Hello there. I've been wondering about this topic for a while now so, here are my questions. Feel free to answer however you like.

Did reading BL/GL affect your judgment on the LGBT community in any way? Did any of you start off seemingly prejudiced about the whole idea of gay men adopting a child or getting married, and somehow feels that reading Yaoi changed that?

Sure we all know BL and GL don't equal homosexuality in real life but, in retrospective, do you think that reading this particular genre made you more aware of the whole LGBT community and their legal rights, or even took you to participate actively on its behalf? Or rather, you read BL/GL for the sake of it and take no interest whatsoever on the so-called "homosexual question" (ugh, weird phrasing...) or what goes on in their real world?

Do you feel any kind of cultural conflict, almost as though telling you that what happens in manga should stay in manga?

I'm not too sure if this question will raise that fruitful a debate but, no matter what, I'm looking forward to read your stories

P.S: My interest is purely academic no, no it's not...

________________
It's the Art of Time, it's the Art of Life--
Of the player and the craftsman,
Of the writer of songs, of the creator of love,
Of those who will follow, of those who led,
There's no other way in the world ahead ♥

No, I've always been fine with homosexuality. Gay rights has never been one of my big social issues though. I know how bad the situation is in some other countries (Uganda comes to mind), but in Canada, gay marriage has been legal for about a decade and a large majority of people support it. One of our politicians and his partner recently adopted an adorable pair of twins. If I hear someone gay-bashing in public, I'll definitely try to shame them, but I'm not going to join an organized effort for public education.

I would say that the only thing that's changed after reading some yaoi is that now when I see gay couples I perversely imagine the details of their sex life. Has anyone watched that How To Get Away With Murder show with the super hot gay guy?

I read BL - I call myself a seasoned fujoshi (o^ ^o) and some GL and I personally do not care about issues regarding LGBT community. I started reading this genre as kid (like 11) and my opinions and views haven't change since then. I'm also from Canada and it's quite normal to see them (married/with children/etc is all normal - my city hosted the first World Pride event lol) However, will I go around joining clubs/organizations? No. Participate in public events? Nope. I read it just because I enjoy the stories *coughsexytimescough*



^That I might have to agree with you. Sad byproduct of BL.

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Translating those lovely Boys Love stories

I was a homophobe before reading yuri. I had multiple boyfriends and used "gay" and other words as insults. I was mostly vocal about it because I was repressing my own feelings. When I gave yuri a chance I was quite overwhelmed that there was an entire genre dedicated to stories featuring people like me. Yuri doesn't always equate to real life but that's preferable since I live the real thing and want a break to see the happy "unrealistic" version of life.

I like to joke that if I had seen yaoi before I saw yuri I'd be straight. I'm happy I realized I'm gay sooner than later and I'm happy I was able to come out to a few people (which you should know it's a surreal feeling where you feel elevated, the weight off your shoulders and no joke - the world gets bright and I personally wasn't angry/frustrated at everyone anymore). GL didn't change my mind about transgender people; the internet did that but that's another story.

End of blog.

Well, I started reading BL/GL when I was... 14-15 years old, I guess? 2009-2010...

Anyway, my family is very religious and my country also has a predominance of Christianism, so LGBT rights is a big political discussion (for example, only in 2011 gay marriage was approved here and adoption by a homosexual couple is still a big deal) and, in my family, homosexuality is unacceptable.
Anyway, but since I was 14-15, I saw that I actually didn't believe in God like my family did and I had a big interesting in reading about homosexuality, women's right etc etc. So when I started reading BL/GL and saw that a homosexual couple could be portrayed like a straight couple without anyone buzzing about it made me read, defend and confirm what I really wanted to believe it was the right way to see "life".

So I guess reading it helped me see it is a normal thing and people rejecting other types of love is the abnormal thing. It made me think it is quite normal to fall in love to someone from the same sex, so I shouldn't keep thinking I'm acting wrong if that happens with me.
About trans*, I met a friend who was transexual and she helped me a lot to understand and see that it is a real thing, not just a phase or anything. Also, that it is almost torture to be something you don't want to be just because someone else decided it for you (designated genre, designated name etc).

So, yes, it helped me and, in the future, I won't forbid my children to see LGBT-related films, books and anything like that, because I want them to understand it is normal and real like any other type of love/genre/etc.

Well ladies from Canada, this is exactly why I mentioned the “cultural conflict” For starters, I had no idea that gay marriage was legalized so early in the 21st century in Canada but I’m happy to learn it has since become a normal thing. Of course the impact of BL and GL in our lives will always be dependent on our social, cultural and political surroundings, as your case well illustrates

@caozhi your story, I think, is very interesting because it’s not really about how GL enabled you to perceive others and their “alternative” lifestyles (as the saying foes) but rather how it connected to you on a much deeper and personal level. Hey, congrats! I can only imagine how liberating it feels. On the other hand, your entry made me think on the psychological connection that we, BL/GL consumers, make with the message of this kind of product. For instance, I wonder how many straight girls deliberately and very self-consciously keep away from Yuri, and why. Ah! Sorry, over-thinking again

@dalek I can totally relate! I was 13-14 when I first got into BL and in my country we’re also a little behind on recognizing gay rights -- well, maybe not legally, by Europe’s standards, but gay marriage/adoption is definitely a problem in so-called polite conversation. Mentalities still need to be changed. Like you I also come from a very religious, Christian family but I share your sympathies, 100%

________________
It's the Art of Time, it's the Art of Life--
Of the player and the craftsman,
Of the writer of songs, of the creator of love,
Of those who will follow, of those who led,
There's no other way in the world ahead ♥

Yes, definitely growing up here made it easier for me to accept. I remember in third grade our teacher talking to us about it. I came home in surprise telling my parents, "Mom/Dad women can marry women and men can marry men!" The horror on my parents face when I said that. I'm very religious and for that reason I'm like "Okay, do what you wanna do because it's none of my business. But I don't want to get involved either."



I read GL manga and now watch it as well. The thing is though at first I was scared of it. When I was younger I was like telling myself I WILL NEVER WATCH IT/IT'S GROSS/EWW. Because I seriously scared I would be like what if I'm gay or something. But I watched Aoi Hana (read it and watch it...amazing piece of literature IMO) and it was just normal. The romance was like any romance and I was like why didn't I read/watch this before. I now my sexuality/comfortable with who I am so it didn't cause to me any issues like I thought it was going to.

I was talking with a friend and she doesn't want anything to do with GL because it makes her uncomfortable and I'm just like....hmmm? Yet she is always asking about what I'm reading. So I think some are scared or put off because it will make them question themselves.

________________
Translating those lovely Boys Love stories

After being introduced to BL at 13-14, I became extremely aware of how people spoke about homosexuals and the use of derogative terms.

I was forced to be a Christian by my mother who brought me to an anti-gay rally when I was 10. I had mixed feelings about what I participated in. Shortly after that, I kinda felt depressed since I didn't understand why same gendered people cannot get married.

At one point, I felt like being prejudice would make my religious mother happy, but it isn't who I am. I couldn't accept it. They carved it into my brain every Sunday via church that homosexuality is a sin.

I happen to stumble gently into (slash)BL when I found Demon Diary in a public library. It lead me to think "They'd make a great couple!" since they're so cute together.

I started reading GL in high school and I was also in the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, where we had meetings about things going on in general. But honestly it was where the few homosexual students felt free to speak to others without any prejudice. Such normality made me very happy.

Now in my (somewhat) adult life, people my age are so accepting of everything! it makes me happy how people are so open-minded.

Yeah, religious upbringings can be tough (and the way you personally described it seems to me to be of the worst kind of it) but then again, as Sakura_Hikizaki pointed out, religion can also be about acceptance

I also feel that, generally speaking, people my age are more accepting of everything, but then in my day-to-day life I don't seem to be lucky enough to meet those all-embracing folk xD at least with some people who I know on a more personal level, anything related and debatable about the LGBT community still remains a little taboo. I don't know... some of them were even around when I started reading BL. Maybe I should have got them to read it, meh..

Btw,

Yosh! I think you hit the mark. Prejudice can go both ways and in this case it's like an inner blockage or something. But I guess if BL/GL can help one come to terms with who he/she is, then those clever mangakas are doing something right.

________________
It's the Art of Time, it's the Art of Life--
Of the player and the craftsman,
Of the writer of songs, of the creator of love,
Of those who will follow, of those who led,
There's no other way in the world ahead ♥

This.

My opinions on LGBT issues have been informed by the gay people I have known IRL.

Well, I guess that's the conventional way to go but surely we don't all live in a cultural/social/political environment that allows us to think on these issues based solely, or at all, on first-hand accounts of the people who are affected by it more directly. Personally I feel that there's a greater value still to any artistic device that enables you, whether willingly or not, to question the "normality" of social reality.

________________
It's the Art of Time, it's the Art of Life--
Of the player and the craftsman,
Of the writer of songs, of the creator of love,
Of those who will follow, of those who led,
There's no other way in the world ahead ♥

bump!

________________
It's the Art of Time, it's the Art of Life--
Of the player and the craftsman,
Of the writer of songs, of the creator of love,
Of those who will follow, of those who led,
There's no other way in the world ahead ♥

I started reading yaoi around 12, then got introduced to yuri soon after. it's all but a fun(?) time killing activity, but i wouldnt take any of the yaoi/yuri seriously, but of course with a few exceptions. The portrayal of gay people in yaoi really skewed my perception of being gay in my early teens. Manga in general portrays unrealistic representations and really unhealthy relationships when it comes to romance.

One thing about the 'fujoshi' thing is that i've seen a lot of them fetishize homosexuality but are extremely homophobic when it comes to love between people their own gender, this applies to straight men watching lesbian porn but get grossed out by gay marriage too.

I came from a Christian country, so of course there are a lot of people that are prejudiced against the LGBTQ community or are at least very misinformed. A lot of people here don't even know the difference between being gay and being transgender. Thankfully, even though my family is very religious, they have taught me since I was little to never to judge people. So I was always an open minded kid. Then when I went to highschool, I met a fujoshi and she introduced me to BL which then made me interested in GL and then the LGBTQ community in general. I began researching a lot about sexuality and then I started getting curious about my own sexuality and realized that I was never really completely straight XD and I knew it wasn't only the influence of yaoi/yuri, I always knew but never really labeled it. Until now I can't put a label on my sexuality because I never felt the need to. I just go with what feels right for me. So, BL/GL just made me more aware I guess even though compared to reality, a lot of publishings were like fairytales but they certainly are a channel to being more aware.