That second quote... I remember a girl who was writing a shitty webcomic where everyone was some flavor of queer. At some point she herself mentioned one of her male characters had excellent chemistry with one of her female characters, but she couldn't have them together, because it would be 'too heteronormative'.
It has been at least a decade since I last knew of her and I will never forget how retarded it was. It sounds bad when you read it on a screen, but I promise you it is 100 times worse when you hear it said out loud, with absolute sincerity.
Yeah I tried to play a drinking game on that article every time it reminded me of this thread and even I couldn't handle that much alcohol. This section alone...
I overheard discussions of a popular show among students, The Owl House, for an entire school year. It was recommended to me quite frequently. Given the amount of exposure, one would expect me to have picked up on most of the key details about the show.
All I knew about The Owl House was that it was on Disney, and the characters were gay. I didn’t even know it was an animated series or the main character’s name.
Online groups closely echoed what I saw in person. Members would spam all-caps cheers after finding out a music artist was bi, or draw their characters dressed head-to-toe in the colors of Pride flags. These eerily echoed the conversations from my early high school years.
But, in the years beyond my graduation, these spaces were “queer” spaces. Their population was not much different from my high school self: nerdy early-teens girls who weren’t interested in dating. Except, I identified as a straight person capable of individual wants and choices, while they considered themselves “asexual.”
I was taught the word “queer” was a slur. And I certainly didn’t need to announce my romantic preferences (or lack thereof) in my online profile.
While under the guise of easy-access “queer” labels, these writers not only escaped accusations of problematic material but passed it off as a work of charity. Most claims of asexuality never seemed to hold water against how obsessed the writers seemed with their original characters, who were often abused, closeted gay men.
I can’t help but wonder if a girl who loudly proclaims “I’m asexual!” is really trying to say “I’m better than that!” Though she likely isn’t aware of it, deep down, she’s thinking she would never stoop to such a thing as liking a boy… With heterosexuality so scorned, stigmatized, and dangerous, wanting a boyfriend, or even having a male crush, seemed like a death sentence.
Or in some cases, perhaps teens are transitioning because, subconsciously, they need a gay relationship. Because a straight boy isn’t good enough. He isn’t interesting enough. He isn’t diverse enough. He isn’t safe enough.
