In universe homophobia-keep
- Armoured Closet Gay: A closeted gay who's prompted by Internalized Categorism to express homophobia against others and aggressively assert his heterosexual bona fides. Their self-loathing can make the homophobia of such characters particularly vicious.
- Closet Gay: A character has to hide their orientation and appear straight.
- Gayngst-Induced Suicide: The suggestion that being gay is a good, common reason to kill oneself. Particularly heinous because of its very real effect on LGBT youth.
- Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?: The familial rejection in this one is supposed to be well-meaning (assuming the family loves the queer person), but it carries the implication that the queer person can and should change.
- Heteronormative Crusader: The "crusader" part implies a morally-sanctioned combative attitude; the "heteronormative" part implies the enemy is anyone who doesn't follow conventional rules about sex and gender performance.
- Homophobic Hate Crime: The unfortunate situation of people being attacked or killed because of homophobia towards them on the attacker's part.
- Internalized Categorism: This can affect members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities as well as women, and the problem can be compounded when a person fits more than one category and believes the worst of more than one group. When a queer person believes all the worst stereotypes about queer people, trouble follows, often for them and occasionally for others.
- Some of My Best Friends Are X: As the "X" indicates, this can be used with racial or ethnic groups and religious adherents as well as cisgender men and women. In an LGBTI context, some people claim this as a defense against a charge of homophobic bigotry. When it's clear they aren't really that friendly with any gay people, it isn't much of a defense.
- Intersex Tribulations: Characters are perceived as unusual because they are born intersex. If not that, then they internalize negative feelings towards being intersex.
- Trans Relationship Troubles: Being trans causes drama when it comes to romantic relationships.
- Trans Tribulations: Transgender characters going through a multitude of hardships, implying being transgender comes with endless misery.
- Wanted a Gender-Conforming Child: A character wishes their daughter were more feminine or their son were more masculine.
creator driven homophobia (as in put in the work by the creator themself, not by outside forces)-keep
- Bait-and-Switch Lesbians: Two characters are subject to heavy and deliberate Homoerotic Subtext, but are never explicitly confirmed as sexual partners, and one or both of them is in a heterosexual relationship by the end of the show. Despite the title, there are an increasing number of male examples. Tends to trivialize the same-sex romance, as if it's only there to entertain the demographic titillated by the idea of people of the same sex behaving homoerotically together. Since in female examples the mere appearance of an available male often leads to the switch, it can imply that the women are only interested in each other until a man comes along. Commonly associated with Pseudo-Romantic Friendship, in which case it may also imply that they're engaging in lesbian-ish behaviour only because they don't know any better.
- Bury Your Gays: If being gay is (one of) the worst thing(s) you can be and fiction is only satisfying if virtue is rewarded and vice is punished, then the gay characters deserve to die because they're gay.
- Cure Your Gays: The idea that homosexuality is a form of disease or insanity that can and must be "cured" (In Real Life, it has been discredited by professional organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association). Since it can be used to justify "treatments" that are difficult to distinguish from torture, depictions of this can be particularly squick-making.
- Gay Guy Dies First: The minority included to be immediately killed off is a queer character. It’s almost explicitly giving the message that creators feel pushed to include them but actively want to erase them.
- Out of the Closet, Into the Fire: Coming out will kill, maim, or otherwise harm you. Supports the idea that if you're gay, you should keep it to yourself.
- Rape and Switch: This is based on heteronormative idea that heterosexuality is the "default" state and thus being subject to sexual abuse causes the victim to become homosexual. It also gives the implication that being gay is inherently unhealthy and interferes with a "normal" sex life.
- Sexual Deviance Is Evil: A catch-all for tropes where nonstandard sexual behavior (which generally encompasses LGBTQIA+) is conflated with evil or villainous characters.
- Discount Lesbians: Humanoid lesbian characters get an extra layer of Othering by making them also alien, immortal, cybernetic or otherwise not quite human. While this can be a useful trick in a homophobic society, it also suggests being lesbian means being very unlike the normal folk in the audience, and not in a good way.
- Psycho Lesbian: Plays on the purported link between homosexuality and insanity, flavoured with the sexist implication of "hysteria", as well as implying that if they're willing to do something as bad as lesbian sex, there's nothing they won't do. Sounds like a toxic trifecta, doesn't it?
- All Gays Are Pedophiles: Based partly on the purported hypersexuality of gays and partly on the idea that being gay isn't inherent in anyone, this trope says that gays "recruit" children and "turn" them gay. Never mind that the vast majority of real-life pedophiles (95% or more, depending on the study) are heterosexual.
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Essentially All Men Are Perverts plus I'm a Man; I Can't Help It. How bad this one is depends a lot on how the authors define a "normal" or ideal sex life.
- But Not Too Gay: In an effort to appeal to broad audiences without offending too many people, authors impose limits on homosexual expression that are more strict than those on heterosexual expression. This lends support to the idea that being gay is less acceptable than being straight.
- Depraved Homosexual: If they're having gay sex, and gay sex is among the worst sins on the calendar, they'll stick at nothing.
- Flaming Devil: A triple-serving of the lack of humanity of Discount Lesbians plus the caricature nature of Camp Gay plus the stereotypes associating male femininity with evil and male femininity with homosexuality (thus leading to associating homosexuality with evil as well).
- But Not Too Bi: In an effort to appeal to broad audiences without offending too many people, authors impose limits on bisexual expression that are more strict than those on heterosexual expression. This lends support to the idea that being bi is less acceptable than being straight. For bisexuals, this usually works out so that their attraction to one sex (usually their own) is made much less significant to their attraction to the other.
- Depraved Bisexual: If they're having gay sex, and gay sex is among the worst sins on the calendar, they'll stick at nothing. The presumed promiscuity of bisexuals turns up the volume on this one.
- No Bisexuals: This trope holds that there are only two choices: straight and gay. It tells bisexuals (and the rest of the culture) that they don't actually exist, and if they don't exist, who needs to worry about mentioning them? Besides, if they don't exist, they can't be offended.
- Creepy Crossdresser: Associating crossdressing with immediate sexuality, evil or abnormality in fiction can feed the notion that crossdressing is done only by strange or predatory people. Aside from that, it reinforces sexist gender ideals and that differing from those norms is creepy and bad.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: This kind of revelation is unsettling because the other person is attracted to the person who's doing the revealing. It can result in violence, even death.
- No Love for the Wicked: An aro-ace character is villainous, with their lack of interest in romance and sex being a sign of their villainy.
- Sex Is Interesting: A work adds in loads of sexual characters under the impression that sexuality is the only thing that makes a story worth telling. The implication is that people who don't want sex are too boring to matter. Related to this is creators arguing that characters need to have, and fulfil, sexual desires to be a Rounded Character, or that you can't have a full life without having sex.
Moral guardian or value driven driven homophobia-keep
- Gay Panic: In TV Tropes, this is when queer plotlines and/or characters that were airing are suddenly changed or dropped entirely, it suggests moral disapproval is behind their disappearance. In Real Life, the phrase refers to a legal defence used to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant's violent reaction. note Do we really need all this description about the legality of the gay panic defense in an index, though?
- Get Back in the Closet: When the Moral Guardians get into the editing room, this one helps promote the idea that condemnation of homosexuality is mainstream. It may also be an effort to produce a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: The creators want to be inclusive, but are too afraid of the Moral Guardians to show gay behavior, so they rely heavily on stated assertions of homosexuality. So long as there is a difference between the romantic behaviors of straights and gays, the work carries the implication that being gay is wrong or bad.
- Values Dissonance: As noted on this trope's page, this problem is very widespread. Even food is not immune: a vegan and an omnivore will look at the same plate of baby back ribs and have vastly different reactions. In the LGBTI context, for some people, tropes that depict queer people in a bad light are offensive, while for others they're simply funny or even true.
- Hide Your Lesbians: In addition to the usual concealment of homosexuality, this one can also imply that lesbian women don't want sex (which is defined as heterosexual sex). This description could use a rewrite, though
- Lesbian Vampire: The lack of humanity of Discount Lesbians plus the idea that lesbians are predatory (and must be, since they aren't "natural" and must "recruit" others) plus the association with death and decay. Only in more modern interpretations does it come across as empowering young women by letting them take a level in badass. Straddles the line in terms of whether it's homophobic or not, due to the last part
- Ambiguously Gay: So maybe that character is gay, but for heaven's sake don't say so. Children may be watching.
- Ambiguously Bi: So maybe that character is bi, but for heaven's sake don't say so. Children may be watching.
- Black Jezebel Stereotype: Black people are stereotyped as being a sexually promiscuous population, resulting in asexual people being even less likely to be believed about their orientation if they happen to also have dark skin.
May or may not be necessarily homophobic/transphobic/etc.-discuss
- Adaptational Sexuality: A character in a work is changed to fit heterosexual norms when the work is adapted to a different medium. Though this can be a capitulation to Moral Guardians, it nevertheless lends credence to heterosexism (the work is "improved" by making it less queer). Seeing as the trope can go the other way as well, I'm thinking this could be cut, but prefer to discuss
- The Beard: When practised by lesbians and gay men, this kind of deception can divert suspicions and thus avoid homophobic bigotry. I'm on the fence about this one
- Gay Cruising: Men seeking out anonymous casual sex with other men, oftentimes in public. This trope can be used to highlight homophobia as consenting men having sex with one another are usually targeted by law enforcement unfairly. I think this one relies too much on the presentation, though I'm not sure enough to say cut
- Gayngst: Linking homosexuality and unhappiness/depression/suicide can imply that being gay causes all those bad consequences (rather than the reactions of other people being the cause). Correlation does not equal causation. I prefer to think of gayngst as being about the angst about coming out in large part. Maybe I'm wrong, though
- Homoerotic Subtext: When homosexual expressions are forbidden, some authors resort to this to put them in anyway. Sticking in homoerotic subtext seems like it's the opposite of homophobia to me. Other opinions would help, though
- If It's You, It's Okay: This can be a way to excuse a homosexual or bisexual relationship as a one-off, as if the character needs an excuse. I really have no idea whether this is inherently homophobic or not.
- Queer People Are Funny: Humour about gay relationships because the participants are gay (as opposed to jokes about couples that could apply to heterosexual couples, i.e. they are tempermentally mismatched, have different tastes, or the like) suggests such relationships are inherently funny or deserve ridicule. Again, I'm not sure about any inherent homophobia.
- She's a Man in Japan: This is not always homophobic in motivation, but a large proportion of examples involve changing a character's gender or cis/trans status in order to avoid provoking Moral Guardians by having non-cis characters and/or non-straight romantic relationships. Not always homophobic in motivation says discussion is probably needed
- Bowdlerise: Generally, this involves any editing of language and sexual themes from an existing work and is generally performed by Moral Guardians, or at their request. Specifically for LGBTI people, it means removing queer content from existing works because it is queer, such as removing instances of Boys' Love and lesbians from anime works, effectively turning a seinen anime into a Shōnen—to "protect" the children in the audience. I can see how it could be used for homophobia, but Bowdlerizing is such a broad thing that it feels weird to put it on this index.
- Condescending Compassion: Among the many groups that can be on the receiving end of this are people with disabilities and members of racial and religious minorities. When directed at homosexuals, it can allow the "compassionate" person to feel superior to those who have the "misfortune" to be queer. Their pity may only last so long as their targets go along with this. I can see this going either way, but again, the broadness has me a bit confused as to whether it belongs
- Gendered Insult: While not exclusive to queer characters, there's often a homophobic and/or transphobic suggestion to these sorts of insults. The trope can also include instances where trans characters are intentionally misgendered. Do we have an intentional misgendering trope? If not, I can see this staying.
- Camp Gay: First, this equates "effeminate" with "gay". Second, it implies that men who behave this way are deserving of ridicule. Third, in practice, it can be taken to paint all gays with this broad lavender brush, when it is only Truth in Television for some gays. The second point I doubt is true in all cases, and I'm not sure that it should be treated as inherently homophobic since some gay men willingly act like this
- Club Kid: Young hedonistic gays who spend their nights in dance clubs using copious amounts of drugs (legal and not) and hooking up with as many sex partners as possible. Not a flattering picture of gay youth. I can see this being trated as positive by a certain kind of work, quite easily. I may be looking at it wrong, however.
- Incredibly Conspicuous Drag: Because men in dresses are considered funny. I can see this character being played sympathetically and otherwise. Could go either way
- Non-Human Non-Binary: The trope has implications that non-binary people are inhuman or are otherwise "other". It can dehumanize non-binary people. Seems like a stretch to me, but I can see how some could see it as homophobic
- Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: These characters can be powerful escapist characters for trans, intersex and gender-nonconforming people, but can also carry the implication that not fitting neatly into a binary gender makes you not quite a real human being. This isn't helped by the fact that many characters like this have Blue-and-Orange Morality, implying that being outside a strict gender binary is so mysterious and different to the normal human experience that it's incomprehensible to ordinary people. Again, I think this might be a reach, but again, I can see where they're coming from.
- Sissy Villain: Villains with effeminate characteristics can lead viewers to equate effeminacy (in men) with evil. Since effeminacy is also often equated with homosexuality, this trope can tend to associate homosexuality with evil as well. I really don't know whether to cut this one or not.
- Trans Equals Gay: When one thinks that heterosexuality is the norm, it's easy to believe that gay people must have a gender identity opposite of their assigned gender at birth. Really not sure
- Trans Equals Hypersexual: Transgender or gender-nonconforming characters are depicted as having an Extreme Libido, no sexual boundaries, bizarre kinks, or otherwise over-the-top sexual proclivities. Again, I'm not sure, though I lean towards keep.
- All Women Are Prudes: Several asexual traits (In particular sex repulsion) are portrayed as universal among women, which erases the fact that there are differences between asexual and allosexual women. The whole all women thing makes me want to say cut, but there's enough niggle in my head that it's here.
- Deconfirmed Bachelor: Never wanting to get married is quite common among asexuals and aromantics, especially if the two orientations overlap. The belief that members of those populations "just haven't met the right person yet" is also quite widespread. It's hence extremely easy for that trope slip into asexual or aromantic erasure, especially if the narrative is closer to "this character had never fallen in love before, until they met that person" than to "this character dated plenty of people, but this is the first time they meet someone they want to settle down with." Leaning towards cut but can't articulate why.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Masculinity is based on how much a man wants sex. The implication is that if a man isn't constantly seeking out sex (often to an extent that most allosexual men don't reach), that's because there's something wrong with him. In addition to being hateful to asexual men, it is derived from a sexist idea that sex is something men are compelled to try to take from women, with the manliest men being the ones who are most successful at it, and less successful men being worthy of hatred and mockery. I can see this form both sides, and would prefer some good input on whether it belongs
- Virginity Makes You Stupid: Between the assumption that all asexuals are virgins and the fact that a number of them actually are, the association between virginity and stupidity/naïvety results in asexuals getting treated as if they have those traits by others. I lean towards cut because it doesn't seem to have much to do with asexuality aside from virginity. However, I'm not fully convinced
- Virgin-Shaming: Social stigma against virgins becomes even more of a problem when an orientation that often results in little to no interest in sex exists. Again, not directly tied to the topic, but perhaps keepable
- You Need to Get Laid: Sex as a stress reducer can range from ineffective to counter-productive for asexuals. It's also frequently suggested as a "solution" to the asexuality itself. Same as directly above.
Not necessarily homophobic, not actually homophobic, or otherwise a stretch-cut
- Gay Aesop: Learning that anti-gay discrimination is bad is the lesson in this type of morality tale. As with all tropes, this can be handled badly or well. A gay aesop strikes me as the opposite of homophobic, whether it's done well or badly
- Gayborhood: As with ethnic neighbourhoods, the residents live in a concentrated area and have local businesses that appeal to their common interests. If the residents of a Gayborhood are depicted engaging in stereotypically predatory behaviours, such a place (with its large numbers of gays) comes across as threatening to a heterosexual audience. Again, not inherently homophobic. If they're portrayed as predatory or similar, that's a different trope
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: This can be Truth in Television, but when all same-sex couples are assumed to be like this it appeals to outdated gender stereotypes of every romantic relationship needing to have a "man" and a "woman". A specific couple dynamic doesn't seem homophobic in itself. Probably cuttable
- Transparent Closet: Can be used to suggest a person is "really gay" and "in denial" about it. Alternatively, it may refer to someone who is trying to pass as straight and fails to do so. A character in denial about their sexuality doesn't strike me as inherently homophobic
- Not That There's Anything Wrong with That: The "that" can be any number of things, not only race and religion but also including the enjoyment of unusual hobbies and participation in BDSM play. A backpedaling move to avoid being called a bigot, this trope can come across as insincere, especially if paired with "No really, some of my best friends are gay!". Comes off as the opposite of homophobic.
- Butch Lesbian: One example of taking on the gender conventions of the opposite sex. The expectation that one of these must be paired with a Lipstick Lesbian (a lesbian who dresses and behaves in a conventionally feminine way) is an uncomfortable way to enforce a male/female that is only Truth in Television for some lesbians. Considering that there are plenty of openly butch lesbians in real life, comes off as a stretch
- Always Camp: The idea that certain professions attract drama queens and people with campy sensibilities verge into the stereotype area (when "camp" is equated with "gay"), which leads to assumptions and rumors about people in those jobs. Falls under "not necessarily homophobic"
- Gay Best Friend: Since the sex lives of gay friends are either offscreen or non-existent, this reinforces the notion that they shouldn't have sex at all. Stretch
- Gym Bunny: This trope implies that gay men work out or participate in sports because they're vain (and want to perfect their looks) and horny (and are looking for sex partners), and any other reason is an afterthought at best. Don't see this as necessarily negative or homophobic
- Straight Gay: Just as Camp Gay can be read as too over-the-top, this trope can be seen as too restrained due to insecurity or a desire to fit in with the mainstream. For some viewers, it also implies that gays are not masculine. Stretch
- Tragic AIDS Story: In cases where gay men are often shown to necessarily suffer from, and ultimately die from, HIV/AIDS. Treats the victims as too sympathetic to come off as homophobic to me
- Crossdresser: Sometimes people who crossdress are held up to ridicule because their bodies don't match their clothing, particularly if their dressing is associated with sexual satisfaction. Transgender people (particularly those who transition after experiencing puberty) can also get tarred with this brush when other people refuse to accept their gender identity. More successful gender presentations, once revealed, may prompt accusations of deception or worse. Not homophobic in and of itself. Homophobic examples fall more under Creepy Crossdresser
- Drag Queen: Often, cis people will rather respect a drag queen's gender than the gender of an actual trans woman, when really most drag queens just play a character for comedy and only a few are actually trans. This also causes trans women to be seen as a joke instead of a real person. It should be noted that terminology and understanding of gender has changed over time; in the 70s and 80s, many trans women instead identified as 'drag queens' due to not having another word for themselves. (A famous example would be Marsha P. Johnson, the woman who threw the first brick in the Stonewall riot.) Again, not in itself homophobic. Especially with the success of shows like RuPaul's Drag Race.
- "Gender-Normative Parent" Plot: A boy wants to pursue feminine interests, but is pushed to be manly. Little to do with sexuality and gender identity in and of itself
- No Guy Wants an Amazon: Men find masculine women unattractive. Nothing about sexuality or gender identity inherent to the trope.
- Pink Is for Sissies: When a male character is ridiculed for wearing the feminine color. Again, nothing inherently to do with sexuality or gender identity.
- Stay in the Kitchen: When a character or the narrative insists that women should stay out of action and be a domestic. Has nothing to do with sexuality or gender identity
- Supernaturally-Validated Trans Person: Effectively exists as a counter to the idea that a trans person isn't a "real" member of their gender, although it can also come across as transphobic when it's handled poorly (for example if it conforms to transmedicalistnote or enforces a gender binary — which excludes nonbinary folk, even if it is somewhat accepting of binary trans people). Comes off as the opposite of transphobic, again.
- There Are No Girls on the Internet: An assumption that any female-identifying person met anonymously on the internet is actually "a dude", doing it for perverted reasons. In addition to harming cis women, this erases or vilifies large numbers of transgender or non-binary persons on the internet who may have been assigned male at birth but now identify as more feminine or outright female. This can be especially harmful since many trans women begin socially transitioning online before coming out as a woman in the real world. Feels like a giant stretch again
- Tomboy Angst: A female character hates being too "masculine". Nothing to do with sexuality or gender identity
- Alone Among the Couples: Single characters who stumble into a situation where they are surrounded by couples are almost never happily single and hence almost always in a position in which they are envying the couples to some extent. This also reinforces the idea that singlehood is something undesirable, which results in asexuals and aromatics being pressured into finding a sexual/romantic partner they sometimes don't want at all by friends and relatives. I lean strongly towards cut because in almost all cases, the person who's alone among the couples desperately wants a relationship, which isn't true of aromantics
- Better than Sex: Properly handled, it can create a moment relatable to asexuals who have sex (or experienced it at some point in their lives), but genuinely find other activities more enjoyable. Poorly handled, it can deride the very idea of something being more enjoyable than sex and/or people sincerely preferring another activity to it. Yeah, not inherently a knock against aromantics or asexuals, and seriously comes off as a stretch
- Celibate Eccentric Genius: Asexual and aromatic behavior are depicted as going hand in hand with high intelligence, interest in intellectually stimulating activities and lack of interest in platonic socializing. The personalities of real-life asexuals and aromatics are much more diverse than that. The fact that asexuality and aromanticism don't always overlap mean that even partner-seeking socializing can still be engaged in. Comes off as a serious stretch, and the offered description doesn't even come off as presenting the trope as anti-aro/anti-ace
- Everyone Must Be Paired: Asexuals and aromantics are much more likely to be happily single or in relationships that qualify for Heterosexual Life-Partners or Platonic Life-Partners. This makes narratives that insist upon having every single member of the cast in a romantic and/or sexual relationship by the end of the story a mix of erasure and something on par with having every single final pair be heterosexual in a setting that has been shown to allow for same-sex pairs on some level. This assumes that any member of the cast was coded as ace/aro. Otherwise, it comes off as a stretch
- Lousy Lovers Are Losers: Being unable to sexually satisfy a partner is portrayed as a major character flaw that can only be redeemed via being improved upon and implies the absence of other character traits that are desirable in a romantic partner. This one can actually hurt both sides of a relationship involving at least one asexual person, as asexuality affects both one's capacity to perform satisfactorily and one's ability to enjoy sex. Asexuals identifying as such to cover up that they are lousy lovers and/or because they have yet to have sex with a satisfying partner are also common misconceptions. Serious stretch. Are there many examples of asexuals using that as an excuse for being lousy lovers?
- Madonna-Whore Complex: Women who want sex are Whores. Therefore, women who don't desire sex are treated as perfect, holy, pure, and an Embodiment of Virtue with no real agency or personality... in fact, so perfect and pure that they're the only women men should want to marry and have sex with. The idea that asexual women are ideal breeding partners also carries the implication that asexual women secretly do want sex, deep down... which has the logical conclusion that asexual women are also Whores. In reality, whether a woman desires or doesn't desire sex has absolutely nothing to do with her moral character, and asexual women are sincere about their lack of desire, not 'guarding their virtue' or 'waiting for the right man'. Feels like a giant reach, once again, especially since it has little direct relation to asexuality
- Nature Adores a Virgin: Applying various aspects of this trope to asexuals is a very common way to misunderstand the orientation: fact that asexuality doesn't always mean virginity or even sex-repulsion aside, it gives those who are virgins, which include many sex-repulsed aces, the type of attention that they often don't want to get. At a broader social level, this trope also erases some the struggles asexuals face in real life, due to creating an assumption that they have an easier time in environments that frown at sex outside of wedlock than they actually donote . Too positive a portrayal to fall into this index, IMO
- Playing Hard to Get: The presence of "pretend you're not interested" among known seduction methods results in many claims of asexuality not being taken seriously because they are mistaken for an extreme form of the method. Feels like a stretch
- Sexless Marriage: If a married couple isn't having sex in fiction, it frequently means one of the following: they don't love each other anymore, it's a Marriage of Convenience in the first place, the couple is unable/unwilling to sleep in the same bed or at the same time for whatever reason or at least one half is in a situation that prevents them from having sex even if they wanted to. As a result, a marriage in which the couple is having sex is portrayed as inherently going better than one in which the couple isn't, leading to a real-life assumption that marriages in which at least one partner is asexual are never as happy as those involving two allosexual people who regularly have sex. This one just makes me think about how recently asexuality and aromanticism has become known amongst the mainstream, and thus comes off as a stretch
- Sour Prudes: People who don't engage in much sex are portrayed as looking down on people who have significantly more sex than they do. This results in a "asexuals don't want anybody to have sex" stereotype, when in reality even asexuals who don't engage in sex at all can be favor of other people having the amount of sexual activity they wish, as long as said sexual activity doesn't involve them. Just like above, ace/aro has only become widely known relatively recently, which makes me think stretch
- Token Romance: Insistence on tacking a romantic subplot onto every story, regardless of how well it can be executed or how it fits the setting or genre, sends a message to aromantic people that if they don't have a love interest, their story is not one worth telling. Shoehorn.
created by me-recuse
- Gay Romantic Phase: Treating being gay as some sort of phase one goes through, perhaps to appease moral guardians. It downplays someone's existing sexuality as a "phase" that one goes through, rather than being part of who they are.
