As part of ‘Outer Alliance Pride Day!’ members around the world are posting fiction or blog posts commenting on queer speculative fiction.
The Outer Alliance was formed in response to a homophobic science fiction writer ranting against queer people, calling us unnatural, sick and other such bullshit and homophobic things.
As a member of the Outer Alliance, I advocate for queer speculative fiction and those who create, publish and support it, whatever their sexual orientation and gender identity. I make sure this is reflected in my actions and my work.
I think this is a really good thing in speculative fiction and I think writers, whatever their sexual orientation, need to be supporting this and opposing homophobic literature and oppose homophobes we seek to ban queer literature from libraries and bookshops.
And one thing that would move queer literature and queer speculative fiction forward is if queer-fiction wasn’t ghettoised, if books with queer characters were in the shelves along with all of the others and not in separate sections.
There is value in queer-fiction that deals with specific issues relating to sexuality and I think it’s valuable to have ways for queer readers to find books that deal with these issues amongst the overwhelmingly straight literature.
But queer-fiction should not be separate from mainstream literature because it reinforces the idea that queers are different, and a special category. I think fiction should feature queer characters that are just part of the random spectrum of character traits a writer chooses and not just in the book because it deals with queer issues.
Queer people’s lives are not dominated by sex and the stereotypical happenings as depicted in Will & Grace or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Queer people’s lives feature plenty of things common to straight people.
And this isn’t to say that homophobia and oppression does not exist. Clearly, the desire of queer people to live lives like anyone else is made virtually impossible by a homophobic society that seeks to define queers as different and inferior.
But having queer characters in mainstream fiction, such as genre fiction and speculative fiction, and having these books shelved with all of the others, will oppose the dominant idea that queers are different.
I want people to pick up a book for the interesting story inside and see that there is a queer character inside, and think that this nothing different to the character having brown hair or blonde hair.
Creating a separate category aims to appease those homophobic readers that don’t want to have to read books with queer characters, to have to face up to the fact that we’re normal people along with everyone else.
And I’ll take great joy in having these bigoted and homophobic individuals offended and confronted when they pick up a book with a queer character in it. Because they should be offended and they should be confronted. Perhaps then, they’ll realise that their ideas are not to be accepted, that they will shut up about their homophobic views or we will confront them head on.
Visit this post at the blog of The Outer Alliance for other Outer Alliance Pride Day posts
But I’m also going to plug posts by friends and posts that are great throughout the day…
Fulid, Thomas Bennet
{ feuilleton }, John Coulthart
Stonetable.org, Adam Israel
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This sounds like a wonderful project … they say art is always at the forefront of both social and cultural change. Here’s hoping.
My Mum worked in sexual health for years and as such I met lots of amazing queer people as a young woman and attended some eye opening events. I wonder though – is there not a better banner to fly under than queer? To me it is an outcasting term between normal and queer. I’d love it one day when people were people regardless of race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, marital status or any of those other pigeon holing categories.
Guessing that is my rant for the day!
.-= Jodi Cleghorn´s last blog ..Fourth Fiction: Round Three =-.
I’ve been originally suspicious of the word queer myself but is the universally accepted term within the LBGTI community and the thing that makes me like that it encompasses all non-heteronormative people and you don’t have to define how exactly you’re not straight. Which is good for me as a bisexual as some people can be quite dismissive of this, as not “really gay” or you’re just gay and won’t admit it etc.
I’ve never understood why a person’s sexual orientation is used to define them. The Outer Alliance Pride Day sounds like a very worthy project.
Thanks for the history lesson and the good read. I only heard of this day this morning, when I read my Kiwi Writers mail and followed a link. I’ve passed it along to some of my best friends, who happen to be lesbian and gay. Nice to know such a group as Outer Alliance exists for us all!
.-= Faustina´s last blog ..Pride =-.
True Ben on the usage of queer as a broad encompassing inclusive term. I hadn’t really thought of it like that before. Thanks for the re-education of moi!
.-= Jodi Cleghorn´s last blog ..Weekly Goals =-.
I also like the word queer, it is a word our movement won back from the homophobes during the course of our struggle, and also because of what Ben mentioned in that it is inclusive of anyone who considers themselves not straight in whatever way.
I think I like it more because of how inclusive it is.
I’m slightly dubious of ‘reclaiming words’ usually though, but queer has been reclaimed. However, some in the feminist movement have claimed they’re reclaimed ‘bitch’ but clearly this is a load of rubbish.
As you know, I have been trying to post a comment on this page by using my usual browser, Mozilla. These areas in Mozilla are yellow, and will not allow me to type in them, so if I want to make comments on your blog I will have to do them through Bill Gates!! What I wanted to say is that there are writers like Christos Tsiolkas who are themselves gay, but whose books are not specifically gay other than “Loaded” from which the film “Head on” was made. The same of course goes for many others and Robert Dessaix also comes to mind. My problem with the word queer is that when we were school children in the 1930s and 40s the word was thrown at those of us who hated sport and were “sissies” so that to this day I find the word difficult to accept, although so many in our communities are happy about it. So, just a few idle comments!
I had no idea Christos Tsiolkas was gay and have been meaning to read him for a while.
I totally understand people being hesitant to use the word as it has a different context in previous decades.
And thanks for finally getting to comment.
Found this late but enjoyed the blog, and it’s relevant to me now. My paranormal thriller came out in July, and it has a gay main character and other gay characters. My publisher publishes only glbt novels, and we do market it to glbt audiences, but I’m also marketing it using it’s strong tie to New Mexico without feeling a need to mention the lead character is gay. I market it as a paranormal thriller without a need to define the character’s sexual preference. There shouldn’t be a need to announce sexual preference any more than there is to announce the main character’s line of work. If it’s pertinent or helps define or sell the novel, go for it. If it defines a character but not the book, there’s no need to classify it as a gay novel. My two cents.
Thanks Keith. I’d be interested to see how publishers want to categorise it. See, we logical people might see his sexuality as not important but many homophobes see slipping in a gay character as “sneaky” and sticking in subliminal messages. Though of course, no one says that when you don’t mention that a straight character is straight.
Thanks for the posting.there is something very unique and enjoyable about.