History Main / GayRomanticPhase

Note that for various cultural reasons, this trope is still relatively popular in Japan where gay romance, especially between girls, is still considered by many to be innocent and immature, with the expectation that it will give way to said "serious" romance by the time they graduate. These relationships are commonly known as "S Kankei" or "Class S," and tend to have a SenpaiKohai dynamic to them. Attitudes do seem to be shifting, however, as polls from the late [[TheNewTens new tens]] and early [[TheNewTwenties new twenties]] have found that the majority of people, and the vast majority of under sixties, are in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in the country.

-->'''Scott:''' You had a SEXY phase!?

* ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'': At one point, several characters are explaining the term "lesbian" to someone who has never heard the word before, and define it as "Women who are sexually interested in women while in high school". The sole lesbian character within the story, Sakura, [[spoiler:turns out to be a PsychoLesbian and the BigBad of the entire story. She is also the [[AllGaysArePromiscuous the most promiscuous]] character, complete with her own [[DepravedHomosexual abused and brainwashed harem]] of female {{Sex Slave}}s, with the ultimate goal of [[VillainousCrush adding the protagonist]] to it.]]

Note that for various cultural reasons, this trope is still relatively popular in Japan where gay romance, especially between girls, is still considered by many to be innocent and immature, with the expectation that it will give way to said "serious" romance by the time they graduate. These relationships are commonly known as "S Kankei" or "Class S," and tend to have a SempaiKohai dynamic to them. Attitudes do seem to be shifting, however, as polls from the late [[TheNewTens new tens]] and early [[TheNewTwenties new twenties]] have found that the majority of people, and the vast majority of under sixties, are in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in the country.

* ''Manga/{{Tsugumomo}}'': Kanaka (mother of protagonist Kazuya) started a three-way lesbian relationship with her [[LivingWeapon tsukumogami, Kiriha,]] and the local {{Physical God}}dess Kukuri, at first justifying it as {{skinship|Grope}} bonding. Both Kiriha and Kukuri were shocked and upset when Kanaka later married a man, had children and ended all sexual contact with them, as neither were aware that Kanaka even ''liked'' men.

* In the backstory of ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', Sayaka Saeki was in a romantic relationship with an unnamed female senpai, who broke it off because she thought they were outgrowing the whole "gay romance" phase. Subverted in that it wasn't a phase for Sayaka, who is a lesbian. When they run into each other in one of the manga's interlude chapters, said senpai apologizes for "corrupting" her into liking girls, much to Sayaka's confusion and anger.

* [[spoiler: Brie]] and Lara from ''Literature/{{Commencement}}'' by J. Courtney Sullivan are a slightly older subversion of the trope, occurring during their time at Smith College. The former claims that the relationship is just a college experiment and she'll go back to guys when she graduates. [[spoiler: She doesn't, although she does question her relationship multiple times in the years after she leaves Smith.]]

* In the backstory of ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', Sayaka Saeki was in a romantic relationship with an unnamed female senpai, who broke it off because she thought they were outgrowing the whole "gay romance" phase. Subverted in that it wasn't a phase for Sayaka, who is a lesbian. When they run into each other in one of the manga's interlude chapters, said senpai apologizes for "corrupting" her into liking girls, much to Saeki's confusion and anger.

* {{Invoked|trope}} by Kaorin in ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh''; upon being asked [[TransparentCloset if her obsession with Sakaki means she's gay]], she replies that she ''isn't'' gay, it's just a "teenage thing," and just to prove it, [[SingleTargetSexuality she wouldn't mind if Sakaki was a guy.]]

** In the anime prequel ''Anime/GaReiZero'', Kagura and Yomi -- who are foster sisters -- have a very non-sisterly relationship, with Yomi kissing Kagura on the lips and "skinshipping" her while they're bathing together; and Yomi is initially hesitant towards her arranged marriage to Noriyuki Izuna, though she decides to go through with it out of duty to her family and eventually grew to have feelings for him. However, Yomi's relationship with Kagura -- sisterly or otherwise -- is ruined when Yomi is manipulated into embracing a Bane Stone. Kagura is forced to kill her, and Yomi's vengeful spirit becomes the antagonist of the first arc of the manga. While Yomi is ultimately redeemed, both of she and Kagura ultimately move on to male love interests -- Yomi to Noriyuki and Kagura to Kensuke.

* In ''Webcomic/RedString'', Fuuko finds love with a woman named Hanae after she moves to Toyko. When Hanae's mother discovers their relationship she [[http://www.redstring.strawberrycomics.com/?p=1025 chastises them]] telling that they need to grow out of it because it "Won't get them anywhere" (i.e. won't get them married), clearly disregarding their love as a "Class S" relationship.

** In the anime prequel ''Anime/GaReiZero'', Kagura and Yomi -- who are foster sisters -- have a very non-sisterly relationship, with Yomi kissing Kagura on the lips and "skinshipping" her while they're bathing together. However, both of them ultimately move on to male love interests -- Kagura to Kensuke and Yomi to Noriyuki.
** To her [[{{Gayngst}} confusion and consternation]], Izumi develops a crush on Kagura, expressing intense jealousy of Kagura's romance with Kensuke. While she admits [[IfItsYouItsOK she would be fine with hooking up with Kagura]], she insists that she's not a lesbian and that her feelings are due to Yomi's "sisterly" love for Kagura bleeding over into her. Despite having amnesia, Kagura turns down Izumi's confession.

* In ''VisualNovel/KindredSpiritsOnTheRoof'', after Kiri admits her love for her teacher and club advisor, Tsukuyo Sonou, the latter tells her that it's just a phase she's going through during a confusing part of her life and she'll look back at this and realize it was a big misunderstanding when she gets older. Kiri, who really is gay, does not take this well, naturally. Eventually, she does bring Sounou-sensei around and they do start a relationship, albeit a [[SecretRelationship secret one]].

Note that for various cultural reasons, this trope is still relatively popular in Japan where gay romance, especially between girls, is still considered by many to be innocent and immature, with the expectation that it will give way to said "serious" romance by the time they graduate. These relationships are commonly known as "S Kankei" or "ClassS," and tend to have a SempaiKohai dynamic to them. Attitudes do seem to be shifting, however, as polls from the late [[TheNewTens new tens]] and early [[TheNewTwenties new twenties]] have found that the majority of people, and the vast majority of under sixties, are in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage in the country.

May be motivated by DatingWhatDaddyHates or trying for a ShockValueRelationship. Compare ExperimentedInCollege (a similar concept, in which a heterosexual character experimented sexually with the same gender but said experiments weren't romantic in nature), RomanticTwoGirlFriendship (where they're not in a sexual or physically intimate relationship, but they are emotionally intimate and follow many of the same tropes, again with the expectation that this will be replaced by "real" (heterosexual) romance when they grow up), ButNotTooGay (where the romantic aspects of a gay relationship are played down) and BaitAndSwitchLesbians (where two characters of the same gender are presented as being in a romantic relationship, only to later reveal that they're not and are actually attracted to the opposite sex). See also IfItsYouItsOkay, where a character hooks up with someone of the gender they're not attracted to.

* ''Manga/SecretofThePrincess'' has Miu and Fujiwara's relationship start off like this, and only to keep Miu from telling anyone that Fujiwara broke a very expensive vase. They explicitly call it a practice relationship several times, but eventually they fall for each other and begin a true relationship.

'''Scott:''' You had a sexy phase?!\\

* ''Literature/GodEmperorOfDune'': due to some values dissonance this is Moneo's (and presumably Leto's II also) opinion on lesbian relationships between Fish Speakers- something natural that they usually grow out of. Moneo said this during an argument with Duncan Idaho, who coming from another era is revolted by allowance for such pratices.

* In the backstory of ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', Sayaka Saeki was in one of these with an unnamed senpai, who broke it off because she thought they were outgrowing the whole "gay romance" phase. Subverted in that it wasn't a phase for Sayaka, who is a lesbian. When they run into each other in one of the manga's interlude chapters, said senpai apologizes for "corrupting" her into liking girls, much to Saeki's confusion and anger.

* Implied in ''Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain'', when Donna sings [[Music/{{ABBA}} "When I Kissed the Teacher"]] to a female professor. Donna never exhibits any romantic interest in women after graduation, making it this trope.

* This trope was recognised by Creator/AgathaChristie in her novel ''Nemesis''. Naturally, [[spoiler:Verity is murdered by Clotilde, a PsychoLesbian who couldn't handle Verity growing out of this phase and taking up with a local bad boy instead.]]