None of this is directed at you, [b:c1a5daf55d] Kristine[/b:c1a5daf55d]! Not one drop, except to say that those are excellent points and ones that should be addressed, if not in the FAQ, then in general.
Why won't they understand that no one is upset just because they "hurt the lesbians"?!? No one, not any of us, not anyone anywhere has said that GLBT characters must never be hurt. That is NOT the issue. The issue is fairness. If there's fairness and balance, I personally have fewer problems with that. Big IF there.
Although there would still be the larger issue of the fact that there aren't any other long-term lesbian relationships on broadcast TV. If ten percent of all TV characters were gay and at least half of them in long-term, stable, loving relationships, then YAY, bring on the evil lesbians! (Who are often hot as all get out.)
No one is upset when the gay characters, along with all the other characters suffer angst in their lives or relationships. However, the crucial element there is "along with all the other characters." If gay characters truly are treated like everyone else, I mean TRULY, there's no problem. Wanna throw an evil gay man in that prison full of other evil men? No gay cliche there. Because he is being treated TRULY like all the other characters. But gay characters are almost never TRULY treated like other characters. (In the case of W/T, for example, their sexual expression was never treated like the other characters' sexual expression. Not even in SR, which went further than we've ever seen them.)
If the gay characters get the good and the bad in the same doses as the other characters, that's fine. If we'd seen Giles and Anya murdered in seasons 4 and 5, then seeing Tara murdered in season 6 wouldn't pack quite the same punch it does from a political or social perspective. If we'd seen sex as often and as graphic between Willow and Tara as we've seen between the other couples, there'd be zero ranting here about the unfair way the show treats same-sex relationships. I dare say that, though as shippers we'd be devastated to lose Tara, it would be all personal for most of us, and largely devoid of the political element it now has, due to the unfairness of their portrayal.
Because, of course, they weren't truly treated like the other characters. They got an extra dose of the bad, and a really skimpy dose of the good. If we'd had a season of EvilXander a couple years ago, VW wouldn't be such an outrage. Those folks who are saying that W/T were treated like everyone else would actually have a valid point and their comments wouldn't be so offensive.
As far as fear of including gay characters goes, I think it's kind of an offensive question to begin with. It's like asking, "What's the point of having African-American characters if I can't have them all be sassy or drug dealers or if I can't have them all eat fried chicken and watermelon if it [i:c1a5daf55d] serves the story?[/i:c1a5daf55d]" Who would even ask that question at all? Just don't serve that story in the first place.
I can manage to write queers without invoking cliches. Because I know the cliches. I can manage to write African-American characters without invoking the cliches. Because I know the cliches. I would never dream of writing a character who was of a type which with I am not familiar without first getting a consultation with someone who knows better than I do. It's that simple.
If you are familiar with that type of character and well aware of how they have been portrayed offensively, don't portray them that way. If you are unfamiliar with that type of character, get a consultant. For GLBT characters, GLAAD and other organizations are often happy to lend a hand in helping craft an accurate, non-offensive portrayal.
There is an advocacy group for [i:c1a5daf55d] everything[/i:c1a5daf55d] any character could possibly be. Wanna write about a transgendered, blind, Zoroastrian Little Person, but not sure you can pull it off? You probably can't! Get on the internet, spend five minutes, and voila! You have contacts in the trans, blind, Zoroastrian, and Little People communities. Most of whom would jump at the chance to advise you on creating a fair and accurate portrayal. It's easy.
And it's often even easier than that. It's often as easy as asking your friends who are different from you to help you understand what being like them is like, so that you can write characters like them accurately. Okay, the transgendered, blind, Zoroastrian Little Person was a stretch, but surely no TV writer in America does not know a single gay or lesbian person.
Good writers are never ashamed of what they do not know, only ashamed if they don't seek to educate themselves. Good writers know they're ignorant of a lot of things. There is no shame in asking for enlightenment. A good writer knows this and does it. Often.
That's just my personal opinion, though.
Y'all, check this out. The spellchecker wants me to change [i:c1a5daf55d] transgendered[/i:c1a5daf55d] to [i:c1a5daf55d] transponder!!![/i:c1a5daf55d]
Well, I thought it was funny. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it's not funny at all. I'm outraged. I'm putting the spellchecker on My List.
[i:c1a5daf55d] Super huge edit here. Originally done to correct one tiny little typo. But I couldn't just fix that. No, I had to go all ranty, just when I thought we'd all gotten the ranting out of our systems and things were getting back to normal. It totally changed and actually kinda muddled the whole post.[/i:c1a5daf55d]
by BBOvenGuy » Sun May 12, 2002 3:19 pm 
) when I say that we're damn impressed with it to begin with, damn impressed at how fast you've gotten it up here, and we're damn impressed at how quickly you're revising it *G*
Thanks for everyone's great comments - we're trying to incorporate as many of them as possible.