Gay & Lesbian characters

[bobledrew]

I noticed a group (not a very successful one, given it only had one member) on the forum for gay Stephen King fans. The group introduction reads in part:

"I enjoy very much the writing styles of Mr. King and I am in the process of writing my own book which I have incorporated much of what I learned from him in his book 'On Writing', I wonder why as of yet there has not been a main Charachter or Hero in any of his books that is gay?

I think that it would be refreshing to read a story with a positive gay charachter/hero that isn't saturated in the stereo-types casted on this community of individuals. We are very much misunderstood and you would never imagine that I was gay upon outer observation, so if its the stereo-type that is seemingly incompatible with the stories characters that Mr. King tends to write about, I wanted to gather a group together that challenges that label."

I'm a little bit perplexed by this. Off the top of my head, I can think of Dayna Jurgens and Susan Stern in The Stand and Tom McCourt in Cell as out characters who are not stereotypes and are positive characters in the context of the book.

There are less prominent gay characters -- Tommy Flanagan in The Talisman, Adrian Mellon and his partner in IT -- and while sometimes the characters are drawn broadly, I don't see King as homophobic or as anti-GLBT in any way. Some of his CHARACTERS are gay-bashers and gay-killers. But that doesn't mean King approves of those actions.

Thoughts?

[Doc Wilson]

True, a compelling gay protagonist would be cool, but I'd rather he didn't write about gays at all than to do it in self conscious or preachy way.

[kingricefan]

I really don't think King is homophobic. His daughter is a lesbian and from what I can tell he (and Tabby) love their children greatly. I actually feel that he treats his (good) gay characters with compassion and does his best to make them real. I'm gay, (had no idea there was a group on the SKMB for gays) and if I felt he didn't I wouldn't read his books. King is a child of the '60's and I think he follows the motto 'Live and Let Live.'

[Srbo]

Well, King`s motto is " Write what you know".
He writes as much about gay people as he knows about them, some are good people, some are bad.
Just like straight folks, King doen`t make a difference between them at all.
If they fit into the story, they are there.

[wally wonder]

well, how do you know which way they swing, unless they get down to it?

...wasn't it peter straub that said, once upon a time, that we're still waiting for sk to discover sex?

...that said, reading the stand lately... and there's something about the way nick's abode is described, shacking up w/that other guy, what was his name?....i wanna say norm, but that's wrong...ralph maybe? i keep waiting for someone to raise that possibility....you know, like that stuff about the last supper painting, all the evidence....

[Doc Wilson]

Well, fans of gay themed horror will always have Anne Rice and Clive Barker.

[JayzinSmith]

There's Sammy Bushey and her girlfriend-while-high in Under the Dome.

[fushingfeef]

Also I think King writes with such efficiency, I don't see him writing about a gay character unless it was somehow pertinent to the plot. You don't want to put a gay character in the story just for the sake of tokenism. Otherwise you end up with something like the Ernie Hudson role in "Ghostbusters".

[hossenpepper]

I 2nd SRBO on this one. I think you write what you know. I am sure Ms Mod could regale us with tales of research on unknown subjects, but still the bullet points are not the same as first hand experience.

[sam peebles]

. Otherwise you end up with something like the Ernie Hudson role in "Ghostbusters".

Hey, Ernie Hudson serves a point in Ghostbusters more than just tokenism! He's the everyman, the audience, the guy off the street without a PHD in parapsychology or a minor in metallurgy (although Bill Murray is such an awful scientist he kind of serves this purpose, too). He was also brought in halfway through the movie to illustrate how busy the Ghostbusters were becoming due to an increase in paranormal activity.