Do you think Rhaegar knew Jon Connington was gay and in love by him?

[Odej]

We know about JonCon sexuality and his love by his silver prince, but did Rhaegar know? If he did, how he felt about it? If he don't, how he would fell? That will be strange for him and he wouldn't be friends with JonCon anymore?

[Frey family reunion]

Yes, he knew, but he had a lot more in common with Ser Arthur.

[EggBlue]

who knows??? but let's say he knew... I don't think he would stop being friends with him because of that after all Jon was a good friend to him . and besides Arthur, he was his oldest friend if they were squires together at kings landing. and Rhaegar's brother in law was Oberyan so he wouldn't be homophobic . he'd be ok and reject him somehow that wouldn't hurt him much!

[Lord Lannister]

I'm inclined to think Rhaegar didn't know. If Rhaegar had rejected JonCon it seems the affection in his heart wouldn't stand the test of time. It would be more bitter and less sweet. Even if it was a passive rejection by simply knowing. An unrequited, secret love that JonCon knew could never even be attempted would seem more likely to harbor the romantic desire of what if in his heart over two decades.

[The Lord of the Crossing]

It is also possible that Rhaegar himself was a closet gay.  He was truly attracted to men but only married Elia and gave her kids as a duty to his father.  What an interesting backstory that would make.  The Gay Prince. 

[EggBlue]

21 minutes ago, The Lord of the Crossing said:

It is also possible that Rhaegar himself was a closet gay.  He was truly attracted to men but only married Elia and gave her kids as a duty to his father.  What an interesting backstory that would make.  The Gay Prince. 

the gay prince who cheated on his wife with yet another woman? how?

[corbon]

16 hours ago, Odej said:

We know about JonCon sexuality and his love by his silver prince, but did Rhaegar know?

There is no indication that he did. Well, not from any reliable source. Tyrion calls JonCon Rhaegar's  dear friend, but Tyrions ididnt know them and he thougt JonCon was dead, and now is being sarcastic.
From JonCon's side its seems clearly a hidden love.

16 hours ago, Odej said:

If he did, how he felt about it? If he don't, how he would fell? That will be strange for him and he wouldn't be friends with JonCon anymore?

I don't see that he was necessarily particularly close friends with JonCon in the first place. Jon Con was his squire for a while, so not really a 'peer'.

JonCon's character doesn't seem to fit well with Rhaegar. JonCon was more of a hanger-on-in-chief, the foremost of the 'youngbloods' at court trying win Rhaegar's favour.

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In his youth, Jon Connington had shared the disdain most knights had for bowmen, but he had grown wiser in exile. 

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Ser Kevan wished that he could share his certainty. He had known Jon Connington, slightly—a proud youth, the most headstrong of the gaggle of young lordlings who had gathered around Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, competing for his royal favor. Arrogant, but able and energetic. That, and his skill at arms, was why Mad King Aerys had named him Hand. Old Lord Merryweather's inaction had allowed the rebellion to take root and spread, and Aerys wanted someone young and vigorous to match Robert's own youth and vigor. "Too soon," Lord Tywin Lannister had declared when word of the king's choice had reached Casterly Rock. "Connington is too young, too bold, too eager for glory."

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A bride for our bright prince. Jon Connington remembered Prince Rhaegar's wedding all too well. Elia was never worthy of him. She was frail and sickly from the first, and childbirth only left her weaker. 

Does a disdainful, arrogant, proud, glory hound who clearly disdains the Crown Princess sound like the likely close friend of a bookish, dutiful, able, much-loved-by-the-commoners prince?

[FictionIsntReal]

7 hours ago, The Lord of the Crossing said:

What an interesting backstory that would make.  The Gay Prince. 

That exists via John the Fiddler, who is a somewhat Rhaegar-esque figure. His support collapsed though, so he just wound up captured instead of dying in battle.

[Frey family reunion]

7 hours ago, EggBlue said:

the gay prince who cheated on his wife with yet another woman? how?

It’s easy.  He closed his eyes and thought of Westeros.  And the battle for the dawn.

[CamiloRP]

1 hour ago, Frey family reunion said:

It’s easy.  He closed his eyes and thought of Westeros.  And the battle for the dawn.

That would make a pretty horrible story: 'in order for the world to be saved, a gay man must fuck a woman'

[Frey family reunion]

24 minutes ago, CamiloRP said:

That would make a pretty horrible story: 'in order for the world to be saved, a gay man must fuck a woman'

  You would prefer, married man ignores signs of an impending apocalypse so he can have extramarital sex with underage girl, lured from her family without permission?

[CamiloRP]

2 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

  You would prefer, married man ignores signs of an impending apocalypse so he can have extramarital sex with underage girl, lured from her family without permission?

I mean, yes, because that's just an asshole being an asshole, not the universe requiring a good person to suffer to continue existing, also it would send really big homophobic vibes 

[Frey family reunion]

1 minute ago, CamiloRP said:

I mean, yes, because that's just an asshole being an asshole, not the universe requiring a good person to suffer to continue existing, also it would send really big homophobic vibes 

Umm, so it’s better for a heterosexual guy to have irresponsible sex, than a gay guy to have sex with a woman because he believes their child will grow up to be a savior for mankind?

[CamiloRP]

1 minute ago, Frey family reunion said:

Umm, so it’s better for a heterosexual guy to have irresponsible sex, than a gay guy to have sex with a woman because he believes their child will grow up to be a savior for mankind?

Nope, as an individual action no, but if the story seems to validate one and not the other, then yes, am I explaining myself?

One thing is one guy cheating on his wife and having sex with a teenager because he's an asshole and a creep, that's awful, but it happens, and having it in your story by itself doesn't mean anything, no more than Breaking Bad means Vince Gilligan is pro narcoterrorism.

By having a gay guy saving the world by having heterosexual sex it's too easy to interpret it as saying 'if people have gay sex, the world ends' which is also an actual belief many people have, and a dangerous one.

Something similar happened with GOT's ending, having death and rape in the show was no problem on itself, in fact, at times, the show seemed to use it to criticize such violent acts, or show the effects of war, or whatever, the problematic thing came when those things got justified, Sansa was raped, and it was awful, but it's okay, because it made her strong, and if she wasn't strong Jon would've never beaten Ramsay, and if that would've happened, then the Others would've likely won, therefore Sansa's rape was a good thing, as presented by the story. 

Am I being clear? (I don't write this bit to be passive aggressive, I genuinely doubt I'm being able to explain myself)

[EggBlue]

8 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

Umm, so it’s better for a heterosexual guy to have irresponsible sex, than a gay guy to have sex with a woman because he believes their child will grow up to be a savior for mankind?

of course not . look at it this way: according to that assumption the one thing that would save the world is a gay guy going against something that in modern world we call "his nature" while they would call it " an abomination" in Westeros ( and many underdeveloped societies) ... that surely is a homophobic message. right?

[Frey family reunion]

14 minutes ago, CamiloRP said:

By having a gay guy saving the world by having heterosexual sex it's too easy to interpret it as saying 'if people have gay sex, the world ends' which is also an actual belief many people have, and a dangerous one.

I'm not arguing that his belief is correct, I'm just explaining his motivation.  If in fact he was gay.

After all, the quote I paraphrased, has nothing to do with homosexual intercourse.  The joke was it was what mothers told their daughters prior to their wedding night in the context of an arranged marriage with a King that they weren't attracted to (or perhaps just terrified with the idea of sexual intercourse).   Just close your eyes and think of England.  I.e. your duty to produce an heir and a ruler outweighs your phsycial attraction to your mate, or your actual enjoyment or lack of towards the conception.

So given the right motivation, there would be a reason for a gay man to feel he has a duty both to conceive with his wife, and perhaps with another.  Assuming that Rhaegar truly believed some of these batty prophecies. 

ETA: I'm struggling a bit to make sense of your moral problem with this.  I'm not suggesting that Rhaegar will doom the world if he has sex with Connington or Arthur.  Or that Rhaegar would think that.  It's just that Rhaegar might be of the belief that he also has to have sex with a couple of women in order to conceive the prince that was promised, and perhaps one or two of his wingmen. 

[Mister Smikes]

10 hours ago, EggBlue said:

the gay prince who cheated on his wife with yet another woman? how?

Overcompensation, I guess.  

[Mister Smikes]

47 minutes ago, CamiloRP said:

By having a gay guy saving the world by having heterosexual sex it's too easy to interpret it as saying 'if people have gay sex, the world ends' which is also an actual belief many people have, and a dangerous one.

You're overthinking this, IMHO.  

[LindsayLohan]

I think of Connington looking at Rhaegar the way the rest of the real world looks at Robert Smith. Dude's brilliant, charismatic, good with words, every emo gay guy's wet dream. When Smith got married, all of his friends said, "Yay! Good for Robert!" When we found out he married a woman, we were like, "Ummm.... what?"

JonCon had to spend his entire life thinking "There's no way that hipster-with-a-harp ain't gay. No way." Rhaegar could have had a threesome with Elia and Lyanna on the steps of the Holy Sept, and half the men in King's Landing would have still thought he was gay.

JonCon is never gonna stop loving Rhaegar.

[CamiloRP]

30 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

I'm not arguing that his belief is correct, I'm just explaining his motivation.  If in fact he was gay.

I figured you weren't, I wasn't trying to imply you were, but rather trying to explain why I think that's not enough of an explanation for why a gay guy would cheat on his wife. George is a pretty progressive dude and has written really good LGBT stories, and I doubt he would write something like that. That's why I don't think it's enough of an explanation, which doesn't mean that Rhaegar couldn't be attracted to Jon Con if someone wants to theorize about that, bisexual/pansexual people are still a thing.

 

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After all, the quote I paraphrased, has nothing to do with homosexual intercourse.  The joke was it was what mothers told their daughters prior to their wedding night in the context of an arranged marriage with a King that they weren't attracted to (or perhaps just terrified with the idea of sexual intercourse).   Just close your eyes and think of England.  I.e. your duty to produce an heir and a ruler outweighs your phsycial attraction to your mate, or your actual enjoyment or lack of towards the conception.

So given the right motivation, there would be a reason for a gay man to feel he has a duty both to conceive with his wife, and perhaps with another.  Assuming that Rhaegar truly believed some of these batty prophecies. 

Yes, I get this.

 

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ETA: I'm struggling a bit to make sense of your moral problem with this.  I'm not suggesting that Rhaegar will doom the world if he has sex with Connington or Arthur.  Or that Rhaegar would think that.  It's just that Rhaegar might be of the belief that he also has to have sex with a couple of women in order to conceive the prince that was promised, and perhaps one or two of his wingmen. 

The problem is that it would make it seem like the story's saying that gay guys can't be openly gay or the world ends, which is something many people believe, having one of the few gay characters in the story have heterosexual sex or the world ends just rings wrong to me, like @EggBlue explained:

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look at it this way: according to that assumption the one thing that would save the world is a gay guy going against something that in modern world we call "his nature" while they would call it " an abomination" in Westeros ( and many underdeveloped societies) ... that surely is a homophobic message. right?

If you'd have to have sex with someone you don't want to to save the world, how would you feel? like, I'm sure you'd do it, after all, you are part of the world, but still, it'd feel pretty awful, you may even feel like you were raped. And for LGBTTQIP+ people, reading about it can create trauma, not just reading about a gay guy having straight sex with someone they don't feel attracted to, that happens, but the story seemingly claiming that to be good, or else the world ends, which is something many of us have been told at least one time, and doesn't feel good.

It would be like a Black person reading a book that ends with one of it's only few black people saving the world by letting themselves be slaved by a white man. That would be traumatic for most of them I imagine, and it would make me feel that the author is pro slavery.