Gay romance is a genre within

gay literature Gay literature is a collective term for literature produced by or for the gay community which involves characters, plot lines, and/or themes portraying male homosexual behavior. Overview and history Because the social acceptance of homosexual ...

and

romance fiction A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

focused on same-sex characters who fall in love and have a homosexual or

homoromantic A person's romantic orientation, also called affectional orientation, is the classification of the sex or gender with which a person experiences romantic attraction towards or is likely to have a romantic relationship with. The term is used a ...

relationship. The genre has met with increasing acceptance and sales from the 1980s onward.

M M romance genre

Term

This genre of gay romance was originally called "M/M Romance" (from

slash fiction Slash fiction (also known as "m/m slash") is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex.Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among the Women." New York Times Sunday Book Review, ...

, meaning male-on-male not mass-market), but is now often called "M M Romance" or "mm romance", and features queer men falling in love. The term was in use on fan fiction sites by 2004. By 2008, hundreds of such novels were being published.

History of genre

A 2009 article in the gay newspaper '' The Liberty Press'' stated that the genre was emerging: ""slash' fiction has been around for decades. Women were writing '

Kirk/Spock Kirk/Spock, commonly abbreviated as K/S or Spirk and referring to James T. Kirk and Spock from ''Star Trek'', is a pairing popular in slash fiction, possibly the first slash pairing, according to Henry Jenkins, an early slash fiction scholar. ...

' romances long before the Internet even existed. But up to now, none has been published by mainstream presses and stocked next to the

bodice ripper A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pr ...

s." Also in 2009, the first mainstream review of a novel marketed as "an M/M Romance" appeared, announcing that "male/male romantic historical fiction is the newest publishing trend." In 2010, ''

Rolling Stone Magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...

'' and ''

Out magazine ''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. It presents itself in an editorial manner similar to '' Details'', ''Esquire' ...

'' named M/M romance one of the hottest developing literary trends. In 2011, '' Library Journal'' described the genre as "male-on-male, or M/M romance" and mentioned that it was "mostly written and read by straight women." It speculated that '' Queer as Folk'' and the 2005 ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, the screenplay was written by ...

'' drove the genre's expansion but that its origins were "in the

genre of the 1990s in which erotic fiction about television, book, and movie characters found a lively audience online." ''Library Journal'' also noted that

yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the '' wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created ...

graphic narratives, popular with Japanese women since the 1980s, were an influence on the M/M genre. Since January 2010, the genre of M/M Romance has tripled in Amazon's online Kindle Store.
"What women want: Gay male romance novels" article. Retrieved February 11, 2019. Emerging from the margins, best-selling romance authors began to write M/M romance novels."Finding Love In All the Right Places: Romance 2015" Publishers Weekly; New York Vol. 262, Iss. 23, (June 8, 2015).The

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a novel, novella, or short story collection "by a single author that focus on a central love relationship between two or more c ...

was first awarded in 2007. In 2015, M/M romances were nominated for RITAs for the first time.

Sub-genres

Some of the sub-niche categories are coming out, "gay-for-you" and "first-time gay." Some M/M romance novels feature

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

or asexual protagonists. Some feature Christian characters or are in the

Amish romance Amish romance is a literary subgenre of Christian fiction featuring Amish characters, but written and read mostly by evangelical Christian women. An industry term for Amish romance novels is "bonnet rippers" because most feature a woman in a bonn ...

genre. Some are m/m/f romance novels, featuring

polyamory Polyamory () is the practice of, or desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. People who identify as polyamorous may believe in open relationships wi ...

pansexual Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their ...

ity, and bisexuality.

Publishers

Dreamspinner Press (founded in 2007), Less than Three (2009), Running Press, Loose Id (now closed),

Carina Press Harlequin Enterprises ULC (known simply as Harlequin) is a romance and women's fiction publisher founded in Winnipeg, Canada in 1949. From the 1960s, it grew into the largest publisher of romance fiction in the world. Based in Toronto, Canada si ...

, InterMix, MLR (ManLoveRomance), and Riptide Publishing (2011) were founded to publish gay romantic fiction almost exclusively. Others, such as Decadent Publishing (2010), began as traditional romance imprints and shifted their focuses toward inclusive pairings, including gay romance, in recent years.

Authors

Some of the founding authors, writing in the early aught years of M/M Romance fiction were Laura Baumbach, Alex Beecroft, Rob Byrnes, Charlie Cochrane,

Johnny Diaz Johnny Diaz is an American novelist and a journalist for ''The New York Times''. He previously worked for the ''Sun Sentinel'', where he wrote local feature stories about South Florida, and as a media reporter for the business section of ''The B ...

, Erastes, Donald Hard, Sean Kennedy, J. L. Langley, Josh Lanyon, Tere Michaels, M. J. Pearson, Jordan Castillo Price, and Lee Rowan, most of whom were British or Australian. Later authors writing in this genre include Andre Aciman,

Becky Albertalli Rebecca Albertalli (née Goldstein; born November 17, 1982) is an American author of young adult fiction and former psychologist. She is best known for her 2015 debut novel, ''Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda'', which was adapted into the 2018 ...

Jay Bell Jay Stuart Bell (born December 11, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop and former manager of the Rocket City Trash Pandas of the Southern League. He played for the Cleveland Indians (1986–88), Pittsburgh Pirates (1989� ...

Brad Boney Brad Boney is an American author of gay and lesbian fiction. Two of his novels have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance. Personal life Born in Findlay, Ohio, Boney lived in Washington, D.C. and Houston before settling ...

, Eli Easton, Rhys Ford,

Andrew Sean Greer Andrew Sean Greer (born November 1970) is an American novelist and short story writer. Greer received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel ''Less''. He is the author of ''The Story of a Marriage'', which ''The New York Times'' has ...

, Ginn Hale, Alexis Hall, Shaun David Hutchinson, T. J. Klune, Bill Konigsberg, Casey McQuiston,

C. S. Pacat C. S. Pacat is a bestselling Australian author, best known for the ''Captive Prince'' trilogy, published by Penguin Random House in 2015. Personal life Pacat was born in Melbourne, Australia, and was educated at the University of Melbourne. She ...

, Neil S. Plakcy,

Rainbow Rowell Rainbow Rowell (born February 24, 1973) is an American author known for young adult and adult contemporary novels. Her young adult novels ''Eleanor & Park'' (2012), ''Fangirl'' (2013) and '' Carry On'' (2015) have been subjects of critical acclaim ...

Paul Rudnick Paul Rudnick (born December 29, 1957) is an American writer. His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world. He is also known for having written the screenplays for several movies, including '' Sister Act'', ''Addams ...

, and

Adam Silvera Adam Silvera (born June 7, 1990) is an American author of young adult fiction novels, known for his bestselling novels ''They Both Die at the End'', '' More Happy Than Not'', and '' History Is All You Left Me.'' Life and career Adam Silvera was ...

Controversy

The majority of gay romance novels are written by and for women. The issue of whether women should write books featuring gay men has been a frequent topic of popular and scholarly discussion.

Lesbian romance genre

Lesbian romance is a genre within

and

. Scholarship on this genre dates back to the 1980s, but only became common in the 1990s. Scholars have defined the tropes of this genre: "Like the classic Greek romances, the themes of removal to a distant place, captivity, isolation, escape, search, and pursuit characterize the lesbian romance novel. Typically, the smooth progression of the budding romance is jeopardized by some obstacle to love. The subsequent separation or threat of separation stimulates the lovers' (and readers') concerns over whether the longed for union will be achieved. Once the pair overcome the age, class, or race barriers and is united, they supposedly live happily ever after."Rose, Suzanna, Debra Zand, and M. Cini. "Lesbian courtship scripts." ''Rothblum & KA Brehony (Eds.), Boston marriages: Romantic but asexual relationships among contemporary lesbians'' (1993): 70–85. Authors in this genre include

Sarah Aldridge Anyda Marchant (January 27, 1911 – January 11, 2006) was a lawyer (she was one of the first women to pass the Bar in Washington D.C.) and a founding partner of Naiad Press and A&M Books. She was also an author of primarily lesbian fiction, for ...

Georgia Beers Georgia Beers is an American writer of lesbian romance. Her novel ''Fresh Tracks'' won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Romance. Her novels have won 13 of the Golden Crown Literary Society's Goldie Awards, including six awards for romance, ...

, Andrea Bramhall, Jae,

Karin Kallmaker Karin Kallmaker (born 1960) is an American author of lesbian fiction whose works also include those originally written under the name Laura Adams. Her writings span lesbian romance, lesbian erotica, and lesbian science-fiction/fantasy. Dubbed th ...

, Lori L. Lake, Claire O'Dell,

Radclyffe Radclyffe (real name Dr. Lenora Ruth Barot, born 1950) is an American author of lesbian romance, paranormal romance, erotica, and mystery. She has authored multiple short stories, written fan fiction, and edited numerous anthologies. Radclyffe ...

, and Merry Shannon. Some publishing houses, such as

Bella Books Bella Books is a small press publisher of lesbian literature based in Tallahassee, Florida. History Kelly Smith, along with other investors, created the corporation in Michigan in 1999 as an outgrowth of Smith's long relationship with ''A Woma ...

Bold Strokes Books Bold Strokes Books is a midsized independent publisher headquartered in Cambridge, New York that offers a diverse collection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer general and genre fiction. Their list includes romance, mystery/intri ...

, Regal Crest Enterprises, and Spinsters Ink, focus on lesbian romance novels.

References

LGBT literature Romance (genre) Queer culture