I’ve never been a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), simply because I’m a) not American and b) I didn’t think a membership would do much for me as an author of gay romance. There is now an LGBT chapter, Rainbow Romance Writers (RRW), that I’ve considered joining.
However, this weekend it’s come to light that an RWA-sanctioned writing contest run by one of its member chapters is barring same-sex romance entries. From the More than Magic contest rules:
– Note: MTM will no longer accept same-sex entries in any category.
Well.
Why not, you may ask? It seems the “majority” of chapter members are “uncomfortable” with same-sex romances. Author Courtney Milan provides a summary of the issue, and RRW president Heidi Cullinan weighs in and later has thoughts on bigotry and a few suggestions on what we can all do to fight it in regards to RWA and the romance industry.
What if this edict had been decreed about interracial romances? In the year 2012 how is it considered acceptable to discriminate so freely? LGBT authors pay the same RWA dues, and should be eligible for all contests and RWA activities. Again from the MTM contest rules:
Our judges are all romance readers. Within that group are RWI chapter members and members of other RWA chapters. We recruit judges nationwide and even worldwide (for e-books) and our only requirement is that they are regular romance readers.
They tell us which categories and what “heat” level they prefer to read, so our entrants’ books get into the hands of people who might give them the most favorable rating.
Our final round judges are chosen for the diversity of their romance reading interests and enjoyment, sense of fair comparison across all categories, and knowledge of the romance genre.
I don’t think “diversity” means what they think it means.
Surely somewhere on the planet Earth they could find romance readers willing to judge same-sex entries? Well, apparently that’s not the issue. Author Larissa Ione offered to judge, and shares her correspondence with the MTM contest coordinator:
“Thank you, Larissa, but it was never a lack of judges that made our determination. It was that the majority of our members were uncomfortable with being a contest that takes same-sex entries.”
Too bad they seem perfectly comfortable with bigotry. I, for one, will not be giving RWA a red penny to join any of its chapters until all members — and all romances — are treated equally.
ETA: As you can see, the contest was just cancelled. A shame that they pulled the plug instead of simply allowing all romances to be considered equally!
So…it appears the contests were canceled? Was it due to hoopla over this? Or for some other reason?
Ah yes, I see the contest is indeed cancelled. Sorry, I wrote this post last night and that happened this morning. I’ll update my post!
But yes, it’s due to this hoopla. Interesting that they chose to cancel the contest instead of just accept same-sex entries. This is an interesting comment on it:
http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/beyondherbook/?p=5600&cpage=1#comment-93870
We recognize the decision to disallow same-sex entries is highly charged. We also opted not to accept YA entries. We do not condone discrimination against individuals of any sort.
The very fact that they are comparing not accepting YA to not accepting M/M romances shows they still don’t get it. This is discrimination. When is this mentality going to change?
Yes, the conflation of YA and same-sex romances is troublesome. Somehow I doubt their members were “uncomfortable” with YA romances. LGBT romances should not be considered a separate subgenre. They’re just romances! There are historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, menage, etc., etc. Just like with romances featuring straight characters.
The culture wars are alive and well in many parts of the US and I think it would be a mistake to underestimate how difficult it is for people who are conservative and religious to give any legitimacy to same sex relationships. I am sure there were many, many members who complained going forward with the contest would have made a large segment of the group miserable. I am not defending the decision but I understand it.
I think it would be a mistake to underestimate how difficult it is for people who are conservative and religious to give any legitimacy to same sex relationships.
I can understand it may be difficult for them. It’s hard for me to sympathize much, though. The only way they’re going to change their attitudes is as society’s norms evolve. Interracial romances were once verboten (even illegal in some places), and are now very common, at least where I’m from. We have to keep pushing forward and normalizing same-sex relationships in fiction and real life.
Which I know you’re not arguing against by any means!