Does my character make sense, is this a realistic situation? I want him to be realistic.?

Question

I am working on a novel. It is not specifically about gay people, but there are some gay characters.
Pardoni, the pirate (and then king/conqueror):
He was born the son of a prostitute. As he was growing up he repeatedly saw his mother in situations that a child should not, and saw how sex made her emotionally desolate.
Because of his experiences in childhood, he is repulsed by the idea of hetero intercourse, but of course still has a sex drive. He turned to homosexuality, as he could have sexual relations with a man and not hate himself for making a woman desolate.

This is different to my own experience. I have always been gay, and I have really never been anything else.
I want to know, does Pardoni's turning to homosexuality because of his repulsion to hetero intercourse work? Does this actually happen, that a person can turn gay, even if they aren't simply gay?

(And what is up with my avatar? I chose a face for my avatar, then changed it. Now it alternates. Can I fix that?)

I have another character, Tsenon, the "boy" emperor (becomes emperor at fifteen) who is naturally gay; a man who is based more on my own experience. My idea is to have the contrast between the boy emperor, who is just gay because he has desires that he can't understand, and the pirate king who may have been pushed into homosexuality by his situation.
I am not trying to portray homosexuality exclusively as a warping of sexuality, but I want to explore different angles.
I don't think Pardoni chooses homosexuality... it is a largely unconscious process.
Pardoni's lover, Bristion, is bi; he is an interesting one; because he falls in love again with the mother of his illigitimate son and leaves Pardoni for her.
She won't have him, but he turns all religious and convinces her he has changed. The reader is left to judge whether Bristion's conversion is genuine...
Tsenon, duty bound emperor, marries the lovely Vindonlé, but is in love with Stymon. Unrequited gay love! Sigh
Genre: Scifi

These are all subplots, not the main storyline. Good grief there is more to my novel!

Answer 1

Not sure on the avatar ;)

But I have a hard time with a character that is "gay" not because it's how he truly feels, but is because it is less disgusting than the other... It kind of plays into "Gays are created when a child is warped."

In reality, I would think that if he saw his mother being treated so horrendously, and liked girls, he would work extra hard to be with them and treat them in a way that he wishes his mother was treated...

I can't say that nobody has ever chosen homosexuality due to bad situations with another sex (I had sex with both men and women for years, until I had one horrid night with a woman, and have stuck with men ever since... LOL, but in reality, I was always more interested in men).

It's an interesting take on a character, IMO, but I guess to be honest I resent the idea of a gay character that is only gay because it doesn't make him as sick as sex with women... But that's just my opinion, sometimes characters are meant to bother us a little - it's healthy ;)

Answer 2

Yeah, I think that's totally legit. In early civilizations older men would have "understudies" that they would teach different things, and they had very close relationships that would sexual a lot of the time. And some people have been known to do that. I think that's a good character idea, and I am gay, so I'm not biased or anything...

Answer 3

I have seen a straight guy think he turned gay when a girl dumped him. It lasted about two weeks. He was not born gay. He wanted me to feel really bad for introducing him to the girl. So of course he told me he had "turned gay." I'm not sure we are either or. But somewhere on a spectrum that's different for everyone. Socio-cultural circumstances may play a role in what aspects of your personality do you really get to explore, but we what we are because of our genes.

Answer 4

It does sound realistic, however, I do feel that the pirate setting is not the best setting for this story. It sounds like it would be better in a more contemporary setting, either in a poorer urban setting. OH, how about in a conservative suburban setting, that should be a little more controversial/ interesting. Of course that is just my opinion :D.

Answer 5

Perhaps Pardoni detached from the supposed masculinity of his mother's suitors and now is seeking to complete himself through relationships with other men as a way to avoid associating with the type of relationships which surrounded him as a child.

[NOTE: This does not imply an endorsement.]
Here is some psychoanalytic theorizing regarding the meaning of same-sex attraction. It might help you in developing your character:
http://www.narth.com/docs/niconew.html

Answer 6

It works for me... I was intrigued buy the small sample would love to read more.

Keep the pirate setting! Its something that has not really been done before.

Answer 7

I've never heard of anybody "choosing" to be gay... I've heard of straight guys who "turn" to prostitution...which includes sex with men... but not "turning gay"...