Today’s guest post is brought to you by Tay LaRoi, and I’m really excited about this. Queer kids absolutely need positive, uplifting stories where they can be adventurous and heroic. You can find links to the Faerie Court Chronicles below. Happy reading!
Guest Post
Here there be Happy Queer Kids
by Tay LaRoi
Some time ago, I decided that after The Faerie Court Chronicles wraps up, I’m going to take a break from novel writing due to the demands of my job. Not to fear, though, because I’ll be working on some shorter fiction, maybe even a series (shhhh. It’s still a semi-secret). To get some practice in, I took some time and submitted a couple of pieces to a writing contest focused on gender-bent fairy tales, which is right up my alley.
The process itself and reading the other entries was a lot of fun, but there was one in particular that bothered me. It featured a trans girl as a main character and heavily relied on tropes most queer folks (trans or otherwise) recognize:
- All trans folks are absolutely miserable.
- Trans folk’s identities start and end at their dysphoria.
- Trans girls are confused gay boys.
- There is no difference in being trans and being gay.
I was wisely advised to leave the story alone. There were so many other good pieces that there was no way it could win. Calling the story out would make me look like a bad sport and tarnish my reputation on a site I had just joined.
Only it did win, all the while being praised for being a wonderful interpretation that would be great for modern children.
It wasn’t. Still isn’t. It’s a piece meant to make folks (mainly straight folks, if we’re being honest) feel like they’re open minded while still spreading ignorance and telling queer kids that their life is destined to be pain.
I still don’t feel like I can confront anyone involved without looking like a sore loser, which would cost me any strength my arguments in defense of queer audiences, so I’m taking my high school speech teacher’s advice and being my own butt’s boss.
I’m writing unapologetically happy queer kids with more passion than ever before. Kids who know who they are or who aren’t afraid to question that, knowing they’ll still be loved at the end of their journey. Kids who know they can love who they are, even while wanting to tweak things here and there. Kids who are so much more than stereotypes made by people who want to feel good about themselves without putting in the work it takes to learn about people like us.
Kids like Oliver O’Brien, the prince of the faerie court, who just so happens to be trans. He’ll face challenges, but he’ll know that he is loved. He’ll fail and get frustrated, but he’ll know he’s worthy of respect. He’ll flat out get his butt kicked, but he’ll know he is valid.
Rest assured his friend, Gia Johnson, is in a similar boat, but I can’t say much more. I don’t want to ruin all the surprises of her journey. 🙂
I can tell you this much about The Song of the Faerie Prince, though, there will be happy queer kids written in a world that tells them they should be in pain. There will be loved queer kids written in a world that thinks they shouldn’t be loved until they fit into a stranger’s definition of “queer.”
There will be queer kids who are treasured, because the queer kids of this world need to know they deserve to be treasured too, if not more so, because they are so much more than stories.
About the Author
Tay LaRoi grew up camping in the forests of northern Michigan, swimming in the Great Lakes, and staying up late with her nose in fantasy novels. As a result, her debut series, The Faerie Court Chronicles, takes place in the those sleepy coastal Michigan towns, where magic and mystery lie just beyond the forest line.
Book Links
The first two installments, Portraits of a Faerie Queen, and The Tale of a Faerie Knightare available from NineStar Press. Oliver and Gia’s adventure, The Song of the Faerie Prince is out for pre-order now!
Sixteen-year-old Gia Johnson is comfortable in the background, but when dark magic looms over her town, her beautiful voice will put her in a spotlight she never imagined: the Seelie Court. To get out alive and save her childhood friend, she’ll have to trust Oliver O’Brian, a trans classmate and a Prince of Faerie, especially when an ancient evil rears its ugly head from the depths of Lake Michigan. All the while, Gia finds herself drawn to Oliver, but what does that mean if she’s always liked girls?
