: Re: Dropping subtle hints about a character's sexuality I have a character who is assumed to be straight, but after a few months reveals herself to be bisexual. I don't want her to just come

@Carla500

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First off, I reckon a female artist like Lady Gaga or Madonna would work better as a hint than David Bowie. As others have pointed out, liking feminine men doesn't necessarily mean you like women as well. Gaga and Madonna are also LGBT icons, so that's another subtle layer of foreshadowing (then again, Bowie is also an LGBT icon).

An interesting hint would be to have her comment on a woman that she isn't attracted to. You could drop this into a conversation like so:

Male Character: [compliments the attractiveness of a woman]
Female Bisexual: Eh. She's nothing special.

When you first read it, under the assumption that she's straight, it sounds like she's just jealous of the woman. When you read it again, now knowing that she's bi, you realise she genuinely just doesn't think the woman is that attractive (or at least, she's not her type). This also has the handy effect of breaking that stereotype of bisexuals being promiscuous, and it's not as glaringly obvious as it would be if she said that the woman was attractive.

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