I think as queer people most of us know what it feels like to not be comfortable with announcing your identity, I think that should always be taken into account when we talk about books that aren& #39;t explicitly own voices.

own voices is important but shouldn& #39;t be uphold to the extent to where authors have to out themselves to not be attacked and be told that they can& #39;t write about the things they write about. author& #39;s shouldn& #39;t be forced to out their identities, experiences and trauma like that.

critiquing things for harmful representation is important (I disliked some of the comments that felt biphobic in leah on the offbeat as well) but that critique should not lead to questioning and critiquing an author& #39;s identity in my opinion.

when discussing toxicity with the own voices discussion I also definitely want to lift this perspective as well, highly recommend reading this thread! there’s a lot to be considered here. https://twitter.com/emeryleewho/status/1300498314425634817">https://twitter.com/emeryleew...