There is no longer any normal to me
You’re my assassin but you can’t see the crime
Pointless possessions of me and you and greed
I looked at you mistaking needles for eyes
Something is wrong
Gary Numan ~ We Take Mystery (To Bed)
We also took into consideration the despair of our own writers when a heterosexual writer, who has written a fine book about us, wins a Lambda Award, when one or more of our own LGBT writers may have as a Finalist a book that may be the only chance in a career at a Lambda Literary Award.
Translation: The fags hate losing to you straight fuckers who “write about us”. That’s “our own” gig for “our own” writers and we hate having to try to be as talented and creative as Annie Proulx is so we figured out how to make it easier to rig this thing.
It is more difficult to be an LGBT writer now than it has been in many decades, more difficult to make any income from our written words, much less a living. Publishers have closed, stores have closed, the markets seem to be shrinking with each passing day.
Translation: None of the “gay” writers on our board can seem to get published and who wants to have to get a real job? So we all decided to try to milk this stupid award thingy for all it’s worth since all we do is hang around at the office and mooch food out of the employee fridge.
We celebrate those who support our writers, those in all the allied areas of our literature: our readers, publishers, booksellers, publicists, agents, etc. We celebrate straight allies of every kind and always have throughout our history, with the Bridge Builder Award, Small Press Award, Publishers Service Award, Editor’s Choice Award, among other awards and acknowledgments, and we’ll continue to do so.
Translation: We are only discriminating against those straight writers trying to steal our “gay” stories from us damn them! All you straight publishers are totally rockin and always welcome and we’ll slide you a kiss ass award anytime you publish one of us here at the LLF office.
We take the nomination of any book at face value: if the book is nominated as LGBT, then the author is self-identifying as part of our LGBT family of writers, and that is all that is required. There are many permutations of LGBT and they’re all welcome as that LGBT term we’ve all adopted makes clear.
Translation: Of course we will continue to rip you off accept your entry money just remember we will be giving the award to one of our chosen acceptable “gay” writers anyway. It’s not like this award is an actual competition anymore… Got it? No more level playing field, just backroom politics from now on. Do we need to spell out BREEDERS NOT WELCOME in bigger letters?
Tags: Lambda Literary Foundation, Wank
Amber wrote,
Is the real translation a general announcement that LLF thinks straight writers are writing better LGBT stories than LGBT writers do?
Why are so few people appalled by this?
Link | September 25th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
I think really goes to show how much Lambda Literary has lost the respect of anybody in the gay community that matters. The thing is I am sure there are many many guys like myself who are online and are finding Gay Romance writers and the like. Look at Amazon. No one reads the LLF award lists anymore and buys their winners.
You want to know a real failure in the making? Look at how many Gay Publishers have eBooks out! Close to zilch. No presence. No sales.
Only A Different Light seems to have a good online sales division. Most gay bookstores have failed to make their way to the internet.
LLF went bankrupt after the last bruhaha maybe this is just another swan song in the making.
Link | September 25th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Emilie wrote,
1.) “Despair of our own writers”? Sounds like they’re implying they speak for every GLBT writer everywhere. And has it seemed like the voters are despairing?
2.) “Many decades”? When has it been *easy* to be a GLBT writer? Certainly not in the forties, fifties or sixties. I’ve heard that the seventies and eighties were tough in their own ways, too.
3.) Readers are reading what’s entertaining to them. John Preston wrote a great essay defending gay erotica in 1981. The title is “Goodbye to Sally Gerhart.” He makes some very thought-provoking points. I highly recommend reading that.
Also, I saw Lee Rowan’s comment to the LLF. If she wasn’t already married, I would totally marry her.
Link | September 25th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Angelia Sparrow wrote,
I hear a lot of pearl-clutching.
Guys, it’s not THAT hard to get published. Every small press I know is yelling “more! more!” in the gay romance field and they’re even willing to take chances on bi and trans stories as well. Maybe even lesbians…
Oh, but writing genre isn’t real lit? Well what do you want, prestige or money? I’ll take money and a thousand people buying my books over any award. And I laugh at the notion of respect. I am out to tell the best adventure story I can and make some money.
Link | September 25th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Angelia Sparrow wrote,
I hear a lot of pearl-clutching. Distress? Really?
Guys, it’s not THAT hard to get published. Every small press I know is yelling “more! more!” in the gay romance field and they’re even willing to take chances on bi and trans stories as well. Maybe even lesbians…
Oh, but writing genre isn’t real lit? Well what do you want, prestige or money? I’ll take money and a thousand people buying my books over any award. And I laugh at the notion of respect. I am out to tell the best adventure story I can and make some money.
Link | September 25th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
erastes wrote,
Well said, Mr P. It amuses me that this happened the very year that False Colors was up for nomination–and of course it doesn’t qualify now, so they won’t be forced to consider a well written book now.
What was telling was “We also took into consideration the despair of our own writers when a heterosexual writer, who has written a fine book about us, wins a Lambda Award”
If it had been about gay writers and for gay writers since the beginning then, fine. Like the Mobos, it would be acceptable (although I wonder what people would say if someone started a straights only or a white only award) but you can’t change the rules after years of being in existence JUST BECAUSE the nasty straights are writing good books about gays. Sheesh.
Link | September 26th, 2009 at 2:14 am
A.J. Mirag wrote,
This explanation is as unbelievably pathetic as their decision to discriminate against straight writers. Thanks for posting on the subject, TP.
Link | September 26th, 2009 at 2:39 am
TeddyPig wrote,
Emilie wrote,
1.) “Despair of our own writers”? Sounds like they’re implying they speak for every GLBT writer everywhere. And has it seemed like the voters are despairing?
THIS!
The amount of assumption and generalization and really bad excuses that are being used here to make such a radical change in their organization’s mission is pathetic.
The minute Gay Fiction is set to take a whole new turn and really make a huge impact with respectable sales, high visibility, and writers straight and gay seeking to be a part of the trend etc etc etc and “they” back off and run and hide all because “they” did not have any influence in making that happen and “their golden boys” are not in the line up of who is moving and shaking in Gay Romance.
Link | September 26th, 2009 at 4:09 am
Amber wrote,
http://erastes.livejournal.com/449814.html
Link | September 26th, 2009 at 6:04 am
Ally Blue wrote,
Victor Banis’s blog on the subject:
http://tinyurl.com/yb7lv9g
I heart Victor. That is all.
Link | September 26th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Selah March » Blog Archive » More re: Lambda Lit versus The Breeders wrote,
[...] And this: http://www.teddypig.com/2009/09/lambda-literary-foundation-we-cant-hack-a-level-playing-field-so/ [...]
Link | September 29th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Jeanne Barrack wrote,
“You want to know a real failure in the making? Look at how many Gay Publishers have eBooks out! Close to zilch. No presence. No sales.
Only A Different Light seems to have a good online sales division. Most gay bookstores have failed to make their way to the internet.”
Please don’t forget MLR Press.
Link | September 29th, 2009 at 8:36 am
TeddyPig wrote,
I was talking about publishers like Cleis Press or Alyson who have been slow to adapt if at all.
Link | September 29th, 2009 at 8:54 am