From Romance to Magical Realism: Limits and Possibilities in Gay Adolescent Fiction

Authors of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) adolescent novels have recently moved away from addressing the ‘‘problem’’ of sexual identity and have instead focused on personal and societal ‘‘acceptance’’ of non-normative sexualities. Within the increasing number of ‘‘acceptance’’ titles published depicting gay males, there are two distinct means of representing forms of gayness. In this article, I illustrate that what distinguishes these forms from one another is their handling of homophobia and the extent to which they subvert heteronormativity, the implicit belief that heterosexuality is the only ‘‘normal’’ self-identity. While some authors use homophobia as the foil against which queer characters struggle in order to find happiness as a couple, others work to suspend ‘‘reality’’ by imagining away homophobia—showing queer characters building relationships in an environment relatively free of discrimination. Despite their differences, I argue that both methods ultimately reinscribe heteronormativity through the assumption that monogamous coupling is the goal of LGBTQ youth.