This can be a tough line to walk. I found myself editing a manuscript the other day that was very good. It was written by a lesbian and included a trans woman character.

I ran across several lines where the author used language (from all the best intentions) that I knew would anger a lot of trans people.

So I made several edits and ran them by her. Happily, she understood I was trying to help and cooperated with enthusiasm.

I guess what I’m trying to say is her membership in the broader LGBTQ community does not necessarily qualify her to write well about people whose identities are not in line with her own experiences.

Of course I know nothing about your friend’s manuscript, and the publisher’s note was certainly inartful at best. Sometimes using broad labels like LGBT can inhibit good communication.

Maybe he was trying to say her portrayal of gay men was off somewhere? I mean just for example. Many of the various LGBTQ subcommunities really do have distinct cultures, and portraying them inaccurately could give a publisher real pause.

I would not have published that story I just told you about if the author had not consented to revisions, even though she is definitely part of the LGBTQ community. Because just being LGBTQ doesn’t necessarily qualify a person to write about different elements of our communities.