Gay romance is a genre within gay literature 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." P ...

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

homosexual Homosexuality is Romance (love), romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romant ...

or homoromantic 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 Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, sett ...

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. E ...

' romances long before the Internet even existed. But up to now, none has been published by mainstream presses and stocked next to the bodice rippers." 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'' named M/M romance one of the hottest developing literary trends. In 2011, ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional pract ...

'' 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 ''Queer as Folk'' may refer to: * ''Queer as Folk'' (British TV series), 1999–2000 * ''Queer as Folk'' (American TV series), a 2000–2005 American and Canadian version of the UK series ** ''Queer as Folk'' soundtracks, soundtrack albums from ...

'' 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 O ...

'' 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 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 Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming ou ...

, "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 t ...

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 bon ...

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 wit ...

pansexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofl ...

ity, and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, ...

ity.

Publishers

Dreamspinner Press (founded in 2007), Less than Three (2009),

Running Press Running Press is an American publishing company and member of the Perseus Books Group. The publisher's offices are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with many of the corporate functions taking place in Perseus' New York City headquarters. I ...

, Loose Id (now closed), Carina Press, 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 Robert Charles "Rob" Byrnes, Jr. is a 21st-century gay American, novelist and blogger, whose fiction focuses primarily on gay men and other sexual minorities. He serves on the Steering Committee for The Publishing Triangle, and was also a membe ...

, Charlie Cochrane, Johnny Diaz, 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, Brad Boney, Eli Easton, Rhys Ford, Andrew Sean Greer, Ginn Hale, Alexis Hall, Shaun David Hutchinson, T. J. Klune, Bill Konigsberg, Casey McQuiston, C. S. Pacat, 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 accla ...

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 gay literature 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, Georgia Beers, Andrea Bramhall, Jae, Karin Kallmaker, Lori L. Lake, Claire O'Dell, Radclyffe, and Merry Shannon. Some publishing houses, such as Bella Books, Bold Strokes Books,

Regal Crest Enterprises Regal Crest Enterprises (RCE), established 1999, is a small press publisher of lesbian literature. As of January 1, 2021, RCE became an imprint of Flashpoint Publications and is based in Ohio. Since the publication of its first title in 1999, R ...

, and Spinsters Ink, focus on lesbian romance novels.

References

LGBT literature Romance (genre) Queer culture