Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature explained

Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature
Main:Lambda Literary Award
Awarded For:Transgender Literature
Sponsor:Lambda Literary Foundation
Date:Annual

The Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, that awards books with transgender content. Awards are granted based on literary merit and transgender content, and therefore, the writer may be cisgender.[1] The award can be separated into three categories: transgender fiction, transgender nonfiction, and transgender poetry,[1] though early iterations of the award included categories for bisexual/transgender literature, transgender/genderqueer literature, and transgender literature.

Criteria

Transgender fiction

The award for transgender fiction recognizes "[n]ovels, novellas, short story collections, and anthologies with prominent ... trans characters and/or content of strong significance to the ... trans communities." The list "[m]ay include historical novels, comics, cross-genre works of fiction, humor, and other styles of fiction."

Transgender nonfiction

The award for transgender nonfiction recognizes "[n]onfiction works with content of strong significance to members of the ... trans communities," including "a wide range of subjects for the general or academic reader."

Transgender poetry

The award for transgender poetry recognizes individual volumes of poems and poem collections with transgender content. Chapbooks are ineligible for the prize, as well as "[u]pdated editions of previously published works ... unless at least 50% of the poetry (not the supplemental text) is new."

History

Though the Lambda Literary Foundation has been giving out awards since 1989, a category honoring works with transgender content was not added until 1997.[2] In the history of the awards, the categories for transgender and bisexual literature have remained contentious.[3] Between 1997 and 2009, nonfiction, fiction, and poetry with transgender content was combined into a single category, transgender literature, aside from 2001, in which the bisexual and transgender literature was counted as one category.[3]

Controversy

Bailey's The Man Who Would Be Queen

On February 2, 2004, the Lambda Literary Foundation added The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey to their list of finalists or a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature but removed the book on March 12, 2004 after people protested and petitioned for the removal due to transphobic content.[4] [3] Executive Director Jim Marks had approved the book and defended its inclusion in the awards.[4] He resigned the following year after serving the Foundation since 1996,[5] and the Foundation closed their website, eliminating any evidence of the controversy.[4]

Critics noted that two major issues with the committee that led to such an issue. First, books are nominated by publishers, then made finalists by booksellers, making the award more about potential sales than literary merit.[4] Second, the committee held no members of the transgender community, "which explains how they were unaware that the vast majority of the community found the book defamatory and irresponsible."[4]

The Foundation launched a new website in 2006 under the guidance of Executive Director Charles Flowers, who also worked to improve the award process. While books would still be nominated by publishers and booksellers, the Foundation would have their own committee of judges, which would include at least one transgender individual.[4]

Despite recovery efforts, many outlets have continued to use the fact that the Foundation nominated The Man Who Would Be Queen for an award as a way to validate the book's message.[6]

Dreger's Galileo's Middle Finger

In 2016, the Lambda Literary Foundation nominated Galileo's Middle Finger by Alice Dreger for a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction, even though the author "endorse[d] and actively promote[d] the theories in Bailey's book," The Man Who Would Be Queen. "[A] half-dozen national LGBT organizations" urged the Foundation to remove Galileo's Middle Finger from their list of nominees for the award, a request the Foundation later granted, stating, "“The nomination process did not include full vetting of all works to be certain that each work is consistent with the mission of affirming LGBTQ lives.”[6]

Recipients

YearCategoryAuthorWorkResult
1997LiteratureBody AlchemyWinner[7]
Gender ShockFinalist
Honey, Honey Miss Thang
Lieutenant Nun
Warriors
1998Literature and Jane Meredith AdamsThe Last Time I Wore a DressWinner[8]
Mema's House, Mexico City: On Transvestites, Queens, and MachosFinalist
and Lawrence Schimel (editors)PoMoSexuals: Challenging Assumptions about Gender and Sexuality
Read My Lips: Sexual Subversions and the End of Gender
Sex Changes
1999LiteratureThe Empress Is a ManWinner[9]
and Stephen Murray (editors)Boy-Wives and Female HusbandsFinalist
Female Masculinity
Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton
Trans Liberation
2000LiteratureTrumpetWinner[10]
CrossingFinalist
From Toads to Queens
and Jack HalberstamThe Drag King Book
Transmen and FTMs
2001LiteratureThe Danish GirlWinner[11]
Are You a Boy or a Girl?Finalist
As Nature Made Him
and Ellen Samuels (editors)Out of the Ordinary
Trans-Sister Radio
2002Bisexual/Transgender LiteratureOmnigender: A Trans-religious ApproachWinner[12]
and Carol Queen (editors)Best Bisexual Erotica, Volume 2Finalist
Crossing Over: Liberating the Transgendered Christian
Dragged!To His Senses
Synthetic Bi Products
2003LiteratureDress CodesWinner[13] [14]
and Anna Camilleri (editors)Brazen FemmeFinalist
, Riki Wilchins and Claire Howell (editors)GenderQueer
Middlesex
Some of the Parts
2004LiteratureShe's Not ThereWinner[15]
Kathleen Lebesco, and Jean Noble (editors)The Drag King AnthologyFinalist
Trans-gendered
and Vanessa SheridanTransgender Journeys
2005LiteratureThe Gender FrontierWinner[16]
Becoming a Visible ManFinalist
(editor)From the Inside Out: Radical Gender Transformation, FTM and Beyond
Luna
My Husband Betty: Love, Sex and Life with a Crossdresser
2006LiteratureChoir BoyWinner[17]
Deliver Me from NowhereFinalist
In a Queer Time and Place
Just Add Hormones
The Riddle of Gender
2007Literature and Stephen Whittle (editors)The Transgender Studies ReaderWinner[18]
, Richard M. Juang, and Shannon Price Minter (editors)RightsFinalist
Drag King Dreams
Supervillainz
The Testosterone Files
2008LiteratureTransparentWinner[19] [20]
Male Bodies, Women's SoulsFinalist
Nobody Passes
The Marrow's Telling
and Hilda RazWhat Becomes You
2009LiteratureIntersex (For Lack of a Better Word)Winner[21]
and Rex Ray10,000 DressesFinalist
Boy with Flowers
History
Two Truths and a Lie
2010LiteratureLynnee Breedlove's One Freak ShowWinner[22]
Bharat JivaFinalist
The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You
Transmigration
Troglodyte Rose
2011FictionHolding Still for As Long As PossibleWinner[23]
with Diego Gomez, Fred Noland, and Jon MacyGlamazonia: The Uncanny Super TrannyFinalist[24]
Jumpstart the World
Nonfiction (editor)Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in Jewish CommunityWinner[25]
Assume NothingFinalist
and S. Bear Bergman (editors)Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation
Just One of the Guys?: Transgender Men and the Persistence of Gender Inequality
and Michelle Diane RoseThe Color of Sunlight
2012Fiction (editor)Take Me There: Trans and Genderqueer EroticaWinner[26]
I am JFinalist
Static
The Book of Broken Hymns
The Butterfly and the Flame
NonfictionTango: My Childhood, Backwards and in High HeelsWinner
and Nat Smith (editors)Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial ComplexFinalist
and Zander Keig (editors)Letters For My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect
Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law
Re-Dressing America's Frontier Past
2013Fiction and Riley MacLeod (editors)The Collection: Short Fiction From The Transgender VanguardWinner[27] [28]
Being EmilyFinalist
Dialectic of the Flesh
First Spring Grass Fire
Offspring
Nonfiction (editor)Transfeminist Perspectives in and beyond Transgender and Gender StudiesWinner
Seasonal VelocitiesFinalist
Teeny Weenies and Other Short Subjects
Transposes
2014FictionWanting in ArabicWinner[29] [30]
NevadaFinalist
Tiresias
NonfictionThe End of San FranciscoWinner
Blood, Marriage, Wine and GlitterFinalist
Testo Junkie
2015FictionA Safe Girl to LoveWinner[31] [32]
Everything Must GoFinalist[33]
For Today I Am a Boy
Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab
Revolutionary: A Novel
NonfictionMan Alive

A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness and Becoming a Man

Winner
Redefining Realness

My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love and So Much More

Finalist
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves

A Resource for the Transgender Community

2016FictionTiny Pieces of Skull, or a Lesson in MannersWinner[34] [35]
DefiantFinalist[36]
Lost Boi
NonfictionBorn on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural CompetencyWinner
Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American FamilyFinalist
Hiding in Plain Sight
Poetrysuccubus in my pocketWinner
ImpersonationFinalist
Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul
2017FictionSmall BeautyWinner[37]
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars

A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir

Finalist[38]
If I Was Your Girl
NonfictionLife Beyond My Body: A Transgender Journey to Manhood in ChinaWinner
Outside the XY: Black and Brown Queer MasculinityFinalist
Outspoken: A Decade of Transgender Activism and Trans Feminism
Trunky (Transgender Junky): A Memoir
What About the Rest of Your Life
and Mike HoolbloomYou Only Live Twice: Sex, Death and Transition
PoetryReacquainted with LifeWinner
even this page is whiteFinalist
Safe Space
Sympathetic Little Monster
2018Fiction (editor)Transcendent 2: The Year's Best Transgender Speculative FictionWinner[39] [40]
Long Black VeilFinalist[41]
(editor)Nerve Endings: The New Trans Erotic
, Sugi Pyrrophyta, and Larissa Glasser (editors)Resilience: Surviving in the Face of Everything
The Black Emerald
NonfictionBlack on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans IdentityWinner
Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli MurrayFinalist
Lou Sullivan

Daring to Be a Man Among Men

Surpassing Certainty
PoetryrecombinantWinner
a place called HomelandFinalist
Mucus in My Pineal Gland
Of Mongrelitude
What Runs Over
2019FictionLittle FishWinner[42]
Confessions of the Fox: A NovelFinalist
Freshwater
Invasions
Sketchtasy
Nonfiction

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Submissions. 2022-01-10. Lambda Literary. en. January 1, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220101214336/https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/lammys-submissions/. live.
  2. Web site: Dewey. Charlsie. 2013-05-28. Lambda Literary Foundation marks 25 years of LGBT writers - Windy City Times News. live. 2022-01-14. Windy City Times. January 14, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220114215043/https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Lambda-Literary-Foundation-marks-25-years-of-LGBT-writers/42961.html.
  3. Web site: Yates. Ryan. 2012-03-20. Lambda Literary Awards 2012: New Books to Love. live. 2022-01-14. Autostraddle. en-US. March 18, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220318220422/https://www.autostraddle.com/lambda-literary-award-2012-books-to-love-135313/.
  4. Web site: 2019-05-09. Lambda Literary Foundation and transgender people. 2022-01-14. Transgender Map. en-US. January 14, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220114215044/https://www.transgendermap.com/politics/media/lambda-literary-foundation/. live.
  5. Web site: Schwartz. Nomi. 2005-06-16. Lambda Literary Foundation Announces Major Changes. live. 2022-01-14. the American Booksellers Association. January 14, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220114215052/https://www.bookweb.org/news/lambda-literary-foundation-announces-major-changes.
  6. Web site: Tannehill. Brynn. 2016-03-25. Lambda Literary Foundation Snuffs Out Anti-Trans Scandal. live. 2022-01-14. Advocate. en. January 14, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220114215128/https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/3/25/lambda-literary-foundation-snuffs-out-anti-trans-scandal.
  7. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 1997-07-15. 9th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. April 24, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220424170645/https://lambdaliterary.org/1997/07/lambda-literary-awards-1996/. live.
  8. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 1998-07-15. 10th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. January 22, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220122021049/https://lambdaliterary.org/1998/07/lambda-literary-awards-1997/. live.
  9. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 1999-07-15. 11th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. December 24, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211224130047/https://lambdaliterary.org/1999/07/lambda-literary-awards-1998/. live.
  10. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 2000-07-15. 12th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. February 5, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220205005720/https://lambdaliterary.org/2000/07/lambda-literary-awards-1999/. live.
  11. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 2001-07-10. 13th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. January 23, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220123122540/https://lambdaliterary.org/2001/07/lambda-literary-awards-2000/. live.
  12. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 2002-07-10. 14th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. live. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. August 4, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200804145706/https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2002/07/lambda-literary-awards-2001/.
  13. Web site: Schechner. Karen. 2003-06-04. Lambda Literary Foundation Presents 2003 Lammies. live. 2022-01-14. American Booksellers Association. January 14, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220114215043/http://archivenews.bookweb.org/news/lambda-literary-foundation-presents-2003-lammies.html.
  14. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 2003-07-10. 15th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. May 6, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200506234143/https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2003/07/lambda-literary-awards-2002/. live.
  15. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 2004-07-10. 16th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. February 5, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220205005653/https://lambdaliterary.org/2004/07/lambda-literary-awards-2003/. live.
  16. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 2005-07-09. 17th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. March 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220320095405/https://lambdaliterary.org/2005/07/lambda-literary-awards-2004/. live.
  17. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna . Antonio . 2013-12-11 . 18th Annual Lambda Literary Awards . 2022-01-23 . Lambda Literary . https://web.archive.org/web/20131211105334/http://www.lambdaliterary.org/winners-finalists/04/09/lambda-literary-awards-2005/ . 11 December 2013 . dead.
  18. Web site: 2006-04-30. 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-12. Lambda Literary. en. January 25, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220125023311/https://lambdaliterary.org/2006/04/lambda-literary-awards-2006-2/. live.
  19. Web site: 2008-06-05. 2008 Lambda Award Winners Announced. live. 2022-01-12. McNally Robinson Booksellers. en. August 19, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220819055254/https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/editorial-818/2008-Lambda-Award-Winners-Announced.
  20. Web site: 2007-04-30. 20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-12. Lambda Literary. en. January 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120014347/https://lambdaliterary.org/2007/04/lambda-literary-awards-2007-2/. live.
  21. Web site: Gonzalez Cerna. Antonio. 2010-02-18. 21st Annual Lambda Literary Awards. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. en. January 23, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220123120952/https://lambdaliterary.org/2010/02/lambda-literary-awards-2008-2/. live.
  22. Web site: Valenzuela. Tony. 2010-05-10. 22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards. live. 2022-01-12. Lambda Literary. en. August 9, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200809233141/https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2010/05/2010-awards-finalists-winners/.
  23. Web site: 2011-05-27. 23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. January 23, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220123125313/https://lambdaliterary.org/2011/05/23rd-annual-lambda-literary-award-winners/. live.
  24. Web site: 23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists and Winners. 2022-01-23. Lambda Literary. June 8, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190608020743/http://www.lambdaliterary.org/23rd-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists-and-winners/. dead.
  25. Web site: 2019-06-08 . 23rd Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists and Winners . 2022-01-23 . Lambda Literary . https://web.archive.org/web/20190608020743/http://www.lambdaliterary.org/23rd-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists-and-winners/ . 8 June 2019 . dead.
  26. Web site: 2012-06-05. 24th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced in New York. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. January 8, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220108035149/https://lambdaliterary.org/2012/06/24th-annual-lambda-literary-award-winners-announced-in-new-york/. live.
  27. Web site: Yates. Ryan. 2013-06-04. 2013 Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced. live. 2022-01-14. Autostraddle. en-US. January 12, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220112001728/https://www.autostraddle.com/2013-lambda-literary-award-winners-announced-179194/.
  28. Web site: 2013-06-04. 25th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced!. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. January 8, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220108192318/https://lambdaliterary.org/2013/06/25th-annual-lambda-literary-award-winners-announced/. live.
  29. Web site: bent. 2014-06-03. Full List of 2014 Lambda Literary Award Winners. live. 2022-01-11. IndieWire. en. January 12, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220112003115/https://www.indiewire.com/2014/06/full-list-of-2014-lambda-literary-award-winners-214124/.
  30. Web site: 2014-06-03. Winners of the 26th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Announced. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. September 12, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210912131635/https://lambdaliterary.org/2014/06/winners-of-the-26th-annual-lambda-literary-awards-announced/. live.
  31. Web site: Bennett. Karma. 2015-06-04. Lambda Literary Award 2015 Winners Announced. live. 2022-01-14. Alibris. January 14, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220114215043/https://www.alibris.com/blog/lambda-literary-award-2015-winners-announced/?doing_wp_cron=1642192409.1770710945129394531250.
  32. Web site: Thrasher. Steven W. 2015-06-02. John Waters receives 'crown of queer royalty' at 27th Lambda literary awards. live. 2021-12-24. The Guardian. en. December 22, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211222013644/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/02/lambda-literary-awards-lgbt-literature-john-waters.
  33. Web site: 2015-03-04. The 27th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. January 1, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220101172259/https://lambdaliterary.org/2015/03/the-27th-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists/. live.
  34. Web site: Johns. Merryn. 2016-07-05. 2016 LAMMYS A Huge Success. 2022-01-11. CURVE. en-US. February 21, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230221033523/https://www.curvemag.com/blog/lgbtqi-awards/2016-lammys-a-huge-success/. live.
  35. Web site: 2016-06-07. 28th Annual Lammy Award Winners Announced. 2022-01-11. Lambda Literary. en. January 8, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220108170932/https://lambdaliterary.org/2016/06/28th-annual-lammy-award-winners-announced/. live.
  36. Web site: 2016-03-08. Lambda Literary Awards Finalists Revealed: Carrie Brownstein, Hasan Namir, 'Fun Home' and Truman Capote Shortlisted. live. 2022-01-14. Out. en. December 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211208012803/https://www.out.com/art-books/2016/3/08/lambda-literary-awards-finalists-revealed-carrie-brownstein-hasan-namir-truman.
  37. Web site: Veron. Luis Damian. 2017-06-14. 29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced: FULL LIST. live. 2022-01-11. Towleroad Gay News. en-US. March 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220320095220/https://www.towleroad.com/2017/06/lambda-literary-award-winners/.
  38. Web site: 2017-03-14. 29th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. December 30, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211230200700/https://lambdaliterary.org/2017/03/29th-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists-announced/. live.
  39. Web site: Froemming-Carter. Rah. 2018-06-05. 2018 Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced. 2022-01-11. BOOK RIOT. en-US. March 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220320095230/https://bookriot.com/2018-lambda-literary-award-winners-announced/. live.
  40. Web site: 2018-06-05. 30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced. 2022-01-11. Lambda Literary. en. January 21, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220121230859/https://lambdaliterary.org/2018/06/lambda-literary-award/. live.
  41. Web site: Boureau. Ella. 2018-03-06. 30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced. live. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. March 19, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200319061534/https://www.lambdaliterary.org/2018/03/lambda-literary-award-finalists/.
  42. Web site: 2019-06-04. 31st Annual Lambda Literary Award Winners Announced. 2022-01-14. Lambda Literary. en. November 22, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211122004938/https://lambdaliterary.org/2019/06/lambda-literary-awards-31st-winners/. live.

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