My letter to the Lambda Literary Foundation
. . . in response to their appalling clarification of their change in rules.
Dear Mr. Valenzuela,
"Our books are taken from the shelves of libraries all over the country and even from the website of Amazon.com this year."
Oh, the irony of this. You do realize, don't you, that a large percentage of the writers who initially spread the word to the rest of the world about Amazon's action were heterosexual authors of gay male fiction? Now you are citing that episode as a reason to exclude those very authors from your awards.
"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."
As an LGBT writer, I am deeply disappointed that the LLF believes that the only way in which LGBT writers can compete with their heterosexual peers is through affirmative action.
The LLF states that it believes that this change in rules is necessary in order to "elevate the status of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people throughout society." Well, the gay male novel that caused me to come out as bisexual to my mother, at age eighteen, was Isabelle Holland's "The Man Without a Face." If Ms. Holland was lesbian, she certainly wasn't openly lesbian. The authors of gay male fiction whose literary courage inspired me to be courageous enough to come out as gender-variant? Slash writers - mainly heterosexual women.
Obviously, in the eyes of the Lambda Literary Foundation, I've been following all the wrong role models.
I'm quite open about my orientation and gender identity, but I am not crushed if a heterosexual writer or a closeted LGBT writer wins an award for LGBT writing. Instead, I am heartened to know that more good LGBT literature is available. That is what I have always looked to the Lambda Literary Awards for: excellence in LGBT literature. Narrowing the field to "excellence in LGBT literature only by out-of-the-closet LGBT writers" weakens the worth of the award, in my view.
At any rate, I hope that you will make very clear in any promotional literature about this year's awards that only out-of-the-closet LGBT writers were eligible, since the awards have, until now, been broader in scope.
Dear Mr. Valenzuela,
"Our books are taken from the shelves of libraries all over the country and even from the website of Amazon.com this year."
Oh, the irony of this. You do realize, don't you, that a large percentage of the writers who initially spread the word to the rest of the world about Amazon's action were heterosexual authors of gay male fiction? Now you are citing that episode as a reason to exclude those very authors from your awards.
"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."
As an LGBT writer, I am deeply disappointed that the LLF believes that the only way in which LGBT writers can compete with their heterosexual peers is through affirmative action.
The LLF states that it believes that this change in rules is necessary in order to "elevate the status of openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people throughout society." Well, the gay male novel that caused me to come out as bisexual to my mother, at age eighteen, was Isabelle Holland's "The Man Without a Face." If Ms. Holland was lesbian, she certainly wasn't openly lesbian. The authors of gay male fiction whose literary courage inspired me to be courageous enough to come out as gender-variant? Slash writers - mainly heterosexual women.
Obviously, in the eyes of the Lambda Literary Foundation, I've been following all the wrong role models.
I'm quite open about my orientation and gender identity, but I am not crushed if a heterosexual writer or a closeted LGBT writer wins an award for LGBT writing. Instead, I am heartened to know that more good LGBT literature is available. That is what I have always looked to the Lambda Literary Awards for: excellence in LGBT literature. Narrowing the field to "excellence in LGBT literature only by out-of-the-closet LGBT writers" weakens the worth of the award, in my view.
At any rate, I hope that you will make very clear in any promotional literature about this year's awards that only out-of-the-closet LGBT writers were eligible, since the awards have, until now, been broader in scope.
Firstly: for well over 20 years, I have accepted without argument whatever anyone chooses to identify themselves as. You want to identify yourself as "50% gay and 50% heterosexual" rather than bisexual - and therefore include yourself out of the category LGBT writer because you identify yourself as too heterosexual to fit inside it? That's your decision, and no one should have the impertinence to argue with you about it for as long as you live.
Secondly: once a writer - or any public figure - is dead, however they chose to identify themselves in their lifetime, we their readership have a perfect right to discuss their sexual orientation / gender identity in terms that make sense to us.
Did you get the impression that I don't admire their courage?
I get the impression from this discussion that you admire neither their courage nor their writing, but prefer to promote heterosexual writers.
That is part of what I mean about your letter not having the effect I presumed you wanted, if you wanted to change their minds.
Oh, do you know stuff about Alec Waugh than I don't? Please say more, because I'm very much interested in his life.)
I'm not familiar with Alec Waugh's writing. But I wouldn't identify him as heterosexual merely because he was married: he lived at a time when that would have been socially obligatory, whatever his feelings for other men. For you to specifically identify him as a heterosexual writer is just pure heterosexism: how on earth do you know? Why claim him as heterosexual if you're ignorant of his life and don't know?
Idearly wish (for many reasons) that Rosemary Sutcliff been able to finish the second volume of her autobiography, but my main reason for guessing that she was a heterosexual m/m fan rather than being bisexual is that she had the opportunity to write about Alcibiades' gay life (in "Flowers of Adonis"), and she passed it up.
That if anything seems like evidence on the other side.
My main reason for supposing her to be heterosexual is in reading her autobiography, which she wrote at a time when, if she had had feelings for other women, she could have shared them: she didn't. All the emotional/romantic feelings she recalls are for men or boys.