Cleaning up Queer Media

Due to the recent TRS thread more clearly defining the scope of Queer Media, we need to go through Sandbox.Queer Media and remove any works which don't fit the new definition or which fit instead under the sub-index Queer Romance (which has its own sandbox here.

Works which qualify as Queer Media: media that focuses on queer issues and queer experiences as the primary subject matter. This often takes the form of:

• Any kind of Coming-Out Story
• Stories focusing on Gayngst, Trans Tribulations and related tropes
• Stories whose central focus is on a Homophobic Hate Crime (not just one or two episodes of a crime series)
• Documentaries or bipotics about queer people with a significant focus on their queerness
• Stories whose primary message is a Gay Aesop (not just one episode of a show)

Work which are not Queer Media:

• Works with one of the above subjects as a subplot rather than the main plot
• Works that are about a romance between queer characters- those are Queer Romance, a subgenre of Queer Media
• Works with queer main characters or large amounts of queer supporting characters but whose stories are not about being queer. Those stories belong on the LGBT Representation Index

Edited by Orbiting on Apr 22nd 2022 at 4:59:14 AM

All the live-action series have been sorted, with most of the removed works going on the LGBT Rep index.

Xena: Warrior Princess was removed without moving though, as its queer characters are only confirmed by Word of Gay years later; there's no confirmation in the work itself.

Isn't Xena full of Homoerotic Subtext? In which case the Word of God would only be confirming what is already shown in the work?

Subtext isn't enough when people have proven time and time again that they can't tell the different between legitimate Homoerotic Subtext and Ho Yay. The LGBT Rep index takes the stance that the character's identity must be established within the work itself, which I think is a reasonable requirement: for something to be represented, it actually needs to be seen (or at least stated) onscreen; Word of Gay is not sufficient.

Plus, subtext isn't really representation, technically speaking — nothing is clearly represented. Hence the whole queerbaiting debate.

Edited by mightymewtron on Apr 23rd 2022 at 7:35:03 AM

Yeah, you need actual text for it to qualify, not six-second "representation" that studios can edit out to appease international audiences. (And, yes, that was a not-so-subtle dig at Disney.)

Edited by MovieNut14 on May 1st 2022 at 9:53:46 AM

I think you’re conflating two different things there. If those six-seconds are unambiguous (like a kiss), that is textual representation, and presumably can go on the index.

yes, subtext would have to be something implicitly shown by the narrative.

Finishing up cleaning up Sandbox.Queer Media.

Removed without moving:

• Jimquisition, as the host is LGBT but the content isn't related to that, and they're already listed on LGBT Creators.
• Batman and Harley Quinn, since there's nothing in the film about this version of Harley being bisexual.
• Kaeloo, as the main character's LGBT identity is only stated via Word of Gay
• Ready Jet Go!: same as above

Nice!

Is it good to move over now or is there anything else?

Nope, it's done! It can be moved over

Is it time to place the criteria on the main page now?

Yep, that's a good idea.

I've been fixing up Sandbox.Queer Romance and am about to swap that in (no change to the description, just removing the works that don't have romance as the primary focus).

Should Queer Romance be an index?

Wait, is it not already an index?

It's a trope page that does indexing, like some other genre pages do. Genre pages are inconsistent about their page type, whether they index, and whether they include example context.

LGBT Representation in Media has launched!

Woo!

Does this line on LGBT Fanbase need changing?

Yep- that should probably be reworded to "Works centering on LGBT+ experiences, often by LGBT+ Creators, go on Queer Media."

So I have a question about Gyee, a mobile game which is unambiguously aimed at gay men.

As in, the main character is a man who likes other men. Almost all the recruitable characters are good looking hunks, often in skimpy clothings, and the MC can get intimate with most of them. There are also male-male couples all over the place. The game has lots of characters like any other mobile games, but the number of female characters can be counted with two hands.

One basic fact about the world is that one group of people called "Gyees" are being persecuted and discriminated because they are different from the other people (a gay metaphor as subtle as a sledgehammer).

However, while all of those are major subplots, none of them is the main plot per se. The main plot is the MC having an adventure to find a way back to his homeworld while fighting the evil forces of Shadow. It's basically a pretty standard RPG story, with lots and lots of gayness thrown in.

It doesn't fit Queer Media since while the gay themes are so in your face, they're technically not the main focus. But putting it in LGBT Representation Index feels like putting it too "low" since it's obviously aimed at gay men.

Edited by TrueShadow1 on May 10th 2022 at 9:55:43 PM

If the game is explicitly targeted towards gay men and its metaphor is a means to explore homophobia across multiple major subplots, I'm inclined to say it is Queer Media, but others can chime in with their takes.

Yeah, it does feel like it'd belong on Queer Media.

It definitely sounds like Queer Media.