GLBTQ literature

GLBTQ literature is a very controversial, yet important topic to discuss. Before reading any of this literature, this topic made me feel uncomfortable at times because I have had no prior experience, until this course brought it to my attention just a couple days ago, especially today. However, even though I feel a little more confident now that I was put in a situation where I had to give and defend my own opinions, I think reading more literature would benefit me a lot more. I really enjoyed reading Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan because as a heterosexual woman, I related to the gay relationships that were involved in the story. This includes to the romantic and emotional relationships, friendships, as well as relationships with family. The romantic relationships seemed so real to me, since I was so into the story that I forgot the relationship was between two teenage boys, Paul and Noah. I definitely respected every character because they were able to break the barriers by proving their acceptance within themselves and others. With this, I definitely feel like this book is a very positive portrayal about gays, and should be read by everyone because a lot of people can relate to the different situations. However, I also thought that this book had some unrealistic features because the story took place in a high school where there were gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and bisexuals in one place where they were all accepted by themselves and others. At times I felt like the story was too good to be true, I don’t recall any types of fights or name calling to the characters because of their sexual identity, which was inappropriate or offending. Everyone accepted each other for who they were, and I feel like there would be a lot more chaos when there are many different types of sexualities combined into one school. I was also puzzled by how easily the characters accepted themselves as being gay. In class most of my classmates agreed because we all knew people in high school who were gay, but didn’t come out until after graduation or even afterwards. Some of the characters also seemed unrealistic. A character in particular, a transsexual named Infinite Darlene, was the homecoming queen as well as the quarterback on the football team. I know if this happened at my high school, there would be a huge controversy, and it would most likely never happen.

On this topic though, I really considered the quote that was given in class by David Levithan, "A story doesn't have to always reflect reality; it can create reality as well."After reading this quote, my perspectives on the book definitely changed. Levithan is an insider who knows more about the gay community than me or any other heterosexuals. He knew what type of story he was creating because of the experiences he faced or understanding the emotions that gays go through. Even though it may not be reality that all gay people are accepted in society, it wouldn’t hurt to try to create a world where acceptances of gays is a reality in the future. This book can then become a reality once outsiders are introduced and understand the background and history of GLBTQ, which allows a type of reality to be created, like the one in Boy Meets Boy.