Some future reader recently asked me if there were any LGBT subplots in Mermaid Princess Amelia fantasy series. Since LGBT issues are a heated topic, I realized that it would be a good idea to write an article about it.
In general, “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony” is an old novel. Even though the English version was published in 2021, the first draft of this and the second novel (“Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Destiny’s Theater”), was written in 2007-2010.
Back in those times, LGBT issues in Poland (Maxine’s country) weren’t as broadly discussed as they’re now. They received minimal attention from the media – unlike now, when they’re one of the most heated topics.
We know that Maxine and her team attended the pride parade of her hometownin 2019, to show support to the LGBT community. Still, it remains a fact that there aren’t any LGBT characters and subplots in her older works (such as the first two novels of the “Mermaid Princess Amelia” series). In “…The Lost Symphony,” nobody comes out, and the very few relationships described are all straight.
It’s important to note, though, that romance subplots are really scarce in this novel. Amelia herself doesn’t seem to care much about dating. Some may say she’s aromantic. However, Maxine said that it’s not the case. “You have to remember, Amelia is just fifteen/sixteen. At that age, I didn’t care about romance at all. I was all about friendships, school and hobbies. (…) Nowadays, there’s this trend that there must be a romance subplot in every teenage book, with twelve or thirteen year old girls meeting their true love. That’s not what real life’s like. It’s completely unrealistic and also harmful: it gives teenagers pressure to find somebody, just for the sake of meeting some social standard.”
As you can see from the quote above, she wants to give her protagonist time to grow, exactly like J. K. Rowling did when writing Harry Potter.
But returning to LGBT issues: what about trans and gender non-conforming characters?
Maxine has trans friends so she’s familiar with trans issues. However, in the first two novels, there isn’t anyone who’d even mention questioning their gender identity. Some characters may appear as gender non-conforming, but that was probably accidental, since – like we already said before – the first drafts of “…The Lost Symphony” and “…The Destiny’s Theater” were written long before the discussion about LGBT issues became heated in Maxine’s country.
Two examples of gender non-conforming character would be Captain Jet Mir and General Aalona. Captain Jet Mir, who’s biologically male, has beautiful long hair and is described by Amelia as “more feminine than masculine.” He also spends much more time with girls than women. Conversely, General Aalona is a biologically female character who has a male name, and a very stern personality. She’s also a military prodigy, and we can safely say that this job sector is typically dominated by males (in the US, only 1/5 of military are women, and there are only 8% of them in the navy).
However, just because these characters are what they are, doesn’t mean that they’re trans or having issues with their gender identities. It wasn’t the author’s original idea. Still, if someone’s trans or gender non-conforming and wants to interpret these characters are such, they’re free to do so.
Having said all this, the question remains: are there going to be new, officially LGBT characters later on in the series?
The answer is: very probably.
The first novel is written in the spirit of globalization and cultural diversity. Amelia herself is a respectful and friendly character who tries not to judge. She’s imperfect, yes, but her efforts are admirable anyways.
One of more memorable dialogues is when she talks to Taisuke about his undersea ancestry. Even though he’s from a feared mermaid kingdom with a scary cult of demons, she doesn’t judge him. When he inquires if she’ll think of him less, she says “no, no way, you’re always cool in my eyes, Taisuke.”
Then, there’s also one short dialogue between her and Luiz. Amelia is generally annoyed with him, as he always unwillingly creates troubles for her. So, she’s got generally little patience around him. As they talk, and he’s surprised she isn’t Christian, she thinks to herself “does he think that there’s only one religion in the world”? Even though this shows mostly how irritated she is, it’s also a sign that she is aware that there are many different things that people may believe in.
With all this in mind, we hope to see some officially bi, lesbian, gay, and trans characters in the next novels of the series. It’s most likely that a lesbian character will be first, since currently, 2/3 of characters are female.
Related articles:
Grab your copy of “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony” here…
English: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T6BJ6RG
Spanish: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z8GK1JX
Italian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0953PN3Y7
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