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let's get literate! 2009, oops! had an opinion

It's safe to say this wasn't a reading month for me. Maybe it was a writing month; I am still learning how to manage my time with a schedule at $dayjob that's somehow gone past "unpredictable" into "manic". I've only read 38 novels this year, but it's not as depressing as it could be, because I've also been reading a lot manga (Oda, I love you!).

37. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones 9/1
38. Shards of Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold 9/25

Yeah, so I am suffering from reading!fail. That's fine, because I have been keeping quotas for things, and also making myself stick to a schedule as of late—once I get the hang of it, I'll be back on track. I'm planning to read Larklight, Starcross and Mothstorm by Philip Reeve next, because I owe Mem some awesome Jack/Myrtle hijinks and realized 700 words in I couldn't do it without a reread. Curse you and your awesome prose, Reeve! *shakes fist*

Meanwhile, has anyone been following the Lambda Literary Awards controversy, where they clarified their 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.

Above this, it says:

As to what defines LGBT? That is not up to anyone at Lambda Literary Foundation to decide. The writers and publishers are the ones who will be doing the self-identifying. Sexuality today is fluid and we welcome and cherish this freedom. 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.

Besides all the straight privilege being flung around (and trust me, my friends, there is tons), there's been some really thoughtful posts made about this topic. I especially liked some of the comments at this post for the different perspective, and this essay really resonated with me:

I think sometimes, often even, that the future of the gay rights movement largely includes our letting the boundaries blur. We don't get to be the big gay exclusionary fortress of secret coolness anymore, or whatever the fuck it is we were telling ourselves we were doing while we were just trying to stay alive.

Gay is more things than it used to be. And maybe, one day, in my lifetime even, it'll be a word that doesn't even matter, doesn't even mean anything, except to people who remember, and people who are old-fashioned, and people who see loss even in the advance of the best progress imaginable.

The LLA folks can do what they want. It's their award; more power to them, but I'm pretty much not down with the decision. I liked that this award brought me GLBT stories, to look over the entire field of submissions of people writing GLBT stories and say, "This!" I won't have that full resource anymore, although I recognize that I'm lucky enough to have it at all. If the LLA folks think it'll be better to limit things, well, all I can do is accept it and give the new order a shot and make my decision then—and only time will tell.

I'm not angry—just disappointed. Not because I can't submit to this award (I could if I was an author) or think cisgendered heterosexuals deserve to be eligible, but because I feel the edges that we've been smudging to tell these stories across our different perspectives and experiences has been smoothed out, recreated, whether for good or bad (we won't know which one for awhile) and now it will be harder for some stories to find a reader's heart, to live and thrive in regardless of whether the author kisses boys or girls or anyone at all.

I'll miss that, but I'm sure another award will step in to fill the void LLA is leaving behind (not a "straights-only" award like I've seen thrown around, for fuck's sake, internets!), because gosh, not every award is going to be everything for everyone. I can see both sides of it; it was a tough decision. However, it makes me wonder: who are awards for? The author? The industry? The readers? Everyone? It's an interesting question, but not one I know the answer to. The LLA seems to have found theirs; we'll see how things play out as people adapt to the change, although I'm hoping for the best—the last thing I want is to lose LLA as a resource completely.

I guess I'm on the "be thankful we live in a world that allows the LLA to thrive at all" side of this issue. Man, maybe it's just where I live (mmm, who loves Arkansas! Show of hands!), but this whole debate is blowing my mind; I couldn't imagine I would be reading this stuff six years ago. Really. Wow.