Changing established straight characters to LGBTQ+ characters

I'm not a fan of just a quick edit of an existing character to make them appeal to a different group. Also not a fan of a character being created just to fill a quota. If the major defining thing is either their skin color or orientation, its not an interesting character.

So I agree with you, they should hire better writers and create interesting and diverse characters.

 

I don’t really think the about the impact on the LGBT community. I just get annoyed when a character has slept her way through half the available guys on the show and then suddenly is in to girls. I didn’t mind when they made Willow gay in Buffy though. Probably because college seems the time to discover that kind of thing and she didn’t suddenly like girls, her attraction to Tara developed over several episodes.

 

I think these days they include LGBT+ characters just to fill a quota, and I agree with @Loves books about some characters in series suddenly changing from hetero to bi or lesbian/gay.

I also agree that sexuality tends to be the main focus of the characters created, rather than it just being about a character who just happens to be LGBT+. I think it needs more LGBT+ creators/writers/etc. where this can change.

 

I wish there were more lgbt characters where their sexuality wasn't their whole life or whole focus.
Like straight characters have more then just their partner but boom Lgbt character and it’s all about lgbt/their gayness etc
sometimes it’s good for it to just be seen as normal.
“Oh Mum, Jessica and her girlfriend Lana are coming over.”
“Oh yay. So do they have allergies?”

Just that. So we feel more than just our sexuality .

 

The OP isn't talking about original characters that go through a sexual transformation throughout a movie/show, they're talking about the impact that reappropriating a traditionally straight character to serve as a token of representation has on the LGBT+ community. And I think it does have a negative impact on the community and I agree with Shorthaul. If orientation or identity is the only defining feature of a character, that's not an interesting character. that's just lazy writing if anything.

 

I think there are cases where it can fit an existing character. For example, the character of Ice-man in comics had a lot of failed relationships with women before he came out. I suppose his case was helped in that some writers hinted that he might be. It has to fit the character though.

 

Despite my earlier post I will say that I think there could be some right ways to do it. The exchange of ideas and content between the LGBT+ artists/writers and the rest of the world can definitely be a good thing. I'm not saying that LGBT+ culture should be siloed, but when I see something like a gay Spiderman I have to wonder if someone isn't just trying to cash in on a well-establish IP.

 

I also think writers are afraid to make the gay characters a bad guy. One of my favourite gay characters is Scott Pilgrim's gay friend who is a bit of a jerk.

 

I understand of someone feels like it could help dissolve barriers between LGBT+ community and the rest of the world. And, in response to DavidDublin, I don't think someone should rush to the conclusion that a writer is saying something negative about the LGBT+ community just because a story features, say, a gay antagonist. I can actually relate to being gay and a bit of a jerk myself

 

I'm still waiting for the day a novel or film where the gay lead character is an anti-hero or at least a Byronic hero. Portraying gay guys as being a picture perfect, down to earth person with literally zero flaws is just too unrealistic for me to take seriously. After all, all humans, be they gay or straight, have their nasty side (like being a bit of a jerk). Just the other day I bumped into this article whose writer sums it up, perfectly.
https://aninjusticemag.com/not-all-rainbows-rise-of-the-queer-antihero-aa8890dd51fc

"To be queer is to be human — and humans are messy motherfuckers." Excellent way to put it.

 

Yes, humans are messy as well as their superheroes.