Board Thread:Spoilers!/@comment-26225812-20150625072936/@comment-24674051-20150710173157

TalysAlankil wrote: To everyone in the thread saying there shouldn't be more LGBT people "unless it moves the plot"…so does that mean we can also replace all straight romances with friendships unless the relationship being romantic moves the plot ? Because I think the only one that would be left then is Snow and Charming. Possibly Belle and Rumplestiltskin (and I'm not getting into that can of worms).

LGBT people exist (yes, really! Even when they're not in relationships! So Henry—or any other character, I'm just using the OP's example—could even come out without getting a love interest!), and the fact that you think there needs a "point" to the existence of LGBT character speaks more of your heteronormativity than anything else. To answer you question. My opinion is Yes, we can replace the "straight romances" with friendships, imo. Really, in all honesty, Regina and Robin as a couple do not add anything to the main storyline, other than what I would call unneeded drama. In fact (and again, this is my personal viewpoint, I am not judging anyone else), I think things would be better if the "Ships" were in fact just Friendships, even CaptainSwan. Too much focus is spent on the sexualization of relationships, to the point that the value of actually being friends is overlooked.

The show has done well with showing such themes as "True Love" being more than just between a man and a woman. Parent/child relationships can be true love (and I sure hope that there is no sexuality in those relationships), and that includes adopted parent child. They have shown that "Happy Endings" don't have to involve having a romantic relationship. What Emma did for Regina in the Season 4 Finale is something that I would classify as True Love, and I certainly don't see any sexual relationship between these two women (though I know some do).