Brandon Sanderson Defends LGBTQ Agenda In The Stormlight Archives: "It's A Bigger Statement Not To Include Queer Characters Than To Include Them"
Brandon Sanderson has been criticized by epic fantasy fans of The Stormlight Archives with book 5, Wind And Truth, having a heavy focus on modernism and an LGBTQ agenda that doesn’t fit within the medieval fantasy genre. He’s admitted he’s “worried” about fan reaction and that his career may “crash and burn” as a result.
Even though most traditionally published authors are struggling in recent years, Brandon Sanderson has been an exception to the rule. Ever since being picked to finish Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy A Wheel Of Time, his trajectory as an author seemed to have no upward limit.
In 2022, Sanderson shattered Kickstarter records with four secret novels which made over $41 million, becoming such a juggernaut that it seemed he was unstoppable. Many wondered if he would even return to traditional publishing, as it seems like outlets like Tor Books need him a lot more than he needs them.
However, in 2023 he made a blog post with a strange statement implying he would be adding more of the woke agenda into his books in an effort to stay within the mainstream.
Sanderson posted, saying, “My current stance is one of unequivocable support for LGBTQ+ rights. I support gay marriage. I support trans rights, the rights of non-binary people, and I support the rights of trans people to affirm their own identity with love and support. I support anti-discrimination legislation, and have voted consistently along these lines for the last fifteen years. I am marking the posting of this FAQ item, at the encouragement of several of my LGBTQ+ fans, with a sizable donation to the Utah Pride Center and another to The OUT Foundation.”
He continued saying this new stance would influence his books like The Stormlight Archives, saying, “I put LGBTQ+ people into my books, and will continue to do so. Not because I want to fulfill a quota, but because I genuinely believe that it is right for the characters–and is a good and important thing for me to be doing.”
He fulfilled this promise to push the LGBTQ agenda within his new book Wind And Truth, where it heavily features a male on male crosss-species relationship.
In addition, the book pushes evil transgender ideology in multiple sections. In one section, a female character proclaims, “I have papers.” When asked about it, the character replies, “One who has filled out the forms to live as a man.”
Another section reads, “‘Navani tells me,’ Rushu said, ‘ that you are neither male nor female.’ ‘It is true.’ ‘Could you tell me more about that?’” The passage is followed by a lecture on gender to humans.
In an interview given to Esquire Magazine, it appears as if Brandon Sanderson knew this effort would be upsetting to fans but went ahead with it anyway. “I’m worried,” he told the interviewer. “If my career is going to crash and burn, this is the book that’ll do it.”
Fans were waiting anxiously for this book to wrap up the story arc, with many comparing the work to Avengers: Endgame in their anticipation of what would be coming for Wind and Truth. Unfortunately, it looks like identity politics pandering took a front seat over plotting and characterization in the book.
“It’s a bigger statement not to include queer characters than to include them,” Sanderson said about his choice to focus on gay characters as part of the main storyline. “It’s a little bit nail-biting because you don’t want to misrepresent anything. Coming from my background, I wanted to be absolutely sure I got this right, so we had professional sensitivity readers, and one of my best friends, Ryan, who one of the characters is based on, has been guiding me along.”
He considers what he’s done difficult in pushing the agenda, but despite it being the hallmark of all corporate slop in modern fiction, what he believes he’s done in this LGBTQ push is high art.
“If I don’t do hard things, then am I actually pursuing art?” Sanderson asked the Esquire interviewer. “I hope people are like, ‘Wow, Brandon’s willing to do really interesting and exciting things with his fiction.’ But I don’t get to decide that—the fans do.”
His odd statements in interviews further confirm that authors and publishers understand that audiences don’t want this kind of content, but they do it anyway as the agenda is more important to them than anything else. Will Sanderson’s career survive his descent into wokeness? Only time will tell.
What do you think of Brandon Sanderson pushing the LGBTQ agenda even knowing that it might harm The Stormlight Archives and upset fans? Leave a comment and let us know.
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I've always felt that Sanderson was wildly overrated as an author. I now feel free to say so. Thank you, Brandon!
"Let's Go Brandon!"