In the interest of fairness, I’m linking to a post at JesseWave Reviews that attempts to give a differing perspective on the whole Lambda mess. Here it is: http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/?p=8146

The authors of the post are eloquent in their defense of Lambda’s decision to change its award guidelines. A lot of what they say makes sense (not all, but I’m not of a mind to dissect the entire post). I still think the LLF’s decision was ultimately divisive and short-sighted. (And yes, I see where they called out the reference to “lynching.” Yes, it’s an inflammatory word. I meant it to be. If you’re looking for an apology for its use, look elsewhere.)

I feel strongly about this issue. I was amazed to discover there are people who believe I have no right to my strong feelings — or maybe it’s that I have no right to express them, even on my own blog. That I’m “heterosexist” and possibly even “homophobic” for expressing them, and certainly no friend to the gay community.

Here’s the thing: My opinion isn’t much more than an echo of the opinions of a lot of other people, many of whom are gay, including two past Lammy winners and the guy who founded the award. My opinion is virtually identical to theirs, but they’re not getting identical abuse (that I’ve seen).

I can only conclude that I’m being told to sit down and shut up — because of who I sleep with — by people who’ve been forced to sit down and shut up for millenia — because of who they sleep with.

Now, I’m a big fan of irony. But this time, it’s a little bitter for my tastes. It’s discouraging to discover such a nasty thread of “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” underneath the interactions of people I consider my peers.

I’ll say it one more time: It’s their award, and they can do anything they want with it, but I think the decision to change the guidelines was divisive, short-sighted, and will ultimately devalue the award. The fact that I disagree with one small group of gay folks about a literary award does not make me homophobic or heterosexist, nor does it mean I “don’t get it.”

I get it. I just don’t agree. There is room here for reasonable people of differing opinions. And if there’s not? Then we have much farther to go than we thought we did, don’t we?

(Thanks to Teddy Pig for the links.)

This morning, Lambda Lit Award founder Deacon Maccubbin commented on the ongoing Lammy kerfluffle.

“Just to keep the historical record clear, when I founded the Lambda Literary Awards in 1988, they were specifically intended to honor “the writers, editors and publishers of gay and lesbian literature”. There was no litmus test of the sexual or affectional orientation of those writers, editors and publishers. It was only necessary that a nominated book be of interest to gays and lesbians (and, later, to bisexuals and transgenders as additional categories were added). That was true for the first five years of the Lammy Awards. I believe it was true even after we turned the awards program over to the new non-profit Lambda Literary Foundation; I don’t know at what point the criteria might have changed, but I think it would be wise to return to the original vision.”

His entire comment can be found here: http://www.mlrpressauthors.com/2009/09/the-little-lost-lambdas-some-thoughts-by-victor-j-banis/