In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Tuesday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH! Expect more posts this month, from interviews to reviews and more!
The internet knew that as soon as Casey McQuiston’s new book One Last Stop came out that the lesphobic and biphobic masses would show their asses. And it seems like Book TikTok has a prime example that doesn’t hold back or mince her worlds. In the clip below, this book reviewer decided that they would stop reading One Last Stop (temporarily) because…the leads were “lesbians.”
Now, I don’t know how this reviewer missed that with two women being on the front cover. But missed it they did! And their pointed “lesbian” comment erases the leads bisexuality, which is important when it comes to this characters in question because bisexuality is valid every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
And the more you watch this video, the more you realize that her not liking One Last Stop is due to her fetishizing of m/m relationships. And it’s something that isn’t new. It’s been around, festering under the guise of acceptance, when in reality these book reviewers don’t care for LGBTQ representation like they say. They care about what they can get out of it.
They cared if the leads were hot. They cared if they found them attractive. And they cared for how they perceived the characters and how it would satisfy them instead of how it would be amazing representation for the queer community as a whole. And that right there is a problem that we need to nip in the bud.
Because this pick and choose crap when it comes to representation is bullshit. You can’t, or you shouldn’t, go around waving the Pride flag to then go, “But not the lesbians. They just aren’t that relatable.” But a prince in Red, White, and Royal Blue is? Yeah, not buying it today, the next day, or the one after that.
Now, this reviewer apologized. And we’ve got to believe that people are capable of listening and growing. If not, what’s the point of life if one thing defines you. But the point still stands that there are people like this reviewer who fetishize m/m while being straight and cis. And that is problematic because it quite often leads to the sexualization of said gay relationships.
Why? Because there’s this perceived notion that men loving men relationships are less of a threat to straight cis women. So they dive deep into these relationships without analyzing why they’re obsessed and if the same love goes towards lesbian, bisexual, polyamorous, or other relationships. If it doesn’t, then you’ve got a problem and need some self reflection.
Also, relationships consisting of two men are not a fantasy. There are real men who love other men and this fetishizing of their relationships doesn’t lead to you appreciating them. It leads to you exploiting them because it’s safe and you’re vulnerable. Well, not on this block or any of the ones around me.
It’s a practice that needs to go the way of the dinosaurs, especially during Pride Month, and it’s the only way that these straight cis readers can become the true allies they’ve thought themselves to be or wanted to. And if you’ve reached this point and still don’t see the harm in shipping m/m while hating on w/w, then go back to the top fo this post and read it again.
Because if this reviewer can learn then so can you.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Tuesday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
I started my queer journey by reading mostly m/m books, also because they were more popular and seemingly more ubiquitous. But reflecting on whether I was simply fetishizing mlm relationship was still a big part of this journey, which i think everybody (queer or not) should do.
Reflection is absolutely something that we should do. And once we do that, we can be honest with ourselves. Also, yay for queer journeys! <3