Earlier this year, Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, released another book titled Imogen, Obviously. The novel follows Imogen, a high school senior, who is “hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.” When Imogen goes to her newly-out best friend Lili’s college campus to visit, she meets all of Lili’s cool queer friends and finds out Lili has told all of them that she and Imogen used to date. And, soon enough, Imogen finds herself developing a crush on Tessa, one of Lili’s friends.
When I first read the synopsis of Imogen, Obviously, I was skeptical. The concept left me with a lot of questions and I was concerned the message wouldn’t come across well. I couldn’t have been more wrong. While trying to stay entirely spoiler-free, here’s why it works.
First of all, the cover is gorgeous. I know we say “don’t judge a book by its cover” but it’s impossible not to in this case. Inspired by the poster for the film But I’m a Cheerleader, this cover not only has beautiful art, but is also a great homage to a queer classic, making it the perfect cherry on top. Second, (most) of the characters Albertalli created are impossible not to love. Imogen is a kind-hearted, relatable narrator who you have no choice but to root for. Lili and her college friends create a safe and inviting environment for everyone and demonstrate the beauty and acceptance you can find in the queer community (even if others can be negative).
Additionally, it’s obvious that the story comes from an incredibly personal place for Albertalli and you can feel how much she cares about telling it, so let’s talk about why she wrote it. Becky Albertalli is best known for her first book, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which was later adapted into the feature film Love, Simon. Despite many valid criticisms about both the book and the film, one of the main discourses that appeared during and after the release of the aforementioned projects and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda’s sequel, Leah on the Offbeat, was about Albertalli. More specifically, about her sexuality. Many people said, why is a straight woman writing about a gay man? And why is she doing it for a second time about a bisexual woman? Albertalli’s books and the movie adaptation were taking many firsts for the queer community in mainstream industries and lots of people were asking: why is a straight woman allowed to take these firsts?
While these conversations are completely valid in some sense, I still wonder, just as Albertalli did in her coming out article, why was everyone so sure that she had to be straight? People constantly preach that everyone should come out when they’re ready, no matter how long that takes. Even if someone identifies as straight for a long time, it doesn’t mean they can’t realize they’re not. And yet, the discourse became so concerned with Becky’s personal identity, something she didn’t even owe to the public. It all culminated in her coming out article, where she stated she was only coming out because “I’ve been scrutinized, subtweeted, mocked, lectured, and invalidated just about every single day for years, and I’m exhausted.” No one should be forced out of the closet and yet, we’ve seen it all too much.
In the recent past, Heartstopper’s Kit Connor was forced to come out as bi due to accusations of queerbaiting because of his role on the show (and to be clear, a potentially straight actor playing an LGBTQ+ character is not what queerbaiting is). No matter a person’s age, the internet feels obligated to know the innermost details of someone’s identity. While I do understand the desire to have queer people both on screen and behind the scenes and recognize the power there is in representation, I still don’t believe it should be at the expense of closeted queer people.
This is an impossible debate with no solution, because there is no way to know if a person is closeted or not, but simply being more courteous could go a long way. Becky’s coming out article is wonderful and gets into many more intricacies than I do here, so I recommend giving it a read.
Returning to Imogen, Obviously, Albertalli made this issue into a novel, telling her story through Imogen and she does it admirably. This book creates a necessary and vulnerable discussion about the reality of being closeted, coming out, and compulsory heterosexuality. It depicts both the negativity of outing and those who attempt to define others’ identities for their own comfort, along with communities of queer people who are open and accepting no matter when or how someone comes out. These sorts of discussions can be uncomfortable, complicated, and there’s no real solution, but they need to happen and Becky Albertalli is making sure of it.