first published in the Brisbane Courier-Mail 23 September 2006
One of the major issues facing the romance genre mirrors one of the major issues facing contemporary romance – mainly who is entitled to a happy-ever-after ending.
Gay and Lesbian romance novels have existed for quite some time, though often under the guise of literary fiction. The question of their own subgenre within the romance family has enjoyed some fairly rigorous debate over the last few months.
In July, a letter to the editor of the Romance Writers’ Report, the industry magazine for the Romance Writers of America, was leaked. In the letter, RWA member Jan Butler states that a shrill minority is currently attempting to hijack the RWA from its ‘one-man, one-woman relationship’ roots. She argues that legitimising gay and lesbian romance is akin to legitimising pedophilia, and maintains that, should gay and lesbian romance writers be allowed to join the RWA, ‘traditional’ romance writers will find themselves muzzled and censored.
The online romance community exploded. Both sides of the argument were debated violently on blogs and websites all over the world. The letter was picked apart sentence by sentence, word by word, and upheld and decried as an example of free speech. And while nearly two months have passed, the passion of the argument has never really died down, and debates still flare up regularly.
I have my own views on this subject, but I believe the romance industry is not interesting itself too much in ideology, but in an altogether more practical direction – finances. Is there a market for gay and lesbian romance?
Romantic Times, a reviews magazine for the romance genre, recently ran an online survey. Publisher Carol Stacy created a poll because she felt hesitant about reviewing, in this case male/male erotica, because she did not believe that the readers of the magazine were interested in this type of story.
The online poll received 303 votes, and an overwhelming 57% claimed to ‘Love Them’. A further 9% ‘Would Give Them A Try’, while 16% ‘Have No Objection To Them, But No Interest’. Only 16% of those polled ‘Would Never Read One’. One of the major arguments through the many, many posts that followed is also a catchphrase for debunking the myths surrounding the romance genre – mainly that romance is not about sex, but about emotions. While sex can, and often does, play a part in the development of the relationship between the main characters, it is really the growing emotional bond that defines the romance within the novel. Emotions, most believe, are universal, especially love.
Further, readers strongly suggest that, if one is not interested or offended by gay or lesbian romance, perhaps it might be best to avoid reading them.
Good advice, because if that 57% is any indication, gay and lesbian romances, like regencies or paranormals, have carved themselves a comfortable niche and settled in for good.
