LGBT Tuesday: Introduction!

Welcome to Unabridged Andra's LGBT Tuesday!

This is a weekly meme designed to foster discussion about books that have LGBT main characters, or prominent side characters, and have LGBT themes in them. It is my hope that by reading about of LGBT people, a better understanding, empathy, and compassion will start to exist in the mainstream culture. Each week, there will be a discussion post that deals with issues from the LGBT community, some info on what's going on in the real-world with LGBT issues, and reviews of a book that I've read that has something to cool to bring to the table.  I also have a few of my awesome gay friends popping in from time to time to make their fabulous presence known. Rcmember to link up YOUR reviews of LGBT books, and I will go check them out! 

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Today, I was reading an article about the spinoff of How I Met Your Mother...the cop-out of a name- How I met  your Dad...Though I love the current incarnation of the show, I'm a little leery of it becoming a spin-off. We all know that those are usually a weak imitation of the first show at best, some terrible catastrophe at worst.  That being said, I'm tentatively positive for the new show because the character profiles posted on NBC's site seem promising and hilarious. Danny and Todd are the "Marshall and Lily" of this group. They are the happily married couple, and the only thing that separates them from the real Marshall and Lily is, you guessed it, they are gay.

In my initial read through, I barely thought anything of this idea. I just kept trying to figure out who was going to be the next Ted, or Barney, or whoever and crossing my fingers that the new spin-off isn't going to be so atrocious that it over-shadows it's predecessor which is one of my favorite shows. Then I read the comments section....

Hmm..."Now you can't have a good show without adding a gay character" That doesn't seem very nice... Any time a new movie, show, book, etc is announced and it features gay characters, one of the questions posted on the discussion board is "Why does there have to be a gay character in EVERYTHING?" Well, because dear questioner, there are gay people EVERYWHERE.

According to the most recent statistics, 1 out of every 10 Americans is gay, and this could be even higher because it can be assumed that some people have not come out of the closet yet or haven't accepted their sexual orientation. This means that without a doubt, you know someone who is gay. You could work with them, they could be part of your social circles, they could even be members of your church or religious group. That means

Being gay transcends race, or culture, or ethnicity. You can not "choose" or "decide" to be gay, you just are. So yes, spiteful commenters from Youtube, Twitter, Yahoo, etc....there DOES have to be a gay character in every new show, movie, and video game...because gay people are everywhere and they deserve to be represented in pop culture and the media just like any other demographic.

SO: In honor of all of the gay characters everywhere, I'm going to share my favorite fictional gay characters of all time. From TV to movies to books-these gays practically dance off the pages and bring a smile to your face and a song to your heart.

Next week's Topic of Discussion.

Are you an author of a really AWESOME LGBT themed book? Are you a reader or follower who has read a groundbreaking LGBT novel? Let me know!  Feel free to contact me at andralynn7@gmail.com, because I am ALWAYS looking for new book to read! If you have written a book with LGBT characters or themes, you can be featured on LGBT Tuesday in an interview or guest post. Just let me know what you would have time for, and we will get things rolling!