Sadly, death of the author is no longer fashionable. Many of these fans try to discern the intent of the author and, once they've decided it, that is now something we endorse. So if I put homophobia into my story, it's because I like it. Internalised etc etc you get the idea.
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Without those jarring moments of offense, it proves more difficult to connect with your audience. Experiencing the bad makes us yearn more for the satisfaction of overcoming it.
To me, it just seems like people are looking for things to be offended over instead of seeing the merit of the story and the character development that happens because of it.
A good story connects to people and Dorian's story did that. Forget the haters.