Katie Plank

Professor Alison Thomas

LIT 130
11 December 2012
Safe Spaces in Cyberspace: Fanfiction as a Tool for Queer Youth
Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy run into each other in the hallways of
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry tries to ignore his rival, but
Malfoy spits an insult after him, and Harry is honor-bound to return in kind. They
step closer together, yelling passionately, intense dislike bordering on genuine
hatred evident in their faces, and suddenly, Malfoy shoves Harry against the wall.
However, instead of punching him, he kisses him and Harry reciprocates.
For many people, the end of this story would be shocking, because Harry
Potter is definitely not gay. But many writers of fanfiction choose to explore what
would happen if he were gay, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, transgender, the opposite
gender, or any of numerous sexual and gender identities that fall into the category of
queer because of their place outside the heteronormative paradigm that dominates
society. The Harry Potter series is one of the most popular subjects of fanfiction and
altering the sexual or gender identities of characters is one of the most common plot
devices. Fanfiction authors, who are often adolescents, are free to use popular
characters such as Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, and various others to write about
characters in a queer, or non-heteronormative, interpretation of the Harry Potter
canon. Fanfiction in general allows a greater degree of creativity than other forms of
creative writing because it doesnt have to conform to the same industry or societal

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standards as published works. Therefore, the Harry Potter fanfiction reading and
writing community creates Safe Spaces in which adolescent authors can experiment
with and learn about queer identities and issues by projecting these identities upon
a popular series which is already rich with interpretive potential.
The Safe Spaces Project, a campaign that aims to help nonprofit organizations
create safe spaces for LGBTQ youth, pioneered the idea of designated Safe Spaces.
They define a Safe Space as an environment that affirms and welcomes LGBTQ
youth, is aware of their specific needs, perspectives, and strengths, and is willing
and able to meet their needs (What We Do). In effect, the Safe Spaces Project is
trying to create areas in which LGBTQ youth feel safe, accepted, and able to express
their identities in the hopes that this will one day be the norm for all areas. Although
the fanfiction community may not seem like a safe space in the traditional sense, it
can fulfill these criteria through its mechanisms for creating an online community
that is dedicated to exploring queer issues and facilitating anonymous expression
and communication. Fanfiction is typically viewed as a frivolous hobby, or at best an
exercise in creative writing. However, as Catherine Tosenberger, an assistant
professor at the university of Winnipeg who wrote her thesis on Harry Potter
fanfiction, states that fanfiction carries the potential to encounter and experiment
with alternative modes of sexual discourse, particularly queer discourse (186).
Fanfiction is a medium which fans can easily utilize to start a discussion about
sexuality anonymously, a service that many LGBTQ teens desperately need.
The Harry Potter fanfiction community fulfills the requirement that a safe
space be welcoming to queer youth by providing an archive of stories that tend to

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treat non-heterosexual sexual orientations as not only normal, but accepted. The
fanfiction community not only welcomes LGBTQ youth, but also helps meet their
need for stories affirming and normalizing LGBTQ youth characters in a positive
light as well as stories addressing the very real issues that LGBTQ teens face. For
example, No Choice but This by Wynnebat describes Ron Weasleys nephew Louis
coming out as asexual to his family (Wynnebat). This story normalizes Louiss
asexuality and also portrays a supportive openly gay friend and an accepting family.
Although asexuality is sometimes seen as being outside of the LGBTQ spectrum, the
fact that asexuality lies outside of the heteronormative paradigm designates it as a
queer identity. Stories like this can provide positive queer role models for
adolescents to look up to, something many LGBTQ youth desperately need.
However, not all stories depict positive aspects of LGBTQ life. Some fanfiction
deals with the challenges that LGBTQ teens face, especially coming out and bullying.
For example, Evildevilangels Coming Out tells the story of how an adolescent
Remus Lupin comes out as gay to his mother, who refuses to accept his sexuality
and love for his same-sex significant other, Sirius Black. When he attempts to tell her
that he identifies as homosexual, she replies, Don't be foolish. You just haven't
gotten out into the real worldthen you'll forget all about this silly little notion. It's
a phase, Remus. Everyone questions (Evildevilangel). Although his mother does not
throw him out or condemn him and even states that she loves him no matter what,
she refuses to accept his sexual orientation and maintains that she hopes that he will
come around and want to bring home a nice girl (Evildevilangel). Obviously, this
scenario is not ideal; however, it is a reality for many LGBTQ teens; stories like this

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help share such experiences with readers of all sexual identities. LGBTQ teens can
relate and take comfort in the fact that Remus has support from his significant other
and a determination to stay true to himself, while others can empathize with the
popular characters struggle and gain insight into the realities of life for LGBTQ
adolescents. Both of these results help facilitate a Safe Space by meeting the needs of
LGBTQ adolescents for relatable role models and stories; they also encourage other
readers to be aware of their specific needs, perspectives, and strengths, thus
expanding the qualities of a Safe Space into the general consciousness of readers
(What We Do).
However, fanfiction can also gloss over important LGBTQ issues in favor of
focusing on romance or plot; this is made especially possible in the Potter fandom
because of the availability of magic as a plot device. For example, in
TheGodMachines Turning Point, a transgender James Potter transitions from
Jasmine to James with the help of a convenient spell that can instantly make him
biologically male or female. The oversimplification of the transition process through
magic belies the physically, mentally, and economically taxing surgeries that a
transgender person must undergo if they wish to physically transition.
Although magic is used as a plot device to oversimplify the physical process
in order to put more focus on James romance with Lily Evans, this story still
addresses various emotional issues related to the transition from female to male.
Although the spell works instantly, James still chooses to live as female until he
graduates Hogwarts because he is loathe to come out to his family and classmates, a
choice which many transgender youth are forced to make by societal or familiar

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pressures. Later in the story, a young Severus Snape reveals James as transgender
by reversing his spell, an action that metaphorically mirrors the refusal to recognize
a person by their chosen gender. Although the use of magic oversimplifies some
elements of the transgender narrative, the story still resonates with readers because
of its willingness to take on tough issues. Reviewer Sukaretto Yuki wrote, Being
someone who has many personal experiences relating to this subject, I believe you
captured everything extremely well; Sikanda, another reviewer, also expressed a
personal connection to the story (Reviews for Turning Point). Responses like this
illustrate the very real potential that fanfiction has to reach adolescents who identify
as LGBTQ or are affected by queer issues in some way, shape, or form.
Fanfiction encompasses a vast variety of fandoms and readerships, all of
which tend to include fiction about queer issues. Why then does the Potter fandom
stand out among others as particularly enticing to LGBTQ adolescents? The Harry
Potter series are easily the most popular category for fanfiction, with 618, 171
stories as of 2:48 AM on November 13, 2012 (fanfiction.net). The Harry Potter series
is an appealing subject for fanfiction for various reasons. For one, the series itself is
one of the most popular fictional series of the modern era, having sold more than
450 million copies, according to an article in the BBC (Harry Potter Series to be Sold
as E-Books). The sheer volume of fans of the series makes the creation of fanfiction
inevitable, and it logically follows that more fans means more fanfiction. In addition
to this, the Harry Potter universe is so large that it leaves a lot of room for
interpretation of plot devices as relating to queer issues; both fans and scholars
have taken advantage of this fact.

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The Harry Potter series has been analyzed by various scholars in regards to
the inclusion of queer subtext, where the term queer designates anything that does
not fit into the heteronormative paradigm. David Nylund, an associate professor of
social work at California State University, has studied the Harry Potter series and
how adolescents relate to situations and characters within the books. In his work
with Steven, a 17 year old gay youth, he became aware of the similarities between
Harry Potters coming out as a wizard and the process of an LGBTQ identified
youth coming out as their preferred identity (20). This is not a novel concept; other
scholars have put forth this idea, including Tosenberger and University of Central
Florida professors Tison Pugh and David Wallace.
Pugh and Wallace in particular delve more deeply into the mixture of queer
and heteronormative subtext of the Harry Potter series. While they acknowledge the
prevalence of Harry subverting muggle norms, they maintain that certain elements
of the story reinforce heteronormativity through the strict adherence of characters
to wizarding norms. One of the most interesting examples of this is the parallel
drawn between werewolves and gay men afflicted with AIDs. In the Harry Potter
universe, lycanthropy is a disease transmitted by bodily fluids that bears an intense
social stigma. Tosenberger also discusses this stigma, mentioning that lycanthropes
are subject to fear and discrimination far out of proportion to their likelihood of
infecting anyone (197). This statement could apply equally to lycanthropes in the
Potterverse or AIDS victims in reality. Pugh and Wallace take the implications to a
more disturbing conclusion, purporting that Given the diseased nature of
lycanthropes in the texts, the metaphor between werewolves and gay men marks all

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queers as quite literally sick (268). These connections are troubling, and one
wonders if they are, in fact intentional. However, the dichotomy between muggle
normativity and wizard normativity raises various concerns that are directly
applicable to queer theory; because of this, the Harry Potter fandom is an extremely
accessible medium for adolescents to queer the text through fanfiction.
To realize the importance of queering literature, one must recognize that
literature has the potential to profoundly impact the development of the identities
of children and adolescents. Young adult literature is particularly poignant and
relevant to readers in this age group because its characters typically struggle with
the same issues as they do. In a review of three articles about young adult literature,
Joshua Kaplan notes that The trope that all young adult literature has in common is
the search for identity (12). Adolescence is typically regarded as a time of trying to
establish an identity, and the attempt to emulate characters in young adult novels
can be a large part of this search. Whether consciously or not, young people tend to
look to the protagonists of their favorite books for role models.
However, this can be an issue for adolescents struggling with their sexual
identities. Although there are books that address the plight of LGBTQ youth, they are
much less common and less accessible than books whose characters are cisgender
and heterosexual. In a 2004 study, researchers analyzed the accessibility of YA
books with LGBTQ content in Canadian libraries. They found very few titles
published which fit the criteria of being targeted at young adults and also
addressing LGBTQ subjects. Their research identified only 35 YA books with LGBTQ

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subjects published between 1998 and 2002, which averages out to 7 books a year.
The study found evidence of several factors which may limit access to YA fiction
with LGBTQ content in public libraries, including lower numbers of different books
available, fewer copies of each book, fewer reviews for the books than for other
books, and inadequate labeling of the subject matter (Boon, Howard). Although
books aimed at LGBTQ adolescents are becoming more mainstream than in the past,
they are still much less prevalent than almost any other genre. They are rarely
taught in school curricula, and are in fact banned by some schools and libraries for
encouragement of damaging lifestyles, a broad category that encompasses a
variety of behaviors considered morally wrong by certain groups of people;
homosexuality is included, as is drug abuse and sexual activity before marriage
(Banned Books). Additionally, it is almost unheard of to encounter a book that
addresses more complex queer issues such as heterosexual identified adolescents
experiencing arousal at the thought of homoerotic activities, a phenomenon which is
common among the fanfiction community. Unfortunately for LGBTQ adolescents
seeking role models, novels are not an easily available resource.
So where can confused adolescents turn when, as William Banks, associate
professor of English at East Carolina University, states, books you did find were
rarely, if ever, truly meant for you, at least if you were an adolescent struggling with
coming out? (Banks). Although acceptance of alternatives to heterosexuality is
increasing, many adolescents still live in households where anything other than
heterosexuality is considered morally corrupt. This is where fanfiction comes in
with the ability to provide the positive queer role models that published literature

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does not. Fanfiction has a drastically different set of conventions than published
literature and society as a whole. Non-heteronormative identities are tolerated and
celebrated. In fact, slash fiction (fiction about homosexual or bisexual men), the
most common form of queering literature through fanfiction, is often more
prevalent than het (heterosexual) fiction. In the Harry Potter fandom, stories about
romance between Harry and Draco are almost twice as numerous as stories about
Harry and Ginny Weasley, his canonical love interest and eventual spouse
(fanfiction.net).
However, slash fiction is not the only queer interpretation by far. There is a
market for practically every niche, no matter how taboo it is considered by society.
Stories like the aforementioned No Choice But This and Turning Point are
examples of fiction which explores gender and sexual identities such as asexual and
transgender. In addition to the identities typically encompassed by the LGBTQ
community, there are also genres of fanfiction which deal with practices that would
be physically impossible in real life, such as male pregnancy (mpreg), or even illegal,
such as rape (non-con), dubious consent (dub-con), or pedophilia (shota). These
subjects are controversial, and their availability is part of the reason that fanfiction
has a negative stigma from many people. These types of stories also have the
potential to drive away potential new community members due to their moral
ambiguity and shock value. Although fanfiction can be an intimidating and
sometimes disturbing for the unprepared, the all-encompassing nature of accepted
subject matter helps create a Safe Space for adolescents to find positive role models,

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explore queer interpretations of literature, and attempt to construct their own
identity.
Another feature of fanfiction that addresses the needs of LGBTQ youth is
anonymity. The fact that most vehicles for sharing fanfiction include elements of
anonymity and allow for anonymous feedback help provide support that the authors
may not have chosen to seek in an explicitly identified LGBTQ setting. Vikki Fraser, a
visiting fellow at the University of South Wales Canberra, states in an essay
exploring the use of the internet as a virtual closet space for queer youth that the
Internet provides young people with a space where they can experience a
community in which they can test out and practice their sexualities (31). Fraser
explores how designated online queer communities can be empowering places for
queer youth, but with the caveat that such communities may be limiting by the
implicit identification of members as queer whether they wish to label themselves
as such or not. Fanfiction creates a community where LGBTQ youth are welcome,
but not pressured to identify anything about themselves. They do not even need to
identify as queer; they have the option to portray their characters as such instead.
The element of anonymity helps gives adolescents a sense of control over their
experience that they lack in most offline experiences. If they wish to remain
completely anonymous, they can do so. If they wish to share their online identity
with others, they may do that also. The power to construct an identity online and
control the amount of information associated with that identity is a useful exercise
in discovering an identity offline. While the queer spaces that Fraser examines are
undoubtedly beneficial to people who are willing to self-identify in such spaces,

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some people are not at that point. For people who are not willing to self-identify or
are unsure of their identity, the fanfiction community is a good place to test-drive
identities through stories as well as seek support without having to incur judgment.
However, the queer fanfiction community is not only beneficial to LGBTQ
identified or questioning youth. Many heterosexual adolescents participate in the
reading or writing of fanfiction that includes queer interpretations of literature. In
fact, the demographics of slash fiction authors tend towards heterosexual women,
who choose to write about the subject both for sexual gratification and political
support of the LGBTQ community. As one fanfiction author stated in response to a
survey about slash fiction, I get frustrated reading literature which ignores the
existence of queer people. Writing slash gives me a chance to respond to that
exclusion, and I've never been a passive reader (MacDonald 28). While a
heterosexual woman who is aroused by the idea of two men in a sexual relationship
would likely be judged by the average person, in the fanfiction community it is
considered not only acceptable, but a normal and fairly common choice. Fanfiction is
not only for adolescents questioning their sexual identity, but their sexuality and
sexual preferences; readerships such as heterosexual females who are discovering
that they are aroused by two men in a romantic or erotic relationship is outside the
heteronormative paradigm of sexuality and therefore fits within the definition of
queer. The nature of the term queer is inclusive rather than exclusive and the
number of people who can benefit from a safe space in which to explore any aspects
of their identity and sexuality is much larger than most people realize.

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The implications of fanfiction as a Safe Space for adolescents have the
potential to be wide reaching. David Nylund explores this, suggesting that media
texts such as Harry Potter could have therapeutic potential. He recounts an instance
when his 9-year-old son overcame his fear of rollercoasters by imagining himself as
Harry Potter, which led Nylund to hypothesize that there were some interesting
themes in the Harry Potter stories that could be used in therapy (17). His work
with Steven reinforced that idea. Steven felt a personal connection to Harry Potter
because of their similar coming out experiences: Harry as a wizard and Steven as a
homosexual man and actively inserted himself into the text to challenge traditional
masculinity and "come out" as part of his journey in contesting heteronormativity
(22). While it is impressive that Steven was able to do that with the original text,
fanfiction makes it easier to insert oneself because of the availability of characters as
overt rather than covert queer role models. Steven may not have felt as much of a
connection to Harry Potter as a queer ally had Nylund not been there to facilitate a
queer reading of the text. Fanfiction provides that queer reading for youths like
Steven, making it accessible for self-insertion in the construction of an identity.
Although fanfiction has a stigma of being a strange corner of the Internet
community, the Harry Potter fandom has the potential to be a very constructive and
supportive atmosphere for adolescents. The fandom itself is very conducive to the
writing of fanfiction that alters the sexuality of characters, an action that adolescents
exploring their sexuality often use as a tool for exploration of their identity. The
anonymity and scope of the community makes the space inclusive and safe and the
topics addressed help meet the needs of queer youth for a forum that openly

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discusses issues pertinent to them. The evolution of fanfiction into a thriving online
community has inadvertently created as set of Safe Spaces for all kind of adolescents
to explore their sexuality while developing their creativity and encouraging openmindedness through the queering of texts such as the Harry Potter series. The
fanfiction community is an often-overlooked area that has the potential to foster a
healthy atmosphere for adolescents to work on the construction of an identity, a
service that could make it invaluable to queer youth. While organizations such as
the Safe Spaces Project work on creating physical Safe Spaces, perhaps others
should begin to consider fully utilizing Safe Cyberspaces such as the Harry Potter
fanfiction community.

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Works Cited

Banks, William, and Traci Gardner. "Literacy, Sexuality, and the Value(s) of Queer
Young Adult Literatures." English Journal 98.4 (2009): 33-36. GenderWatch.
Web. 14 Nov. 2012.
Boon, Michele H., and Vivian Howard. "Recent Lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender
Fiction for Teens: Are Canadian Public Libraries Providing Adequate
Collections?" Collection Building 23.3 (2004): 133-38. GenderWatch. Web. 14
Nov. 2012.
Evildevilangel. Coming Out. Fanfiction.net. Xing Li. 1998. Web. 14 Nov 2012.
"Common Reasons for Banning Books." Banned Books. Butler University Library, 29
Nov. 2011. Web.
Fanfiction.net. Xing Li. 1998. Web. 14 Nov 2012.
Fraser, Vikki. "Queer Closets and Rainbow Hyperlinks: The Construction and
Constraint of Queer Subjectivities Online." Sexuality Research and Social
Policy 7.1 (2010): 30-36. GenderWatch. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
"Harry Potter Series to Be Sold as E-books." BBC News: Entertainment and Arts. BBC,
23 June 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
" Kaplan, Jeffrey S. "Young Adult Literature in the 21st Century: Moving Beyond
Traditional Constraints and Conventions." Rev. of Is He Still Human? Are
You?": Young Adult Science Fiction in the Posthuman Age. ALAN Review 32.2
(2005): 11-18. ProQuest. Web. 14 Nov. 2012.

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MacDonald, Marianne. "Harry Potter and the Fan Fiction Phenom." Gay and Lesbian
Review 13.1 (2006): n. pag. GenderWatch. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.
Nylund, David. "Reading Harry Potter: Popular Culture, Queer Theory and the
Fashioning of Youth Identity." Journal of Systemic Therapies 26.2 (2007): 1324. ProQuest. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.
Pugh, Tison, and David L. Wallace. "Heteronormative Heroism and Queering the
School Story in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series." Children's Literature
Association Quarterly 31.3 (2006): 260,281,2-3. ProQuest Central; ProQuest
Social Science Journals. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.
Reviews for Turning Point. Fanfiction.net. Xing Li. 1998. Web. 14 Nov 2012.
TheGodMachine. Turning Point. Fanfiction.net. Xing Li. 1998. Web. 9 Dec 2012.
Tosenberger, Catherine. "Homosexuality at the Online Hogwarts: Harry Potter Slash
Fanfiction." Children's Literature 36 (2008): 185-207. ProQuest. Web. 1 Nov.
2012.
Tosenberger, Catherine. ""Oh My God, the Fanfiction!" Dumbledore's Outing and the
Online Harry Potter Fandom." Children's Literature 33.2 (2008): 20006.ProQuest. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.
What We Do." Safespacesproject.org. The Safe Spaces Project, n.d. Web. 13 Nov.
2012.
Wynnebat. No Choice but This. Fanfiction.net. Xing Li. 1998. Web. 9 Dec 2012.