Writing LBGT without addressing the "issue"?

I'm currently toying with the idea of the main character in my current story being bisexual (or possibly a lesbian). However, I don't want to focus on the prejudice surrounding homosexuality in the story. I want to write their relationship like I'd write any straight relationship, without all the angst of being outcasts from society because that's really just not relevant to the plot and I feel it would make things lag a bit.

However, I haven't ever read/seen anything LBGT where the fact that the character was gay wasn't made into a major plot point. Which annoys me, as it would be nice to read a book or watch a TV show about people like me without them having a huge storyline revolving around it, re-inforcing how "abnormal" they are. You don't get straight characters having every scene focussed on how straight they are...

Anyway, my point is, is this a no-go area? If I were to try to get something like this published, do you think readers would be annoyed that the stigma of homosexuality is barely touched upon? It's not that I'm looking to write something where the characters are gay and everyone's cool with it, because obviously that's annoyingly unrealistic. But I just don't plan on involving loads of scenes where prejudice would be an issue, and I don't want the girl to have huge inner conflicts about her liking girls. I'm sure there are some people who, like me, never had a huge issue with being bisexual.

I don't know, this is getting long now. Just want to know your thoughts :)

I'm doing something very similar with my two main characters, who happen to be best friends. The end of the novel is this passionate kiss in a convention center full of strangers. The love interest is secondary to the main plot, but I don't write it as "OMG! I'm.... gay?". I write it as "OMG! I'm in love with.... my best friend?" But then, both of my characters don't care what the outside world thinks of them, so...

I wrote a novella once in which the main character fell in love with a person who wanted to paint her portrait. It wasn't so much "OMG, I'm lesbian?!" (she isn't anyway. She's bi.) but rather "Why do I keep liking her although she acts like a selfish idiot?!". I don't like the non-heterosexuality of a character turning into such a big plot point. It's not like every person defines themselves just with their sexuality.
While I do not know how publishers handle the theme of homosexuality in general, I personally would really like to read the novel you're talking about. Constantly reading about prejudices can get quite depressing and I always love to read some realistic LGBT+ stories.

Whether retconned or not, J.K Rowling's portrayal of a gay character is something to think about. Some people say it didn't need to be mentioned by her at all, he wasn't overtly gay in the books, it didn't matter to the plot, and so on. Some people say quite the opposite.

What I'm trying to say is there will always be people who want more emphasis on the prejudice, and people who want it to be realistic. I'm of the second group, more or less. I don't think a character's homosexuality needs to the main focus of a piece, however I often wonder why someone would bother to include mention of sexuality (either straight or gay) if it didn't at all feature in the plot in some form.

In theory I keep to my views on this, in practice ... well I usually have a GLBT character or two, but I can't say I've ever really mentioned it. It kind of makes me feel quilty no playing it more equally against straight characters.

BUT. If the story doesn't require it, it doesn't really need to be in the book :)

I thought I was the only one. I ended up having a huge LGBT-type subplot in my novel, but the fact that it's LGBT is not made even slightly a big deal. Mostly because:

a) My character is never actually in a relationship with the guy he's in love with, and he never tells anyone (though not because he's a guy - there are kind of bigger reasons why you wouldn't want to fall for him). It's unrequited - though even if it wasn't and they were in a relationship, I somehow don't think the fact they're two guys would bother either of them much haha. Although it would definitely bother my MC's family among other people (again, mostly for other reasons, but the fact he's a guy would probably factor in at least for his dad).

b) My character is fairly openly bisexual (he doesn't really talk about it or announce it to anyone who will listen, but if asked directly that's how he identifies) and totally comfortable with it. So liking a guy doesn't shock or bother him. He does have a lot of internal conflicts about his love interest, but they've really nothing to do with the LGBT context.

c) I really, really wanted to make my romantic subplot a love story, not an LGBT love story. Love is love in my opinion, and although I definitely know there are issues associated with being LGBT, there are bigger things going on in my story and my character has too many issues already without that. It just isn't an important part of my story, and not something I wanted to concentrate on.

Three words: Mass Effect 3.

The only reason I might have sexuality as a conflict in a story I'm writing is due to the character's religion (and very strong but currently simplistic faith) interacting with it. Otherwise, most of my characters seem not to care about orientations. Or if they do, there's a reason behind it. But I'm writing in modern times California and for the most part that's been my experience living here.

I think, among people who think about such things, it's generally thought that the lack of LGBT characters in which the whole plot isn't about them being LGBT is a BAD thing - that is, we want more "casual" use of LGBT characters in books.

So go ahead, I don't think anyone would be offended. Well... yeah, some people would be offended, but only the ones who'd be offended by an LGBT character no matter what.

That said, it might ring as unrealistic if there's no recognition of the world we're living in - even if that recognition just takes the form of some side character acting surprised to meet the main character's partner, or a mention of some relative who's been a bit distant since he "found out" about it, or something. Strike a balance between making the "struggle to be accepted" central to the plot and making it seem like the story takes place in an alternate world where LGBT people have never been oppressed.

I don't see anything wrong with it. I mean, realistically, I've been in a couple of situations where someone announced that they or someone they know is gay, and did not get any more of a reaction than if they had said they were straight. Just kind of an "...Okay." response.

"My step-mom's coming to get me."
"Your Dad remarried?"
"Nope, my mom."
"Oh. Okay."

I think the 'natural' evolution of most marginalised populations entering the mainstream is that, to start with, people are only interested in what makes them marginalised (and the other marginalised people are mostly looking to have that reflected in a story for once), but over time, in the same way that a gay dude doesn't want his straight friends to think of him as 'my gay friend', everyone just starts acknowledging stuff as normal, and marginalised people, as part of not being stuck on the margins any more, get to write about whatever they like.

(Marginalised marginalised. Now it's just fun to pronounce.)

Anyway, of the three core couples in my last NaNo project, one is royalty who are happily married but mostly off-page, one is a couple of knights who are having Relationship Issues due to unresolved problems from the recent war, and one is a mime who we see run into a cute doctor when his boss tries to assassinate a foreign dignitary. The royals are a king and queen, the knights are a guy and gal, and the mime and doctor are both dudes. There's no indication that the last one is viewed as 'abnormal' at all, and if we ever meet the mime's family, they're going to be desperately happy that their son didn't marry someone from the circus.

(Mind you, I'm writing fantasy, so in addition to magic that flies in the face of all physical laws, I'm feeling fine about a world that doesn't have institutional sexism or racism either. There is one villain who tries to use racial division to throw someone off-balance, but she's a terrible person and her remarks are of the form of "Doesn't being practically the only person in this city of your ethnicity make you feel freakish and alone sometimes?" The eventual answer proves to be "No, these are my people.")

In my romance story it's a big deal only because it's set in America in the late 50's, early 60's.
In my fantasy one there are two gay characters and no one really cares. The guy is infatuated by the leader and has been manipulated because of this when he was little but the focus is on the one sided romance, and not the fact they're both dudes. I never even say the other one is gay. She didn't see the need to tell anyone. My world is open about sexuality and despite my main character not being sexually interested in guys, he often seduces people to get his way.