How to Write Diverse Characters in 2019

I recently saw a post in a Facebook writing group asking, “How do you write a gay character?” There were a range of responses including “Write a person who happens to be gay,” and at first read, it can seem like good advice. However, writing a gay character— or any underrepresented character— is more complicated than that because their identity is more complicated than that. We are all people, but our sense of self is informed by many things. If we’re raised in a culture that tells us we can’t get married for who we’re attracted to, where we don’t feel protected by cops, or where we’re…