curvymaven:

nextian:

by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith

We are published authors who co-wrote a post-apocalyptic young adult novel. When we set out to find an agent for it, we expected to get some rejections. But we never expected to be offered representation… on the condition that we make a gay character straight, or cut him out altogether.

Our novel, Stranger, has five viewpoint characters; one, Yuki Nakamura, is gay and has a boyfriend. Yuki’s romance, like the heterosexual ones in the novel, involves nothing more explicit than kissing.

An agent from a major agency, one which represents a bestselling YA novel in the same genre as ours, called us.

The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his sexual orientation.

Yep.

FAIL. I, for one, think there need to be MOAR gay characters in YA. Yes, please.

I’ve met Sherwood Smith. She is an awesome lady and great writer, I for one am proud of her for taking a stand. There are some very popular books out there right now that have gay characters in them, and I for one agree there should be more. How awful?! Fight the good, fight Sherwood!!!