Talk:List of fictional gay characters

What is this article supposed to be?

This is a miniscule list of almost exclusively modern, largely American, examples that seems to have decided on its own definition of 'gay characters' (what, for instance, has a gay character in any work got to do with the modern consumer concept of 'Gay Media'?) As such, it is almost completely worthless unless a much, much broader sweep of examples is taken. Ancient Greece, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Uranian literature, Owen, Hopkins, Forster, Burroughs, Baldwin, Capote, Mishima, what's missing off this pitiful list is emormous. I think this whole article is more misleading than is useful. Stevouk (talk) 18:59, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

I disagree that the page isn't useful, although it surely could be MORE useful. The only reason it is "almost exclusively modern, largely American" is because that is what I was able to cobble together from other pages when I created it back in June 2020. I'd be fine with there being a "much broader sweep of examples" it is just that could involve a lot of research, and I'm not sure I have the time or wherewithal to do all that research. But, if you'd like to add in entries about gay people in "Shakespeare, Marlowe, Uranian literature, Owen, Hopkins, Forster, Burroughs, Baldwin, Capote, Mishima" than feel free. Since Ancient Greece was a real place, it would make sense to add in gay characters from stories set in Ancient Greece, of which I'd imagine there are undoubtedly stories out there about that. There are also any characters that I've wanted to include in the past, but I removed some because I couldn't find good sourcing for them. I've been the main person editing this page since the beginning and one person can only do so much before they get burned out, especially with all the other LGBTQ pages I worked on too. Its a lot of work. Update: added/adding in Baldwin, Capote, Forster, and Wilde. It doesn't look like the List of LGBT characters in modern written fiction has entries for Owen, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Mishima, Burroughs, or Hopkins, though. --Historyday01 (talk) 19:24, 16 May 2022 (UTC)

Myself and others appreciate the work of editors, so congratulations on making headway. I wanted to suggest Breakfast at Tiffany's, Catcher in the Rye, Thin Red Line, etc., when I figure out how to use markup language, I'll add to the list. I hope you have a nice day!- 49.185.90.127 (talk)

Thanks for that comment. There are undoubtedly more entries to add to the page, and I'll look into those series. I'm hopeful that Stevouk will respond at some point. In any case, I'll continue improvements as as I go forward. I also agree with your comment that on here there is no deadline. In fact, that's a Wikipedia essay on this at WP:THEREISNORUSH. Its not a rule, but it is a lot more logical than its opposing WP:NOW.Historyday01 (talk) 15:40, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

I do apologise for the delay in responding, and in retrospect I did not express myself well in the first instance. What I was driving at is that by its very existence this list is marginalising, and can never do justice to its topic. What, for example, connects the character of Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited (not on the list) with Iceman from The X-Men (to pick a random listed example) in any meaningful sense? Using a heterosexual analogue, I could similarly 'connect' Robin Hood with Alexis Carrington from Dynasty; How does this illuminate the category, "fictional heterosexual characters"? The only answer is not at all, because the category itself is meaninglessly wide (as would be "Fictional characters with two eyes", "Fictional characters called John"). Even if it had some sort of tenable meaning, would be at once too large and yet too restrictive. Too large because of the probably hundreds of thousands of fictional characters ever created who have ever been depicted as having a same-sex attraction; and too restrictive because it marginalises its subject in a way heterosexual characters would never be. Stevouk (talk) 06:40, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

Hmm. I mean, I think the page has value since there was no such page when I created this page a while back and it seemed like a gap that was worth filling on Wikipedia, and because there are pages for other LGBTQ identities too. I mean, if there are pages for lesbian, pansexual, and asexual characters, to name a few, why not have one for gay characters too? but I'm not sure what could be done to limit the page. Like, should it only focus on recurring characters or protagonists which are gay, like the Lists of LGBTQ characters in animated series do? The page, I admit, can be a bit hard to manage (the Lists of LGBTQ characters in animated series pages are harder though because of the number of entries there), and could be tighter. Historyday01 (talk) 12:42, 1 August 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

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• BrokebackMountain.SoldOut.Dupont.WDC.17dec05 (75131741).jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 21:52, 1 June 2022 (UTC)

Does this article need to exist?

This article is so far from being comprehensive and it seems like it would be a difficult and cumbersome undertaking to flesh out this article to a satisfactory level. Wouldn't it be easier to just have this article link to existing lists of gay characters in various types of media and just leave it at that? Scdsco23 (talk) 00:52, 8 January 2023 (UTC)

As I said above, I'd say this page continues to be valuable. It fills a gap worth willing on here. Only having the article link to other lists of gay characters wouldn't be much of a help, even if it is "easier". If the page was that, it would be completely worthless. Saying all that, I can agree that the page should be fleshed out "to a satisfactory level". Historyday01 (talk) 02:39, 8 January 2023 (UTC)

Damian Hubbard

For consideration:

• Damian Hubbard, from Mean Girls (2004) and subsequent adaptations

---Another Believer _(Talk) 23:44, 10 May 2024 (UTC)