present; some characters I haven't determined sexuality for).

[Trisha]

Some kids can be out from a very young age. I read about a girl who was "out" from the time she started school. She would talk about crushes on girls and not boys. There's a difference from being "out" and in a relationship or being sexual with someone. I think that is the most important thing when it comes to age.

[[deleted user]]

The problem I have is I knew I was trans and gay at 11 yrs. I want to write a story with a gay or trans gay character at the age of 12-14yrs is that a good thing? would it reach some who need to know they aren't alone..?

[Kaje]

Rayvin wrote: "The problem I have is I knew I was trans and gay at 11 yrs. I want to write a story with a gay or trans gay character at the age of 12-14yrs is that a good thing? would it reach some who need to kn..."

I think it would be absolutely a good thing. There are just one or two stories like that (Rainbowheart might know the links). And you are definitely not the only one who knew early. I know a couple of people who wish they had been able to express what they felt that young, because puberty-blockers are a great possibility that only works if you know and get to that point of talking to a therapist before puberty. Anything that helps preteens see and understand themselves would be valuable.

YA covers far too broad a range, really, if you think of the changes from 13 to 18. And we have far more LGBTQ books for the older teens than for the younger ones, and pre-teens.

[Rainbowheart]

Rayvin wrote: "The problem I have is I knew I was trans and gay at 11 yrs. I want to write a story with a gay or trans gay character at the age of 12-14yrs is that a good thing? would it reach some who need to kn..."

There is one trans story coming out this year with an MC who is 12 years old.... Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky.

That's the only transgender one I know of, but there are plenty of middle grade books with LGBT characters. More often adults than kids, but some do have queer and questioning children.

Some links that might be helpful....

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

[Tara]

I think we will see more and more middle grade LGBTQ fiction in the coming years. One of my WIPs Forever and a Day takes the two MCs from age ten on to seventeen and it is told in duo protag. It is an offspin from Six, and a friends to lovers story with most of the story taking place at sixteen. But I wanted to show that kids are attuned to their sexuality at a young age, that many know who they are years before they allow themseves to be seen. I think more authors need to take on younger protags. If there had been supportive books out when I was young, I know my life would have been very different.

[Jay]

Caitlin Ricci wrote: "I realize that generally YA is 16-25 but what do you all think about having a younger side character that is part of the GBLT community? I'm thinking about having a younger brother of one of my characters that is 14."

Harmony Ink Press considers young adult as starting at 14. My lead protagonist for Pukawiss The Outcast is 14.

[Rainbowheart]

Jay wrote: "Harmony Ink Press considers young adult as starting at 14. My lead protagonist for Pukawiss The Outcast is 14."

Mainstream publishers consider YA starting at 14 too. 13 and under is usually marketed as middle grade. Older than 18/high school is considered NA or adult.

[Kaje]

I agree - 13-18 is the age range I think of, and college only under certain circumstances and low-sex approaches to the story (such as the freshman year of a sheltered kid just coming out or figuring themselves out might be suitable YA.)

I hope we do see more middle grade LGBT fiction.

[[deleted user]]

Kaje wrote: "Rayvin wrote: "The problem I have is I knew I was trans and gay at 11 yrs. I want to write a story with a gay or trans gay character at the age of 12-14yrs is that a good thing? would it reach some..."

Thank you for the links. I have saved them. I will be writing my story with the right age for the characters. I believe through the eyes of a young or pre-teen young person. I think we do need more pre-teen and young teen characters who are transgender, gay or lesbian, or just questioning. I believe there is a need out there for the youth of our world as it stands.

[J.T.]

Okay, I just got a new plot bunny for a YA paranormal/fantasy M/M. I'm used to writing a lot of sex but I want it set in high school, so I realize I may need to tone it down.

What's generally acceptable as far as physical contact in LGBT YA fiction? I'm thinking to make the characters 17/18 just so that I can have some hanky panky, but part of me wants them to be younger. (Like all of you, I know a lot of people know their orientation at a younger age. And really, we're not all innocent until that magical age of 18.)

[Kaje]

There is no consensus (and I have 100-message threads on this group to prove that.) The general rule is, no erotically-written sex (ie. meant to arouse/that a pedophile would enjoy) with under age 18 characters. That's partly for US federal distribution laws. Sex as plot... is all in how you write it, and who your publisher is. I just read a mainstream LGBT YA with implied oral sex at 14/15 and strongly implied anal sex at 15/19 but all hinted off page. I also read an Amy Lane with on page although not heavily eroticized sex at 14/17 and JP Barnaby's Little Boy Lost series has marginally-erotic first time between 16/17, both of those aimed at the adult market, with most of the story taking place as adults. YA books are all over the map, depending on author/publisher.

[Iuri]

I became fond of YA romance after I started reading M/M because I feel totally embarassed when I read something erotic. The same applies for my writting. Everytime I make myself include some sex reference I feel really weird.

I know physical contact is a big part of sexual discovery when you are a teenager. I used to think about sex a lot when I was 13/14 and my V-card went away not much later than that. But I also think totally omitting sex on YA novels makes it unrealistic - especially M/M because boys do their things all the time. Erotica is a genre for a reason, right? So please leave words like "veiny" there, ugh.

As for an age range, I am currently on a safe 16-18 range for my novel-project, though I have some flashback scenes of my main character "coming out" to his parentes at 8.

[J.T.]

So please leave words like "veiny" there, ugh.

LOL! Yeah, I'll make sure to do that. Works fine for the muscle/bear stuff, but not for YA!

Thankfully it's fantasy/paranormal, so that gives more weight to the whole subplot of "I'm having visions of the future and I want them to STOP." And things like that.

[Kaje]

I like YA to be a safe-zone for readers of any age who don't want erotic content in their books. In this day and age, sex as plot is sometimes going to be necessary to a believable story. There are those who argue that on-page LGBT sex is educational for LGBT teens who may not find it anywhere else other than hard-core porn and who are neglected by sex ed. But even if that's true, I don't think the critical elements like use condoms/go slow/buy non-latex-dissolving lube have to be put into an erotic context. I feel like YA should be about the other parts of sex, the emotional/social/contextual elements, and not the mechanics. But that's part of the debate.

[J.T.]

When I was a teen if I wanted to read sex scenes, I grabbed adult books. I'm sure kids these days do the same thing. I just know this story is demanding younger protagonists, and therefore due to the age of the characters and the setting it's going to be classified as YA. Therefore if I want to write it, I have to stick to YA conventions.

It's a romance. It's about the love and the relationship. Sex can be a part of that, but it's not the focus as it would be for an adult erotic romance.

[Iuri]

Kaje wrote: " I don't think the critical elements like use condoms/go slow/buy non-latex-dissolving lube have to be put into an erotic context. I feel like YA should be about the other parts of sex, the emotional/social/contextual elements, and not the mechanics..."

J.T. wrote: "...It's a romance. It's about the love and the relationship. Sex can be a part of that, but it's not the focus as it would be for an adult erotic romance."


Totally agreed *hug hug*
The mechanics make my stomach growl!

[Dusk]

Regarding age of readership: I've been reading YA since the 1970s and have been reading reviews of it since the late 1980s. The most common age recommendation I've seen publishers apply to YA books over the decades is "12 and up." I think the "up" part is especially apt these days. :)