I spend a lot of time with my parents, who were homophobic before I came out to them last year. They are now supportive of me being gay. However, I still have a lot of internalized homophobia because of my parents and a lot of homophobic friends that I had before coming out. Creative writing has been a hobby of mine for a long time. I want to write fanfiction based on my favorite TV show and include a gay guy as the main character. He might have a romantic relationship with another guy in the story. But I have never written a gay character before because I used to think it was immoral. When I mention to my parents that I'm writing a new story, they usually express an interest in reading it. But...I would feel super awkward about them reading my gay fanfiction lol. Unfortunately they have a history of occasionally finding and reading other stories I've written without asking me first. Plus, my Mom will sometimes tell people about various stories that I've written without okaying it with me first, and I'm worried that I'll be forced to talk about my gay fanfiction to other people. One solution is to just write the fanfiction without telling my parents about it and hope they don't stumble on it if they're using my computer. But I don't like hiding things from them. So yeah...I know this sounds petty, but I could really use some advice. Thoughts?
If your parents are truly supportive now, than why would they really care if your lead was gay? I mean knowing you are, it's not like they're gonna read it and be left wondering "Now why would he do that?". I think they'd kinda understand why you chose to write about a character that is like you in some ways. But on the other hand if it's like you've come out and they're okay with it but its kinda just been a taboo topic since your initial coming out I'd understand why you might not want them to read it. Or might not want them to think "You're really gay" or something weird like that. LOL So all in all, if they truly are supportive I don't see the problem and go for it! And if it's just a real awkward situation than I'd still probably say try it. If it's more than "just awkward" and truly a situation you don't want to be in than I guess you should'nt. Ultimately I think it's your character(s) in your book from your story being told by you as you see fit. And I'd hate for you to change any part of it because old homophobic roots.
It's difficult because my Dad used to be very homophobic, and even now I get a slightly negative vibe from him when we see LGBT people on TV sometimes. So idk how he would feel about it. My parents can be kind of judgemental, and they might be weirded out by me writing gay fanfiction...I'm close with them, but we have a lot of baggage.
I'm sort of self conscious about being gay too. For me, whenever I hold my boyfriend's hand in public it's almost like I'm trying to make a statement, which I don't want to. I think it's because I'm scared of what other people think, despite not having a negative reaction yet. I'm not one to show too much affection in public either, so that's probably a general issue and not becuase of my sexuality. Don't have much advice for you there, but what I will say is that you should write your fan fiction however you want, that alone may help alleviate the internalized homophobia you're experiencing, and when you're done, you'll realize same sex relationships are normal too!
If you feel like you have to hide it from them and are worried about them stumbling across files on the computer, why not use a USB drive or write them in Google Docs or some other service requiring a login?
Hey daughtry, I'd love to reply to your wall message but you don't have a wall it seems. Maybe you've turned it off? Sorry for replying here (and in your other thread), but I couldn't think of how to get hold of you.
In my opinion it would be risky to have it sitting there on the computer. My mom was sort of homophobic before I came out however after I came out she was very accepting and honestly one the most lgbt-accepting Christian I have met. However she did say one time that when I have a boyfriend that she doesn't want to see me and him kiss as it would be hard for her. This made me think about your fanfiction, you want to include gay romance and well in my situation while having an accepting mother she did not want to see romance so I don't think it would be a good idea to have your fanficition laying around on your computer. What I think you should do is perhaps make a spare email and create a google drive under it, then type your fanficition there and save it there (don't save your password either). I understand that is still hiding it from your family but if you don't want to hide it from your family and you don't want them seeing it your only other option is to not write it which would suck, I personally love to write whenever I have the imagination for it.
My writing project has no overt sexuality in it and I'd still be self-conscious to show it to my parents. Even a story with no sensitive subjects represents deep parts of yourself dressed up and put on display. Sharing a work of fiction into which you put real effort is an act that takes no small amount of courage. The others are right though. With the cat out of the bag, reading about a gay character you wrote should not strike them weirdly at all. And about telling others, you have very little to worry about. The beautiful thing about fiction is that it's made up. You can write a gay protagonist and explain it away as trying to capture other ways of seeing the world. No undue suspicion, done deal.
Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions! I think part of the problem is that there are a lot of neighbors and relatives that I haven't come out to yet, and I don't want to come out to them anytime soon because they might react negatively to it. And my Mom sometimes mentions the fanfiction that I write when she's talking to her friends, and I'd be afraid of her letting slip that I'm writing a gay character, and that word would get around that I'm gay. I think it's also worth mentioning that last year in the months after I came out to my parents, my Dad outed me to his parents without my permission and my Mom outed me to her co-worker without my permission as well. So that's partly why I have trust issues with them.
