#so they spelled it out w a butch in a dress and femme in a tux

[applecherry108]

Well, while no one’s here, I’m going to make a Controversial Post.

In my opinion, Shiro is not good queer representation. Because, I think, he suffers from the Dumbledore effect. Other than him getting married in a tacked-on post-credit scene, we never see or are explicitly told that he is queer (and outside of in-show content (interviews and such) don’t count as they are not the canon of the show itself). Even his brief scene with Adam is vague at best, and it’s never explicitly stated or shown that they are together. Unfortunately, interpreting them as just friends is a valid interpretation given their scene as it exists (could also be seen as a mentor relationship as well, but I digress).

And this isn’t just about Adam or Curtis. It’s about Shiro, who never so much as made eyes at random dudes in the entire series. Even his relationship with Keith, which given all the sibling language used, is not enough to solidify him as proper representation.

But then there’s Keith. Soft Looks Keith who even was shown to have flirtatious body language around Rolo, a random male character. Between Keith’s Soft Looks for Lance, his entire relationship and Everything around Shiro, the way he gets awkward when alone with Allura in otherwise compromising situations, had it been Keith who got married at the end, THAT would have been good representation.

Because we’re not just told that he’s queer, we’ve seen it throughout the series. (*had we’d gotten explicit confirmation like Shiro’s wedding). Keith would’ve been damn good queer representation, not bc he flirts with every guy he meets, not even if he got together with Shiro or Lance or literally anyone for that matter, but we’ve seen it, and THAT’S what matters. To have moments, no matter how subtle, and the in canon reaffirm those littl things. You can’t just tell me in an interview that “oh yeah, btw, Shiro (Dumbledore) is gay” and expect me to be satisfied with that “representation” just bc his character has been through hell and back. I’m not asking for the plot to go out of its way to show him courting a man, I’m asking for a Keith. Who was vaguely flirty One (1) time in the first season and just in general has softer interactions with other men. Keith isn’t even confirmed gay but you’d be hard pressed to argue to the contrary.

Meanwhile, Shiro “is gay” but we’re not given satisfactory evidence to confirm as much. When it was “announced”, it never sat right with me. Because we’d never seen him show any romantic interest in ANYONE, and not showing literally any interest in anyone does not equate to being gay.

But that’s just my take.