Important Differences Between Luna and Boy Meets Boy

‘Boy Meets Boy’ and ‘Luna’ are more obviously different because of the varying level of acceptance for both main characters’ prospective sexualities and genders. In ‘Boy Meets Boy’, Paul lives in a world that functions similarly to a utopia because of its acceptance of queer characters. Paul has always known he was gay, and his friends and family support him and treat him with respect. Even though he was assaulted outside a movie theater in middle school for being gay, his community still widely accepts him as well as other queer people. Infinite Darlene is in a similar position as Paul, as a drag queen; “few of us can remember what Daryl Heisenberg was like, since Infinite Darlene consumed him so completely. He was a decent football player, but nowhere near as good as when he started wearing false eyelashes” (Leviathan 16). Despite the initial setbacks of queer characters in ‘Boy Meets Boy’, the characters are faced with an unprecedented amount of acceptance.
Unlike ‘Boy Meets Boy’, ‘Luna’ takes a much more negative, yet more realistic, point of view surrounding the inclusion of queer characters. Although Regan’s sister Luna. formerly known as Liam, is accepted by her, he has trouble being honest with the rest of his family and the community as a whole. He longs to transition and present as female, but his negative father and judgmental classmates make his life very difficult. Despite the initial subject of Paul and his ease at being gay within his community, Liam is relegated to dressing and being the person he wishes at night in a small basement room. Regan has issues confronting her father and his guess that Liam is gay or secretively involved in unhealthy activities, but is wrong, “I wanted to scream in his face, no! He likes guys, we both do. That doesn’t make him gay. That makes him as straight as me because inside he’s a girl, Dad. Just like me” (Peters 123). Regan not only has to deal with keeping Liam’s secret, but trying to reconcile her own knowledge of trans people and Liam’s position while both Liam and her have to learn to navigate the world and educate themselves about hormones and other options for Liam.
Both novels focus on the similarities between coming out and the life that people comfortable in their sexualities lead. They both focus on how the norms of society change and develop queer identities through the lenses they are viewed from by the rest of the community.