![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(Copied from a comment I just made on MetaFilter. I put several minutes into trying to figure this out, and it seems I'm not alone and many folks are unclear on the logistics of what Lambda Literary did and didn't do regarding Lauren Hough's book; here's my understanding.)
Lauren Hough's publisher, Penguin Random House, submitted/nominated her book Leaving Isn't The Hardest Thing for a Lammy Award for Lesbian Memoir/Biography, and an independent panel of Lammy Award judges (probably volunteers) read it along with lots of other nominees. It was going to be named a finalist ("shortlisted"); Lambda Literary told her publisher in February, and the publisher told Hough on February 24th. (The screenshot of that email does indicate that the book is actually set to be named as a a finalist.)
The finalists were set to be announced on March 15th, and I believe they'll announce the winners at a gala in June.
In the intervening time, Hough ..... made her statements on Twitter, and Lambda Literary therefore chose not to name her book as a finalist and contacted her publisher to inform her of that.
And then -- let's say it's early March, and you finished the evaluations in February so you're thinking you're done with your Lammy responsibilities that started around October or November, and you're getting back to the other things you've been putting off to serve on this panel, and then suddenly the awards org contacts you and you have to scramble and find time for a heavy email thread or a conference call so you can review some rather upsetting social media conversation and then talk about whether to retroactively change one of your decisions based on stuff outside of the books you read.
Like, that's rough!
Lauren Hough's publisher, Penguin Random House, submitted/nominated her book Leaving Isn't The Hardest Thing for a Lammy Award for Lesbian Memoir/Biography, and an independent panel of Lammy Award judges (probably volunteers) read it along with lots of other nominees. It was going to be named a finalist ("shortlisted"); Lambda Literary told her publisher in February, and the publisher told Hough on February 24th. (The screenshot of that email does indicate that the book is actually set to be named as a a finalist.)
The finalists were set to be announced on March 15th, and I believe they'll announce the winners at a gala in June.
In the intervening time, Hough ..... made her statements on Twitter, and Lambda Literary therefore chose not to name her book as a finalist and contacted her publisher to inform her of that.
In a letter sent to her publisher, Penguin Random House, shortly before the announcement and shared this week with The Associated Press, Lambda cited a series of tweets (some deleted) from early this month that showed a “troubling hostility toward transgender critics and trans-allies” who had challenged the premise of Sandra Newman’s upcoming novel “The Men.”The NYT piece quotes what "Cleopatra Acquaye and Maxwell Scales, Lambda Literary’s interim co-executive directors, said in a joint statement Monday":
....
The letter from Lambda to Penguin Random House refers to “at least a couple of documented instances” when Hough used “her substantial platform — due in part to her excellent book — to harmfully engage with readers and critics alike.”
Acquaye and Scales said in a joint interview that an independent judging panel and Lambda Literary had both contributed to the decision to withdraw the book from contention, and said that the organization had not taken a position on “The Men.”By the way, I'd like to take a moment to shout out the Lammy Award judges for all the 24 categories (probably several different panels of judges, maybe even 24 panels?), who took several months to read and evaluate possibly dozens of books each -- and this kind of literary award jury service is usually a volunteer gig that you squeeze into nights and weekends -- on a deadline and with the responsibility of deciding which of them are Best. Some of these books are bad! Some of them are harrowing! Some of them are excellent and then you have the collective responsibility of deciding which is Best, knowing that the decisions you make will significantly affect writers' morale and careers!
As a result of Hough’s posts, Scales said in the interview, “many trans folks felt like they couldn’t, they were not allowed to be in these conversations.” Acquaye said that the posts “did not uplift other queer people and these voices.”
And then -- let's say it's early March, and you finished the evaluations in February so you're thinking you're done with your Lammy responsibilities that started around October or November, and you're getting back to the other things you've been putting off to serve on this panel, and then suddenly the awards org contacts you and you have to scramble and find time for a heavy email thread or a conference call so you can review some rather upsetting social media conversation and then talk about whether to retroactively change one of your decisions based on stuff outside of the books you read.
Like, that's rough!
