Tl;dr
Did you just straight-splain how to show queer representation?

Shiro’s a beautiful, huggable/lovable character, with his own life issues, particularly his health & recent breakup/loss of Adam. He seems like he didn’t want to lay the burden on his loved ones if he could avoid it. Shiro deserves to be happy, but not with Keith as an intimate companion but as his brother/family (the rest we really don’t know anything about) and with Keith looking out for him (as Shiro does for all them, like family ^_^ ). We can hope he’ll eventually find someone that will make him happy again. Though it seems we only have 13 more for this series.

Considering the first episode of season 7 went out of its way to justify this idea, it really speaks to the depth their adoptive relationship has for one another. It’s truly a beautiful thing to behold.

I don’t know how you can watch the show and claim Shiro and Keith have a student/teacher relationship in general and especially when Shiro explicitly puts himself on the other paladins level in the very first episode when Lance tells him he’s the senior officer and should decide the course of action and Shiro tells them no “they are a team”.
What was in the Garrison is in the past, claiming they still have these same rank based relationships is just delusional and one of the weakest arguments against this pairing to exist.
And no one with a bit of sense in their head actually thinks Shiro was ever interested in Keith like that at the Garrison when Keith was underage and while Shiro had a boyfriend.
If anything, sheith goes against the teacher/student relationship trope you’re so against, because nothing romantic ever develops until they are explicitly out of that relationship and both walk on equal grounds as leaders of voltron.

I’m pretty sure sheith fans would still support the ship if it was between a man and a woman or two women or whatever, because it’s a beautiful relationship based on all the right things (like friendship, respect and unconditional love and support) and they are the best person for the other. Which is what draws so many to this pairing and why it would be a good representation of gay romantic relationships.

Cause if Shiro’s and Keith’s bond was nothing but brotherly, this article (by someone who doesn’t want them to be a couple) would never exist, because it would be clear to all that them getting together doesn’t make any sense.
It would be like writing an article about why Lance and Hunk shouldn’t get together…
And there were atleast 5 other articles (with no ship bias) that came out that discuss the possibility of Shiro and Keith romance since we found out Shiro is gay.
And I don’t know if you follow staff interviews and stuff they say and draw, but there is alot there that points to their feelings for each other being more than brotherly, and even imply attraction in some.

I’m not even a shipper, but I’m a writer, and that relationship was written as a slow burn romance from the start of the show if anything. If either of them was a girl it would be clear to all where that was going, but since it’s two guys and people aren’t used to seeing that, I guess alot of people just don’t notice that there’s definitly more to it than just “bros being bros”. The writer of this article noticed though because he wouldn’t be so afraid of them getting together otherwise lol

I hope you will still love the show and watch it with your family if Shiro and Keith explicitly end up together. Love is love after all.

If kids see two guys or girls hug, kiss or show any form of gentle affection, they arent being exposed to pornographic material. If straight couples do these displays of affection on the street (and even more disguntingly so), and on tv, etc, all the time, why would it be any different if it were with two people of the same gender..??
This only tells kids that its okay to be yourself. They will have a reference point, something to which they can relate and look up to. Its okay if they ask questions, curiosity is common at those ages and its healthy and normal to address these issues early on. Although, admitedly, with kids that young, its possible it would even go over their heads.

With that being said, its not anyones fault but your own if you cant calmly explain to your 5 year old that its okay to like someone regardless of their gender. No one said you had to give them an extensive lecture about the birds and the bees??

You may not care about peoples afflictions or sexual orientation and that is perfectly fine, but this really isnt about you. No one is shoving this content in your face and you can always look away if you dont like it. Just dont push YOUR own agenda onto your others just because you find it “wrong”. Youre on your right to not understand it but direspecting it is a whole other thing. Leave your outdated arguements by the door on your way out.

Look, I disagree with Anthony myself concerning male friendships in media. There are plethora of strictly platonic male/male friendships in fiction, that is true. And it would be nice to have more canon m/m ships in media and would be better to a canon m/m ship in VLD. But Sheith nor Klance aren’t the only ways to get canon m/m. Shiro can reconcile and end up with his fiance, Adam, Coran could end up in a relationship with Kolivan. etc.

Also Anthony does have a point in that having Keith being best friends with Shiro while fully knowing Shiro’s gay/LGBT and their relationship never going into romantic territory would be revolutionary. It send a nice message to straight boys and men watching the show that they can be friends with gay men/boys. Sad as it is, there are bunch of men/boys who fear of/avoid having a close relationship with gay men because they incorrectly believe that being friends with a gay man changes their sexuality.

That said, I argue that Shiro and Keith shouldn’t be together mainly because it would invoke all sorts of harmful stereotypes about LGBT men. Before anyone jumps on me, I’m not one of those loons who think Sheith is disgusting or pedophilic. It’s a perfectly fine ship; I get why people ship them. But, as much Sheith shippers want to bang pots and pans all they want, but it’s not going to look good if Shiro, a gay/bi/pan man, who was in a years-long committed relationship with another man within his age range, ends up with his mentee who is 7+ years younger than him, who sees him as his brother figure, and who he raised (like or not, Keith’s own mother said “Thank you for RAISING my son for the man he is”) since he was a baby-faced preteen. People are immediately going to think of the stereotype of gay men preying upon younger and vulnerable men, of being promiscuous and unfaithful, and accuse Shiro of grooming Keith to be his lover. And yes, Keith and Shiro are now on equal terms now. Yes, both Keith and Shiro are adults, now, so the age gap is nothing to worry about. Yes, Shiro is a kind-hearted and sincere person who would never take advantage of someone and Keith isn’t a helpless child.. Still’s not going to matter to the close-minded people and open-minded people, LGBT activists, anyone sensible and not affiliated with tumblr who are just going to remember Shiro and Keith’s backstory come to similar conclusions, with one side feeling vindicated (the homophobes) and the other side feeling offended (the latter).

And to the people decrying that Keith didn’t/doesn’t have some characteristics of toxic masculinity and Lance fits the bill more: 1) No one is saying that Lance didn’t do anything wrong and/or he didn’t have some characteristics of Toxic Masculinity. For Pete’s sake, the author didn’t say anything about Lance, so there’s no point in bringing him up. 2) Keith did have some traits of toxic masculinity; the concept isn’t just about a man’s relations with women; it can also relate to how he handles emotions. Keith was cold and distant, and [SPOILERS] picked fights with other Garrison cadets [/SPOILERS], he has a temper and used to let his temper get best of him, he would go off on his own believing he was better off, and he repressed his emotions. Those are negative aspects of his character; Keith is a good person, just like the other VLD characters, but also like the rest of the cast, he has his flaws. His fans need to stop acting like he’s a flawless angel.

And to the people arguing that Sheith wouldn’t face criticism if it was a het ship: STOP. Like another poster said, if Keith was a girl, a good chunk of y’all would bash Sheith to kingdom come and see it as an affront to feminism and peak problematic. You guys would probably be cringing at the idea of a woman ending up with her mentor/brother figure who is 7+ years older and who her own mother thanked for raising her. And I ship Lance with Allura and have to deal with people accusing me and others of supporting sexual harassment, people bemoaning that Allura x Lance would supposedly send the message that men and women can’t be friends, etc. So please stop assuming and arguing that het ships don’t come under fire.

I really hate I wrote a long rant on this. But it is infuriating to see a multitude of people from a shipping fandom who claims to be open-minded and peaceful (Sheith shippers) yet are acting horrendous to someone who simply and politely expressed his opinion and never said anything awful about their ship. Congratulations, Sheith fans: you showed your true colors and reinforced the toxic reputation of the Voltron fandom. Be proud and take a bow.

I’m talking about my own real life experience that my parents helped raising 2 orphan brothers when they were 14-15 and only stayed with us when both of them reached 18yrs old, it happen over 10yrs ago when i was still in middle schools

all of us now in our 30s, and you think i changed my view in seeing them from brotherly to lovers now?? we don’t share the same childhood memories and we were completely strangers and yet all three of us became so close like a real siblings

so now when we are all grown adult, you think i could marry one of them now and changed my my view from brother to lover if one of them suddenly confessed???

just so you know i am queer myself, and this shit grossed me out and not to forget that shiro is canon teacher not only to keith but hunk and lance as well

you don’t see the real problem having teacher/student relationship here? especially when the kid keith is clearly underage even if you wanted to think he could be at least 15yrs old? that’s a middle schooler

man you should have rewatch the flashback carefully and maybe watch the leak ep1 of s7 and take off your shipping googles and have some moral because you clearly don’t have right now

because shiro is clearly a teacher to keith/lance and hunk

why don’t we all normalised all the teacher who teaches in middle schools to date and marry their own middle schoolers student once they reached legal age?

also no backlash if the teacher is a straight adult male marrying his 15 years old girl once the girl finished high school

because they were cute together am i right? and also both of them are adult so who cares when both of them give consent of their underlying love

Dreamwork/Netflix and Voltron franchise are such a role model to these young teens, bravo!

teacher/student relationship is completely acceptable in 2018! you have changed the society to embrace this norm, its beautiful and perfect

there’s no power in balance or pedophile because once the student reached 18yrs old its legal! congratulation once again to Dreamwork/Netflix and Voltron!!

falling in love with the 14 years old kid which clearly still in middle school that yourself recruited??

I have created the canon teacher shiro with underage student keith? why don’t you tell that to dreamworks buddy, thats what they gave us in canon, its you who should re-watch the flashback carefully

Lol shiro is not a teacher? you surely have not seen the S7 EP1 leak then because shiro was clearly a teacher not only to keith but hunk and lance as well, and some other kids

keith was 14/15 is your own interpretation here darling because both hunk and lance clearly a as small as keith

AGAIN

if shiro is straight male man and keith is female, will you still think “AWW THEY WERE SO CUTE TOGETHER”

don’t be bias just because shiro is gay and keith is a boy, so its ok to have student/teacher relationship, what a double standard bullshit is right now

because face it, this is canon TEACHER with a MIDDLE SCHOOLERS STUDENT,

Listen, maybe you should rewatch the show, just an idea. Keith was 14/15, since 14 is the minimum age to enter the garrison and he is one year older than Lance yet in the same year. Shiro was engaged to a different man so cleary not romantically interested in Keith. They spend two years together at most, before Shiro left on his mission. Shiro was a pilot at the school, not an actual teacher like Adam. He was an instructor, but one of many. When Shiro comes back neither is in school, both are adults and both are single. There is no problem, but the one you have created in your head to justify some form of hate for this pairing based on misinformation.
There is nothing wrong with friends becoming lovers after a few years when they are completely equal. Which they are in their current position.

Do you do realise they are not actually related right? So this not like your relationship with your brother. They met when Keith was 15. They spend two years together tops. And countless of gay people have confirmed that they have called their crushed brother or sister. So maybe not talk over the experience of queer people that see themselves in Keith and Shiro, because you and your real life brother also love each other, like congrats, but not the same thing dude.

Were they have no moral to this issues??

An adult gay teacher to have romantic relationship with his own underage male student once the student reached 18yrs old!?

Just because both are male/male relationship so it’s fine and can be normalized and healthy??? Despite the student were middle schoolers when they met for the 1st time??

Are you guy kidding me?? I’m queer myself! And I’m truly disappointed and extremely uncomfortable with this issues!

What IF the adult teacher is a straight man (shiro) and the underage student were female (Keith) and definitely became male/female heterosexual relationship, will the LGBT people still find this relationship to be…

“aww so cute and adorable when they ended up together because they bonded and have very strong relationship and girl Keith never give up on her adult straigh man teacher, Keith even said I love you to shiro! It must be purely romantic, now girl Keith can confess her underlying love to shiro and they were meant to be! This is good healthy representation to the straight kids out there!”

Don’t be bias that teacher/student relationship are totally cute and adorable if it’s gay but not and toxic to heterosexual relationship!

Both are just morally wrong!!

I never this dissapointed on human morality in general, you guys are sickening.