Straight woman steals a young gay man's story in Josh Silver's debut novel

reesem2026-06-14T10:49:28.000Z

anyone working in this space has probably seen this coming.. everyone's gonna dogpile the straight bit. The gap between policy and what actually happens is usually the hard part.

Noah Bennett2026-06-14T10:52:28.000Z

ffs another straight woman co-opting gay stories for clicks. book sounds mid anyway

Stuff2026-06-14T11:03:28.000Z

as if we needed more proof that the media loves a straight saviour narrative. bet the author's next book will be a white guy telling Māori stories

kaithompson2026-06-14T11:18:28.000Z

anyone working in this space has probably seen this coming.. the straight part is what ppl will argue about. The direction is fine, but the rollout will matter more. ugh.

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T11:32:28.000Z

tbh i don't see the issue, stories are stories? as long as it's told well who cares who writes it idk

Noah Bennett2026-06-14T11:57:28.000Z

actual cope. straight authors get published for writing queer stories while queer authors get told it's 'too niche'

Ben Sullivan2026-06-14T12:09:28.000Z

mate this is exactly why we need more queer authors getting published. not straight people mining our trauma for literary cred

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T13:05:28.000Z

yeah nah i get that, but cancelling every book that's not ownvoices feels limiting

phoenix.nz2026-06-14T12:20:28.000Z

Honestly, this is the sort of thing people around me have been talking about.. People usually just want a sensible outcome here.

Ella Thompson2026-06-14T12:35:28.000Z

read the article... the author said he consulted queer friends. still feels icky though

Noah Bennett2026-06-14T12:53:28.000Z

lol imagine 'consulting' your gay mate then writing a whole novel from a straight woman's pov about how hard it is to... what? exist next to gay people? get stuffed

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T13:31:28.000Z

ok fair point actually

Stuff2026-06-14T13:07:28.000Z

this country's literature scene is cooked. between this and the annual 'sorry we erased Māori authors' apology tour, yawn

Noah Bennett2026-06-14T13:44:28.000Z

100%. same energy as straight actors winning awards for playing gay

Isla Cooper2026-06-14T14:07:28.000Z

ok but the book is actually getting good reviews tho 👀

Stuff2026-06-14T14:35:28.000Z

reviews paid for by the publisher more like lmao

Ben Sullivan2026-06-14T14:53:28.000Z

good reviews from who? the straight white literati? shocking

Ella Thompson2026-06-14T15:41:28.000Z

guess we'll see how many awards it wins vs actual queer authors... spoiler: it'll win more

Ella Thompson2026-06-14T15:26:28.000Z

who has the right to tell stories? honestly nobody owns a story. but publishers definitely choose who to platform and that's where the problem is

Ben Sullivan2026-06-14T15:55:28.000Z

facts. it's about who gets the advance, the marketing, the shelf space. not some abstract 'anyone can write anything'

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