Ugh, I was JUST COMPLAINING about dead gay characters to someone the other day. Or probably several someones -- I was reading a book about The Well of Loneliness (among other things), and it made me think about all the books where the gay characters go crazy or die or both. It's way too common a trope; I think at this point authors need to take a very, very critical look at any intention they may have of writing a doomed gay character and just REALLY THINK about whether that person really has to be doomed.