Introduction
IntroductionThe other day, I was browsing in my office shelves and found a modern fairy tale collection I hadn’t read. In this collection, gender roles are questioned, challenged, and often reversed or even discarded, feminist values are asserted, women are empowered and have a choice as to whom they marry or not, and not all princes are charming. Princes and princesses have no problem challenging traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity.
They were a pleasure to read.
But I found myself left out, an Outsider. No characters like me. No l***q+ people. The copyright was twentysomething years ago. Now, it’s 2019, and as I write this introduction, there are a number of published collections of gay-themed retellings of traditional fairy tales and of gay-themed original fairy tales. Is another one needed?
The “kill the gays” trope persists.
LGBTQ+ people are still the Other. We are still going to court so we can buy a wedding cake. Exclusion is still preached. Full human rights aren’t a given in too many places. If, as critics have argued, “fairy tales project utopian visions,” then we need to be present in this vision, if utopia is to be fully human.
These tales of the fantastic are my act of writing us into the story. All have gay protagonists, and all are love stories.
I believe love, in its myriad forms, is the most powerful force in the universe. Indeed, love is probably an essential part of the very fabric of the universe. Love is certainly essential to being human. Speculative fiction offers powerful metaphors and symbols to explore love, to interpret the human condition, to make sense of the human experience. Magic is a glimpse into the mysteries of existence. And love is a form of magic.
Yes, “happily ever after” is the traditional ending for fairy tales and yes, all too often stories with l***q+ characters end in sadness. But I wanted to go beyond this familiar conclusion to a more human one. These stories acknowledge that happiness—even the possibility of happiness—comes with a price, and sometimes one must be willing to give up everything. I choose to end in hope. Happiness? Possibly. Love? Absolutely.
The lovers are many things, including gay. It would have meant so much to me growing up to have gay people in the stories I read and was told. It might have possibly changed the shape of my life. I’m sure that l***q+ people are present in the tales that are the core stories of our culture but they have not been openly portrayed as l***q+. I want l***q+ people to be unmistakably visible and present and active. I want them to be fully human.
So, here we are in plain sight, warts and all.
Once upon a time…
