nah, it's not just for gay guys or straight girls. anyone can read it, as long as they like it. but i do find it odd and amazing at the same time that 'straight' people read something of the same sex. maybe they're just really open-minded and don't care for what they read, they chill with that stuff like neflix and chill ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
I'm a straight girl and I like reading both yaoi and yuri! I think the reason why there is such a a sexuality binary in reading yaoi and yuri is probably because of the fetishization. Yaoi is often not a realistic perception of gay relationships, but it shows an image of what could be, and it's often idealized for the viewing of the straight female. Yuri is the same for straight guys as well. I feel like both don't necessarily cater to the gay community. Also, personally for me, I get turned on by sexual content in general, regardless of gender, so that's why both sex in yaoi and yuri is arousing.
romance stories are mostly aimed at girls. (yaoi, yuri, shoujo, josei)
(also there are more sexualities than just straight and gay)
and porn and hentai are mostly aimed at boys (it's always that assumption that we are sweet little angels and we're totally not pervs)
i also don't think it depends on girls sexuality what they read because we are more 'free' about it, like if you are really close with your female friends nobody's gonna call you a lesbian
and guys are often called gay (in negative way) for being too close, or being feminine and it comes to that if they read something gay they have to be gay (and that's like totally bad and negative thing) so even if straight guy likes romantic stories he would avoid them.
so it's really rare to find a straight guy reading yaoi, but for girls sexuality doesn't matter there.
this is what i got from my experience
I'm a straight woman and I read Yuri. I actually wish more yaoi would take a page from Yuri and realize you don't always need to include rapey stuff. Being a yaoi fan and not liking that sorta stuff makes it hard to find anything to read. It's like being a shoujo fan but not liking love triangles. Good luck finding anything. It's why lately I have just been watching action/adventure anime like Attack on the Titan or FMA. Not judging anyone who likes it btw just not my cup of tea. I'm not demanding pure fluff here either. Seems like people always assume if you don't like that stuff it means you want pure fluff nonsense.
I'm a straight asexual and I read and watch hentai or yuri but I read yaoi more.
Yeah sure plot is nice but I'll be honest.
I usually read it for the sex scenes.
I'm female, don't bother with labels cause in my case, when it comes to sexual fluidity, anything could happen. I've read both yaoi & yuri, but yaoi more cause of the plot and stories. But it would be cool to hang out with that person who's open-minded and actually does enjoy reading yaoi or yuri :)
Have you guys ever met a guy who's straight that reads yaoi or a straight girl that reads yuri? The thought actually ran through over my head since yaoi is for straight girls and gay guys or yuri is for straight guys and gay girls. Makes you wonder sometimes.