Queer | Benjamin Solah

Fiction markets that refuse to accept LGBTI or queer content need to be exposed and held to account for their reactionary ideas in order to pressure them to reject these ideas as well as to alert queer writers to avoid these markets, and instead support queer-friendly publications.

Recently The Outer Alliance had a debate after a member had some trouble dealing with a homophobic editor. Bart Leib, editor of Crossed Genres submitted an ad to Flash Fiction Online calling for submissions to his queer-themed issue. The ad was rejected on the basis that it was sexual, of course with the homophobic idea that queer people are all about sex. Of course, the same isn’t said about straight people usually.

Bart responded and questioned the decision leading to Bart posting this blog post exposing the market as pretty unlikely to accept queer-themed stories:

I would probably not publish stories where the purpose was to justify or condone homosexual relationships, polyamory, and so on…

I encourage you to read the whole blog post linked above as it ads more context to what the editor said and exposes the person as someone with quite backward and reactionary ideas about a whole swathe of things including divorce and sex.

This editor doesn’t want to make public his dislike for stories that condone homosexuality, because it would ‘confuse’ people. But I think he doesn’t want to do it because he wants to hide his homophobic ideas in order for people to not see him as an outright bigot.

I had been considering submitting work to Flash Fiction Online prior to this, but am now boycotting reading and submitting to the market on the basis of homophobic guidelines. I won’t even submit my non-queer work to markets like this as I don’t want to be associated with such a publication.

I encourage all other writers that support LGBTI rights to do the same.

I will also be posting a version of the advertisement at the top of my blog in solidarity with queer-themed markets, and as a way to encourage people to support these markets.

oalpridebannerDC

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