[OB] Kaladin written as a gay man?

[Valand]

There is WOB about homosexuality in Vorin religion. 

Relevant fragment.
 

Quote

Vorin culture is concerned with oaths. Extra-marital sexuality is strictly forbidden, but homosexuality is regarded the same by most as heterosexual relationships. If the proper oaths are spoken, then the Almighty approves. (This usually means marriage, but there are certain official forms of other relationships that would allow it also.)

 

Source

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/116-general-reddit-2017/#e1443

[Vissy]

That's great and all, but honestly Sanderson hasn't portrayed homosexuality in that manner through his books. He's hardly broached the topic at all, and the only time he did it was through Sigzil who is notable for, among other things, his issues with homosexuality and prostitution. Great going there.

[Weltall]

@Vissy Sigzil doesn't so much have a problem with it conceptually as he does that Drehy hasn't filled out the proper paperwork, It doesn't really seem to be an issue with Azish cultures, so long as you cross all the t's and dot all the i's on the right forms.

Going back to the main topic, I doubt that Brandon has intentionally written Kaladin to come off as having romantic feelings for other men but it's possible he did so unconsciously. This happened with Shallan, who he's mentioned he didn't consciously plan to write as bisexual but that's how it worked out when he put words to page. So it could have happened with Kaladin too, or it could be he didn't intend it at all. The reason I'm fairly certain Brandon didn't consciously write Kaladin this way is that he's been asked about homosexual characters in his books on multiple occasions and he specifically called out Drehy as an example of one he's written, before the books made it explicit. If he went in thinking of Kaladin along those lines, I'm fairly certain he'd have mentioned him first as a leading character, then the secondary characters.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Weltall

[Scion of the Mists]

Brandon has specifically said that he has not written a gay main viewpoint character, so this would exclude Kaladin.  

(However, the footnote has some very interesting stuff about Jasnah, which I hadn't seen before)

 

Quote

Questioner

Do you have any, or will you ever write a gay character into any of your books?

Brandon Sanderson

There are several. Drehy, in The Stormlight Archive, the bridgeman is gay, because he's based off a good friend of mine who's gay. Ranette in the Wax & Wayne books, the woman that Wayne's in love with, she's gay, and it's hinted at in the first book. By the second book, they're like "Dude, she's gay, just leave her alone." So yes, I have written gay characters. I've never written a gay main viewpoint character, maybe someday I will, it's not something I've done yet. Footnote: (from Wetlander) At this point I asked about Jasnah, and I'll summarize our conversation; Brandon specifically asked me not to transcribe it directly. He'd momentarily forgotten that he had actually written Jasnah viewpoints, so his "I've never written a gay main viewpoint character" comment wasn't intended to quell the speculation about her either way. He clearly didn't intend to say that she's not gay, but he didn't want to rephrase in such a way as to say that she is, either; at this point, he really doesn't want to give a WoB about her either way. He'll deal with that if/as it becomes relevant to the story - and he refused to give any indication whether that was if or as. We are to continue our speculation if we're interested in the question.
source

 

Edited March 27, 2018 by Scion of the Mists