How to Represent Certain Groups...?

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I didn’t know what category to put this in 'cause I’m dumb lol

Hey there! I am currently writing a story, and I wanted to give the reader a love interest option (ya know, straight or not straight). I was just wondering about a few things:
As a straight person, I want to make sure I represent the LGBT community in a good way, without offending anyone. How would I go about doing that?
Also, I want to put some Muslim characters or other diverse characters in my story. Again, I don’t want to offend anyone or accidentally stereotype something so how should I do this?
I just really want to try and represent people from all different sexualities, religions, and ethnicities, etc, without offending people.
Thanks, in advance, for the help :slight_smile:

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You can just google some stuff, just don’t make stereotypical stuff. PS it’s impossible not to offend ppl

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I suggest research.

@ShanniiWrites is also a great person to talk to, as well as @EpisodeShadow and myself.

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Research, avoid stereotypes, and ask around the episode community! :blush:

I’m willing to help, as well as many others :grin:

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Gay people are the same as straight people, just treat them the same as you would if they’re straight (unless you want to throw in some conflict ie. family member not agreeing)

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thank you for being considerate! the best advice i have is to contact someone of the group youre trying to represent if youre unsure. you could always ask around on the forums. research is important as well. also, if youre ever thinking of representing a trans person, please get in touch with a trans person (such as myself lol) because we are portrayed inaccurately and misunderstood so often. just try your best and as long as youre being respectful, thats the most important part. there will always be a complainer.

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Thanks for @ing me :wink:

Yeah! My main tips are:

  1. Research – every minority group is a little different and so has different needs when it comes to representation. Something as simple as googling when Jewish, Christian and Muslim days of rest are will boost your writing loads!

  2. Remember that they’re still human. No matter how much research you put in, you’ll always find that minority groups are more similar to you than they are different. So don’t worry too much about getting everything 100% perfect. People will always get mad. So aim for keeping the reasonable people happy! Make sure you humanise those characters. Make them feel, first and foremost, like people. You can do that!

  3. Be aware of the worst of the cliches, tropes and stereotypes. This is the one that trips a few people up. They forget to look up the most offensive stereotypes and find that their character falls into them without them realising! So just do a little search of the worst stereotypes for the minority group you’re looking up. The info is really easy to find on Google! Some examples would be the smart East Asian, the hot-headed Latino guy, the Indian who can’t speak English very well, dumb blonde, gangster black guy, weak Jewish person, etc. What about a smart black guy and a jock East Asian guy for a change?

  4. Ask people. There are loads of us on the forums who would be happy to read over some of your work or brainstorm (this term is not un-pc unless you’re talking about epileptic people’s seizures) with you when you’re thinking your characters into existence.

Extra

There’s always my website! I’m constantly updating it with info about diversity and representation! If you’re stuck and you want some tips, check it out!



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