Via Hal Duncan (on Twitter) I have just discovered The Outer Alliance, a new group dedicated to intelligent discussion of LGBT issues in speculative literature. Here’s the mission statement and pledge.
- The Outer Alliance is a group of SF/F writers and friends dedicated to LGBT advocacy through education, support, and celebration.
- As a member of the Outer Alliance I pledge to uphold the tenets of education, support, and celebration of LGBT contributions to the science-fiction and fantasy genres through my actions and work, online and in print.
Naturally I have asked to join. Equally naturally I will be keeping an eye on them to make sure that this is an LGBT group and not an LGb(t) group.
And y’all should sign up too.
I´m in the group since day one (yesterday, I should add) and I second that: you all should sign up, good folk.
Welcome to the Alliance, Cheryl!
I was so not with it yesterday. I could have easily slept the whole day.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I was feeling quite well in the morning, but now I have slept through the afternoon (this is my very last free day before my classes start again tomorrow morning) and now I´m too drowsy – feel lik I could resume sleeping…
Just asked to join. I was in another dimension yesterday.
As it happens, last night I was the host for a Q and A with Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. An audience member asked someone Herbert said he’d never been asked before: did he struggle with some of the implicit bigotry (as the questioner saw it) in the original Dune books written by his father? Specifically, the portrayal of homosexuality as a Harkonnen debauchery? Herbert said he hadn’t thought seriously about it, but that he did see that part of the books as a kind of artifact of his father’s era, and went on to talk about something he doesn’t talk about much: his brother Bruce, who was gay and who apparently didn’t get along all that well with their father (neither did Brian when he was young, although he and Frank eventually became quite close.) Brian didn’t specify whether Bruce’s sexuality was a factor in the not getting along; he did say his brother delayed coming out to his parents for a long time. (I should emphasize that he didn’t say he thought his father was homophobic, so no one should take that from my paraphrases here.) Brian also mentioned that his father once mused about the storytelling possibilities of a homosexual army.
I’m happy to see so many new people join up. You make a good point re: transsexuality, too. It’s ignored way too often, and I’d hate to see that happen here.
good stuff. Already forwarded this to a friend who is trans and a fellow fan.
*signs up*
Cheryl,
This is so great that you are with us and helping get the word out!
Kate,
Very interesting what you got to observe re: Herbert, Dune etc. In my own (repeated) reading and analysis of the Harkonnen homosexuality issue, I would actually say that the younger Herbert with Kevin Anderson made it a much larger and more evil feature of “Harkonnen debauchery” than Frank Herbert himself ever did. Maybe I’ll write something with quotes and footnotes to prove it.
Cheryl,
I just wanted to say that I was excited to see you in the group. I was a fan of the Emerald City site and can credit your reviews for leading me to books such as The Etched City or The Briar King.
Anyway, there’s my fannish OMG post for the day. 🙂
Brandon Bell
Thanks for all of the support, folks.
Brandon: I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this “fan of” thing, but thank you! If I helped sell copies of good books then I’m happy.
I just asked to join too. Hope to get some help in getting my story off the ground.
Linked here.