Ask the Flying Monkey: Is “The Wheel of Time”’s Brandon Sanderson a Homophobe?

This week: A popular Mormon author says that it’s gay people, not Mormons, who are the close-minded ones on gay issues. Is he right?

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Contact me here (and be sure and include your city and state and/or country!

Science fiction author (and Mormon) Brandon Sanderson

Q: I am a huge fan of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan. Jordan passed away and the series is being completed by Brandon Sanderson (whose Mistborn trilogy and Elantris I also enjoyed, although his new The War of Kings feels a bit like homework to get through). On the jacket of The War of Kings is an endorsement by [huge homophobe] Orson Scott Card which made me wonder if either Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson have ever gone on record with their support/dislike on us fantasy lovin' gays. The WOT series has tons of passing and dismissive lesbian (pillow friend) references but none for the male characters. Can you shed some light? — Brent (no, not that one), New York City, New York

A: Yes, Brent, but sadly, it ain’t good.

I was all set to contact Sanderson for a response when I came upon this 2009 essay he wrote in response to J.K. Rowling’s outing of Dumbledore, and it told me everything I need to know.

“I find myself more socialist than most living around me [in the Mormon Church],” Sanderson writes, “and find myself FAR more liberal when it comes to free speech and exchange of ideas. However, I also accept my church's stance against gay marriage.”

Later he says, “I hope those of you who advocate gay rights will be bemused at [my] curmudgeonly ways, instead of ranting and yelling at us. One of the things that interests me most about this debate is that those who cry for open mindedness often seem to be as hateful and unwilling to look from someone else's perspective as the people on the far right. Rationally work to enlighten us through thoughtful nudging. Don't call us idiots and homophobes. It really doesn't help.”

And finally, he says, “Another note to those who might be reading this who are, themselves, gay. No, I don't believe that homosexuality can — in many cases, at least — be treated and 'cured.' I do believe, however, that impulses of attraction between people of the same gender are something that can and should be resisted, in the same way that my impulses of attraction toward women who are not my wife can and should be resisted. You probably believe differently. I'm okay with that. End note.”

My response to all this? I am so beyond tired of this conservative meme that GLBT people (and all minorities) are the real bigots because we’re frustrated by the tactics, rhetoric, and, most importantly, the very specific discriminatory actions of those on the right.

Sanderson pretends to be making a plea here for understanding of the Mormon and conservative point-of-view on gay people. He’s trying sound open-minded and tolerant of all points-of-view.

But what exactly is the idea that he asking me to tolerate? He’s openly telling me that my love for my partner, the single most important thing in my life, is something terrible and sinful, something that should be “resisted” and suppressed. If I take offense at that advice and even react angrily, I’m the one who’s being intolerant and hateful.

So let’s turn it around. What if I said to Sanderson: “I think Mormonism is a terrible religion, and you should quit the Church. Furthermore, I think our country should discriminate against Mormonism, maybe even making it illegal, and definitely punish those who practice it, and I’m going to work for and finance efforts to create and support exactly those laws. Oh, and while we’re at it, I think you should leave your wife.”

If that was my argument, would Sanderson accuse me of being hateful and intolerant? Frankly, I honestly can’t imagine anything more intolerant – prison sentences maybe? sex offender registrations? – so he’d be right if he did.

Would he call me an idiot? Maybe not in public, but I’m certain that is exactly what he would say behind closed doors, at least if he had any dignity and self-respect.

The point is, when he makes a plea for tolerance and understanding with that exact point-of-view, but expressed about gay people, dressing it up in the language of the civil rights movement no less … well, it's really, really hard for me to take. It’s pure sophistry.

There are two arguments here: (1) my argument: GLBT people are equal and deserve equal protection under the law, and (2) his argument and his church’s argument: GLBT people are not equal and should be condemned and judged and legally discriminated against.

I don’t think the two arguments are in any way the equivalent – logically or morally. And I don’t think that by making that point I’m being hateful and intolerant of him personally. On the contrary, if I can’t point out that his point-of-view is intolerant – even “hateful” and “idiotic” – it pretty much means I can’t make my actual argument. Since the advantage always goes to the home team (and the status quo), that’s pretty much the end of the discussion.

See what he and the right wing are doing? They’re framing the issue in such a way that we can’t ever win the argument. No wonder they’re willing to be so “tolerant” of our “hatefulness,” right?

Of course, I’m sure Sanderson doesn’t see it that way. Being a Mormon isn’t the same as being gay, he’d argue. He thinks his version of Mormonism is deserving of far more respect, even by non-Mormons, than being gay is deserving of respect by non-gay people. (This is his point even as he himself is admitting that being gay isn’t a choice while being a Mormon obviously is.)

But that just proves the ridiculousness of his position. He wants some sort of logical or social equivalence between our differing ideas (because that gets us stuck in a sort of political détente, locking the anti-gay status quo forever in place), even as he argues that there’s no actual equivalence between being gay and being Mormon.

Basically, he wants much more than “tolerance” for his intolerance. He wants it to be respected, to be considered one of several equal, valid, respectable options. But as long as he gets that, he and his ilk win.

Do gay people want more than mere “tolerance” from him too? Do we insist on his respect? We absolutely do, but only when it comes to matters of public policy. He and his supporters will also always have the option of remaining personally intolerant. I think many of the beliefs of the Mormon Church are screwy, but I still support their legal rights 100%. If I can disagree with them but still respect them enough to support their full legal equality, why can’t he do the same for us?

His public policy proposals really are hateful and intolerant. Ours aren’t. See the difference?

But wait, sometimes we “yell” at him. Sometimes we say he’s homophobic. Hey, I’m all for lowering the volume, but that’s mostly a complete canard as well. Every actual gay person I know has spent his or her entire life patiently explaining these things to friends and family … over and over and over and over again.

The (non-)arguments used against us? Basically, they all boil down to, “My religion says so, so you need to change for my benefit.”

We hear a lot of: “Oh, I was so ignorant before! I didn’t have the slightest clue what I was talking about!” We almost never hear: “I used to be very pro-gay, I had all these gay friends, but now I’m fearful and suspicious of gay people and don’t think they deserve any rights.”

Sure, some of us sometimes lose our patience and our temper when we have to make the case for our basic dignity and respect all over again. But while this is just a religious teaching for him, for us, it’s our lives. It’s very, very personal. Is he saying that he wouldn’t be angry if, in a country based on the notion of “liberty and justice for all,” Mormonism was illegal and he had to explain for the 1000^th time why it shouldn’t be? He doesn’t get angry or annoyed when someone asks to see his “magic underwear”?

I’m willing to work with Sanderson and those who hold his beliefs – I’ll openly acknowledge he has a right to his opinion, even if I emphatically disagree with it; I’ll do my best to use reason along (with some very appropriate emotion) to convince him otherwise; and I’ll try to be as polite as I think my specific opponent deserves.

But in the end, these aren’t two sides of the same coin: one side is being intolerant, and the other side isn’t. I can’t say that his intolerance is anything other than what it so obviously is. And Sanderson needs to be intellectually honest with me and himself: if the situation was reversed, he wouldn’t either.

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Contact me here (and be sure and include your city and state and/or country!)