your thoughts on authors portraying homophobia in their BL stories?
Honestly, I see a lot of people don't like it. I always thought, 'Oh, it’s because straight people feel uncomfortable seeing what society puts queer people through, so they’d rather view gay men as objects of fantasy than think about their struggles.' But apparently, that’s not the case—queer people also hate it.
As for me, I don’t hate it. A lot of BL fans are homophobic, so reading media that challenges their beliefs and makes them reflect on the flaws in their morals is, in my opinion, a good thing. It also makes me relate to the characters. Being queer in a conservative country is tough, and seeing characters go through the same struggles as me makes me feel seen.
I do wish GL explored homophobia more. They often make being a lesbian seem easy, which isn’t realistic. The only GL that felt relatable to my experience was Run Away With Me, Girl.
I’m very much inbetween the whole homophobia part of BL because, when some BL portray homophobia in Eastern Asia it’s usually just to make a “forbidden love” trope, which honestly downplays queer hate and fetishizes homo relationships. But, some BL do spread awareness about homophobia and instead of downplaying it and doing a whole Romeo an......
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