Slash fiction

Slash fiction is fiction, especially fanfiction, that is about homosexual couples. Usually "slash" refers to male/male couples. The word "FemSlash" is used to describe female/female couples. To this day, most slash is written by females for females to read.
The word is believed to have first been used with Kirk/Spock pairings in fan stories. These stories began being written in the late 1970's.
Slash fiction does not need explicit sexual encounters to be considered slash. The homosexual activity could be just holding hands or kissing.
In Japanese manga, slash stories are called "yaoi". This is only used to describe male/male relationships. "Yuri" is used to describe female/female relationships, much the same as the word "FemSlash" is used.