Reaction of The Speculative Fiction Community
There has been a long history of tolerance of LGBT people in SF fandom. The presence of gay members was noted by attendees of early conventions, but generally not discussed — the idea that gay or lesbian members would seek recognition within the SF community was "unthinkable," and an accusation in the 1940s by a fanzine editor that the Los Angeles Science Fiction Association was "full of gay members" caused a scandal in fan circles. Prominent SF fan Forrest Ackerman is regarded as one of the first members of fandom to openly support the gay and lesbian movements. He was known for writing early lesbian fiction and aided in the publication of The Ladder, the journal of the recently formed lesbian group the Daughters of Bilitis. He claims the group named him an honorary lesbian for his support, and to have pseudonymously written the earliest work of "lesbian SF" in 1947 in Vice Versa, the lesbian fanzine edited by Lisa Ben.
As the number of works featuring LGBT characters increased, so did the visibility of LGBT fans. At least as early as the 1980 Worldcon (Noreascon Two), there were gatherings of gay and gay-friendly members of the SF community, including Samuel R. Delany, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Melissa Scott. However, such meetings did not necessarily indicate whole-hearted acceptance within the fan community, and gay and lesbian fans were not regarded as a unified interest group. Informal gatherings at conferences and the attempted creation of a newsletter for LGBT fans drew little notice.
Networking between gay fans continued, finally coalescing at the 1986 Worldcon into a plan of action. This led to the first Gaylaxicon science fiction convention being held in 1988 and subsequently to the creation of the Gaylactic Network and the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards by the science fiction community. Gay-themed discussions are now a staple at conventions such as WisCon; for example, WisCon 30 featured a panel discussing "Why Women Write About Gay Men", and the 38th World Science Fiction Convention in Boston had a discussion panel entitled "The Closed Open Mind — Homophobia in Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories".
Other SF authors, such as Orson Scott Card, have been criticised by the LGBT community for their works or opinions, which have been described as homophobic.
Some lesbian science fiction is targeted specifically to a lesbian audience, rather than science fiction fans, and published by small feminist or lesbian presses such as Bella Books. A notable author writing science fiction published by lesbian presses is Katherine V. Forrest.
Read more about this topic: LGBT Themes In Speculative Fiction
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