However, Claudine is revolutionary for featuring one of the first transgender protagonists in manga. The Rose Of Versailles and Dear Brother are also manga that explore LGBTQ themes, with The Rose Of Versaille's Lady Oscar breaking gender roles and Dear Brother being a tragic drama with multiple gay women. With that in mind, here are some important LGBTQ manga you should take a look at.Ĭlaudine is a manga by the prolific Riyoko Ikeda, who also published The Rose of Versailles and Dear Brother. Earlier this year, CBR offered recommendations for Pride month focussed on this kind of manga, but it's never a bad thing to continue to uplift LGBTQ stories throughout the year. Obviously, an author also doesn't necessarily have to be a member of the community to include this kind of representation or tell a good story, but it's difficult to pinpoint specific stories that aren't just yuri or yaoi. In general, LGBTQ representation in anime and manga has slowly made strides and is now making its way further and further into the mainstream. The famous group CLAMP has never really cared about gender in love, and Sailor Moon notably has an out lesbian couple. Some people have reclaimed the genres somewhat, while others aren't big fans of them.įortunately, some manga artists have also done their parts to include this kind of representation in non-yaoi/yuri titles.
Though the yaoi and yuri genres exist and have helped pave the way to normalizing LGBTQ identities, many series are considered fetishistic and written for the straight female or male gaze.
LGBTQ representation is rather complicated in anime and manga.