Page 1 / 2 - Home

The truth is, these others authors and I all caught the same wave. With the controversy surrounding gay-straight alliances in schools, gay teens were hitting the news. And as a result of those gay-straight alliances, gay teens were coming out in high school in ever-greater numbers.

These teens, and their straight supporters, were looking for books that accurately reflected the reality of their lives. The media, which ignore books that don’t have controversy or a timely news angle, were equally receptive to these “new” high school stories.

“You realize what the right book at the right time can do,” says Levithan, whose winsome Boy Meets Boy tells a frothy fable about an “alternate” town where queer folks are completely accepted.

And these books are by no means just appealing to gay teens. Sanchez, whose touching Rainbow series tells the queer teen story from three different points-of-view, estimates that “most” of his readers are straight girls and women.

Levithan, Sanchez, and I can all report a very, um, enthusiastic fan response. I’ve published a non-gay book with similar sales figures, but it didn’t result in nearly the same avalanche of fawning letters and emails.

“My favorite email ever was from a 70-yr-old reader who wrote, ‘Things sure have changed since I was a teenager in the 1940s!’” says Levithan. “All I could think to say in response was, ‘I'll bet they have!’”

According to Sanchez, the movement has even gone international. He confesses that he was “nervous” when he learned that his books were going to be published in Thailand. But when he traveled there, he says, “I met young men and women who informed
me, ‘Through each of your characters, you've told my story.’”

“Traditional societies around the globe are being forced to face gay and lesbian issues,” Sanchez adds. “And for me, it's an honor and privilege to have my writing be a part of the process.”

Recently, the rights to Geography Club were optioned for the movies. I’m sure that as these producers try to line up financing for the film, they will hear words that are very familiar to me:

“There is no market for a story about gay teens.”

But now I know for a fact that these words are dead wrong. There’s a huge, enthusiastic market, and eventually some smart businessperson will realize this and end up making a killing. I sure hope it’s the adaptation of my book that makes them rich. But whichever story they film, it will send the whole phenomenon of gay teen entertainment to a brand new level.

You read it here first. Which means, of course, it’s another part of the Big Gay Picture.

Brent Hartinger is the author of the gay teen novel, Geography Club, which is currently being adapted for the movies. The sequel, The Order of the Poison Oak, is in stores now. Explore “Brent’s Brain,” his website, at brenthartinger.com.

Read previous installments of The Big Gay Picture here.

Page 1 / 2 - Home