A little miffed.

[erastes]

Just noticed this on the Lambda Guidelines:

As such, it should be noted that the Lambda Literary Awards are based principally on the LGBT content, the gender orientation/identity of the author, and the literary merit of the work.

Has this always been the case?  Or is it a backlash for women daring to write gay fiction?

It’s fair enough, I suppose as long as ALL OTHER AWARDS do the same.  If you are writing a heterosexual book, you stand more of a chance of winning if you are heterosexual.

Obviously if you are a man this can be proved—this is getting as silly as Athletics – but if I identify as a bisexual, are they going to send the sex police around?  What’s it got to do with them anyway??  It’s not a “pat you on the back for being gay” award. it’s a  BOOK award.  The BOOK should be the only consideration.  Not what’s between anyone’s legs, or who inserts what into whom. Or not.

GRRRRR.

Comments

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[semioticwarrior.livejournal.com]

I don't mind, as long as the examiner they send to my house is HOT. =)

But seriously, WTF?

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes - baffled.

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[eroticjames.livejournal.com]

I belive in the past, the gender/orinetaion of the author was specifically NOT considered.

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

and that's how it should be, for every award, imho.

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[aki-no-kaze.livejournal.com]

So you don't think there should be women's lit awards? youth awards? african american lit awards? national awards?

This award is about OUR voices. Sure, maybe you can write quality fiction, but this isn't about promoting yet another cisgendered hetero author, gods know you have enough awards that do that already, it is about encouraging GLBT folks to write... it can't do that if 90% of the awards go to non-glbt authors.

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

National awards - yes. The others, no.

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[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

Oh that is just BOLLOCKS.

Sorry - have gone from respect to zero respect in the time I read that sentence.

If they can't bloody well be bothered to compare like-writing with like-writing they have NO business calling themselves "Literary Awards". They can call themselves GLBT Ppls Awards but taking into consideration the sexual orientation of the writer is as idiotic as taking into consideration their choice of breakfast cereal. Either the work stands up on its own two feet, or it does not. If the writing requires protection from hetrosexuals, then the writing is not good enough.

/rant.

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[aki-no-kaze.livejournal.com]

so you are equally against woman's lit awards? Canadian/American/wherever you are national awards? youth awards?

just want to know if you are equally against all forms of lit awards that limit authors, or if you are just a homophobic bigot that can't let GLBT folks have their own awards without cisgendered straight folks like the OP banging on the door demanding that their privilege be acknowledged?

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[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Yes, I noticed that, but I didn't realize it had been different formerly. I guess it is a response to the number of women publishing in the genre now. Am I wrong in thinking it's a public acknowledgment of a bias that might have been there, unstated, before though?

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[semioticwarrior.livejournal.com]

I think that's exactly what it is--public acknowledgement of a previously existing bias. I can understand the bias if the category were, say, memoir or autobiography. But..?

I was trying to put this through the substitution test...for example, excluding whites from an award for writers of color. Which is appropriate, if the award is for *writers* from a certain group of people, rather than for *writing* that concerns that group.

Are the Lambda awards recognizing literary excellence from LGBTQ authors, or excellence of writing featuring LGBT characters? I wouldn't have a problem with discrimination based on the author's orientation if the award was explicitly for LGBTQ authors. That's the organization's right, and if that's what they mean, they should state it clearly and boldly. But if the award is meant to recognize excellence of writing, period, then....

Oh, my, I'd be very interested in seeing the shitstorm that would come of trying to verify whether an author was GLBTQ *enough* to be considered for the award. Does experimentation in college count? Does one have to be currently living with someone of the same gender? How about someone who identifies as LGBTQ but embraces a celibate lifestyle? It could be very entertaining.

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[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that ruling on the type of author they will admit automatically means that they exclude themselves from being a competition soley about literary merit. That's their right, but it does move them more into a clique than it would if they were simply judging the books and not the authors.

*G* If forced to identify myself, I would come down on the side of genderqueer/bi-gender, so goodness knows how I prove that without a psychologist's examination. You can't tell by looking, and you can't tell by who I'm married to. Having said that, I have lived a life full of straight privilege, so I wouldn't dream of putting myself forward for these awards which are obviously not meant for me.

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[kittymay.livejournal.com]

Great...um...I get bloke points do I? I'll be comforted the next time I can't write a f-ing sentence.

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[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

It was not specifically stated before, but I had noticed that the 'gay' category Lambdas tend to be awarded not on the basis of a writer's ability to imagine, but on his (sic) possession of testicles. Most winners are gay men writing a particular style of fiction.

Sorry. To say that, for instance, The Front Runner is not valid because it was written by a woman is precisely the kind of bigotry that the book itself was written to illustrate - but in reverse.

I won't enter a word in Lambda's contests until they take the discrimination out of their entry categories--though I haven't bothered lately anyway. If I want to run a horse in a fixed race, I'll throw my money at RWA or RT--there's more publicity in it.

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[mroctober.livejournal.com]

A particular style of fiction? What do you mean by that.

Oh, and last year's award went Ginn Hale, a woman who wrote about gay men in her book.

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[mroctober.livejournal.com]

Sorry, made a mistake. Nicole won for her novel. Ginn won the Spectrum.

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[scottynola.livejournal.com]

t was not specifically stated before, but I had noticed that the 'gay' category Lambdas tend to be awarded not on the basis of a writer's ability to imagine, but on his (sic) possession of testicles

As a two-time winner, I find that generalization to be incredibly condescending and insulting.

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[melspenser.livejournal.com]

I noticed the change. I wondered if it had anything to do with Charles leaving, that this is a sign of how things are going to be.

Also, as someone who has donated quite a bit of money (in my 'real' name) in the past. This makes me not want to donate money in the future to an exclusionary group. Sad...

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[blake-fraina.livejournal.com]

When my book came out, it was reviewed in the Lambda Book Report, which, at the time, was a print publication. KoC was in the very last issue before they went belly up. I contacted Lambda to see if I could submit my work for the award and was told that gay fiction written by a woman was not accepted.

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[mroctober.livejournal.com]

What category were you going to submit for? Because women have won these awards for books with gay male characters.

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[leebenoit.livejournal.com]

So, if a bisexual author writes a book with gay main characters, or a lesbian writes trans characters, that's eligible?

Just asking.

Seems a risky and poorly thought out clause to include, especially considering that audiences for GLBT fiction are not always GLBT persons, and part of the LLF's mission is to promote the visibility and reach of GLBT fiction. Hmm.

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[semioticwarrior.livejournal.com]

Are there any awards specifically for m/m written by women? If not, goodness, someone should start one up. I imagine there are plenty of publishers (especially e-publishers) who would love to sponsor something like that. And to be fair, there could be a category for the few men who write f/f.

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[spindriftdancer.livejournal.com]

Are they in any way associated with the Lambda Legal Fund? 'Cause if so, that's highly hypocritical of them... (*cough* I DO Anthology *cough*)

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure they are not connected - can't see any evidence of this, at least.

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[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

They'll be shining lights in eyes next.

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

CHECKING IN YOUR BED to see who's there!! "You said you were a lesbian and there's a man and a woman in there"

You see, I do know about your parties...

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[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

Haha, just as well you didn't find the sheep then ;p

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

No - I think that's a different book award. Although the name Lambda does seem to suggest....

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[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

Baaaaaaaaa!

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[scottynola.livejournal.com]

This is an incredibly stupid can of worms for them to open. When I worked there, it was the content, not the author--so this is new. Caro Soles, a woman, was nominated for Men's Mystery for the year 2007; I didn't pay that much attention to the 2008 list to be able to speak authoritatively; but this was not a policy as recently as the 2007 voting cycle.

Several women have been nominated in other men's categories before. Chris Bohjalian, who is a straight man, WON the Transgender category, I think, in 2002 or 2001. David Ebershoff, a gay man, also won the Transgender category.

As I said, it's stupid. How are they going to check? What is the litmus test? Suppose a woman who writes under a male name gets past them, and WINS? When she goes up on stage to accept, are they going to say, "oops, sorry, you're disqualified, and we'll have to check the ballots again and let the rest of the nominees know who the REAL winner is?"

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

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[gaedhal.livejournal.com]

And what about Timothy James Beck -- which is a collaboration
among gay men and a straight woman? Would their books no longer
be included -- or would Becky be out in the cold, while the
guys are okay?

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

As you say - a can of worms indeed. I agree there's a line which women should not cross with gay fiction - memoir, etc - but some women have written definitive gay fiction. And if someone says they are a lesbian (or gay male for that matter) who's to say they are? Argh.

I'm going to have to write and ask for clarification - someone in the thread below suggested that perhaps they take the hetero aspect into consideration but I wouldn't - if I WAS hetero - include "I'm a straight woman" in my bio, any more than I would say "I'm a bisexual woman" So how do they know at the submission stage? Unless they only choose those they KNOW are gay. argh again.

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[markprobst.livejournal.com]

I had heard that there was sort of a "gentleman's agreement" that heterosexual authors were not permitted to win the things, but this is the first time it is ever been publicly acknowledged.

You know I bowl in a gay bowling league and in gay bowling tournaments - the organization is IGBO and there are no exclusionary rules. Straight people bowl in our leagues and in tournaments because they like to socialize with us. Even the Gay Games (gay version of the Olympics) says anyone can participate.

It's a stupid discriminatory policy and Cheyenne Publishing shan't be spending the fees to enter any of its titles while that "guideline" is in place.

Mark

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[spindriftdancer.livejournal.com]

Right on.

This is almost like the opposite of #amazonfail...

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

How would they know writers were heterosexual though? Many single authors don't put "I'm gay" or "I'm married" in their bios. It smacks horribly of "I know him, and I definitely know he's gay - but I don't know THIS author and don't know if they are, so although that book is better, it's not going to win."

It should be about the book, pure and simple.

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[spindriftdancer.livejournal.com]

I saw this and thought it was high-quality snarkasm worthy of you, Erastes. It was so funny I had to hold onto my eyeballs when I was laughing:

http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/2008/11/ten-things-you-should-know-about-twilight/

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

*giggles* thanks for the link!

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[hybridartifacts.livejournal.com]

I agree completely.
I don't see anything wrong with a woman writing gay fiction, or in fact a heterosexual male writing gay fiction.
Following things to a logical conclusion - does one have to be a Nazi to write books on Nazism? Or a chimpanzee to write about apes? I would have thought it is the content that is the most important thing.
Then again, it could always be the reverse of what one would at first think - perhaps the gender and orientation of the author is considered important because they are in awe of women writing gay fiction and want to commend it?

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[erastes.livejournal.com]

It's a step back. We've had this reaction "good lord, women writing gay fiction!!?" from gay men for bloody years now and we are sick of it.

We've proved we can do it.
We've proved we can do it WELL.
We've been published by major publishers
We've won major awards, had our books made into films.
Some of these books are considered to be "must read" gay fiction. The Charioteer, Front Runner, Brokeback Mountain, and many many others.

You have a point, though - when I write to Lambda I'll get them to clarify. I've worked with Labonte before, so hopefully he might read my concerns.

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[stacia-seaman.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to clarify something here. Not entering into the debate about the LLF statement, but just pointing out that two of the books you mention--The Charioteer and Front Runner--were written by lesbians.

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[gehayi.livejournal.com]

As such, it should be noted that the Lambda Literary Awards are based principally on the LGBT content, the gender orientation/identity of the author, and the literary merit of the work.

I fail to see how my being straight and female instead of being a gay or bisexual male in any way affects the quality or content of my work.

I swear that it's getting to the point where writing outside of your own sphere, be it racial, religious or sexual, will be either de facto or de jure forbidden. Gays will be compelled to write only about gay characters. Straight people will only be allowed to write about straight characters. Jews will not be allowed to write about non-Jews, or vice versa. And, of course, women will only be permitted to write about women, just as men will be the sole sex permitted to write about men. The fact that people are capable of writing outside of their own spheres and doing it well, and have been doing this for thousands of years, will be brushed aside.

And everyone will be equal. Not only equal before God and the law. Equal every which way.

Forgive me, Lambda Literary Awards, but I don't want to live in that kind of world. I really had thought that in the year of 2009, we had got past the notion of thinking that certain people write better than others because of who they want to have sex with, or what's between their legs. It distresses me that a group promoting excellence in works about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and genderqueer people seems to feel that reverse discrimination isn't discrimination at all.

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[ejab62.livejournal.com]

What is this nonsense? Bah!

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[aki-no-kaze.livejournal.com]

the same as a woman's literary prize?

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[elf]

This post has been included in a Linkspam roundup.

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[the_axel]

When are you going to start bitching about the Man Booker Prize for Fiction or the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize or the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize or the Commonwealth Writers' Prize or the Irish Book Awards or the American Book Award or the Bollingen Prize or one of the many, many other awards that only a subset of authors are eligible for?

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[aki-no-kaze.livejournal.com]

no kidding... I'm waiting for the OP to go on a massive tirade about how womens lit prizes are equally discriminatory.

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[evilprodigy.livejournal.com]

But remember, when men think they know how to write women better than women do, it's called dumbfuckery. When straight people think they know how to write gay people better than gay people do, it's called mad sexy. Why do you keep harshing my squee like this. They see me rollin', they harshin'.

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[evilprodigy.livejournal.com]

How dare you imply that gay men have the right to a literary award within their own community? Don't you realize straight women's manlove fetishes are more enlightened than all things, including actual gay men? You squee-harsher, you.

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[dejadrew.livejournal.com]

Why SHOULD the book be the only consideration?

There are awards specifically for authors of colour.

There are awards specifically for for female authors.

I think there are awards specifically for women of colour, or for authors of a particular colour, or authors of a particular nationality, or Jewish authors. Which is great. And why not?

Why SHOULDN'T the Lambdas want to specifically support, promote, and encourage queer AUTHORS as well as queer writing? I do have some worries about how this will be enforced, as well, but I have no problem with the basic principle.

It's OKAY for marginalized groups to have a safe space where the privileged group can't come in. And heterosexual/cisgendered people ARE the privileged group, here. (http://www.cs.earlham.edu/~hyrax/personal/files/student_res/straightprivilege.htm) It's a good thing for straight folk to remember, and it's not going to kill us to be the ones standing on the outside of something once in a while.