Raleigh, NC (OPENPRESS) September 2, 2010 -- LGBTQ suicide prevention activist Stephanie Silberstein's latest novel, Shades of Gay, will feature an asexual teenager as the protagonist's best friend, Narrow Path Publishing announced today. The character does not experience sexual attraction but does have strong desires for emotional intimacy.
Silberstein chose to include asexuality to illustrate the difficulties non-heterosexual youth face from a different perspective as well as show that asexuality is normal. "Asexuals face just as much social pressure as other non-heterosexuals, especially in high school," Silberstein says. "They are expected to be interested in sex, or at the very least be curious about it; otherwise people assume something's wrong with them. I wanted to include an asexual teen in Shades of Gay to show that asexuals are just like other teens except they don't experience sexual attraction."
In addition to an asexual, Shades of Gay features a gay protagonist and his bisexual boyfriend. Silberstein hopes that the book demonstrates that there are a wide variety of sexual orientations and that all are normal. "My protagonist and his friends are all normal teenagers who happen to be non-heterosexual," Silberstein says. "I hope that youth of all orientations will feel less alone after reading the book." While the book is targeted towards non-heterosexual youth, she believes their heterosexual peers will identify with the characters as well and hopes they will become willing to befriend LGBT kids as a result.
Shades of Gay will be out by the beginning of October and will be available on Amazon as well as Narrow Path Publishing's website. 10 percent of profits will go to the Trevor Project, a national organization dedicated to helping suicidal LGBTQ youth. Silberstein had previously announced that Shades of Gay's cover will be designed by a local Transgender artist, D Gavi Chayim.
For more information, please visit www.narrowpathpublishing.net or www.facebook.com/shadesofgay.