Shipping same-sex pairings in and of itself is not fetishizing.

It’s not fetishizing: If you acknowledge that the people involved are potentially queer and this have to live with the queer experience. It’s not fetishizing if you simply appreciate their bond and +

The idea of them being cutely in love.

It IS fetishizing when you don’t respect actual queer people. It is if you say that the people involved are actually straight. It is when you’re making queer romance an aesthetic and don’t respect the queer experience, which +

Ain’t pretty. It is when you are only in it for the sexual gratification of seeing two boys/girls have sex.

It’s absolutely possible to respectfully ship. It’s all about how you do it.

(Also fetishization goes so far beyond these examples. This is super bare bones.)

Friend made a good point. We are not a novelty. Don’t treat us like one. We are just people. https://twitter.com/socal4rmy/status/1313264416230535168