Heteronorma–wha?

It’s a big word, I know, but one well worth learning. It relates to things that are perceived as heterosexual by default — it means that heterosexuality is considered the “norm” and anything else is not. We see it everywhere, yet most of us are not aware of it because it’s so ingrained in our society. A man and a woman, a couple, a family — that’s normal. Right?

Normalization: A New Hope

Things are changing, and while it may not seem like it when we watch the news or see social media posts, the statistics say otherwise. For example in the U.S. in 2012 1.6% of YA titles featured LGBT characters. In 2017 that number rose to 3.68%, almost double, and the trend is growing. More LGBT characters are introduced on television and streaming shows, comics, movies, and even video games.

What About Stela Unlimited? Hm? How Are You Normalizing?

We here at Stela Unlimited don’t go out of our way to advertise or promote some of our books as LGBT. We want you to love our books, LGBT or not, for their quality, for the joy they bring, and not for the orientation of our characters. We celebrate LGBT with many of our stories. Check out our library of titles on our app (Google Play or App Store) or at our website and see for yourself.