For some reason, those creators never seem to consider the inherent value these reads provide to the community - even though they’re drawing on tropes derived from that community’s personal experiences. Often, that backlash is coming from the writers, directors, and actors behind a given piece, who seem eager to stomp out any potential perception of their work as a queer narrative. Even in 2021, in spite of a growing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community and a steady increase in queer representation across certain sections of media, queer reads of characters and narratives are still receiving backlash.
The internet age may have made queer reads of canonically non-queer media more widespread, but they’re nothing new - and neither is the reactionary resistance against them. Creators are drawing from queer stories for drama - then shutting down queer fans who relate to those stories.
