WTF RWA?
I'm going to let Kari Gregg explain since she does it better than I could.

RWA defines romance as:

A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around two individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. (Emphasis mine. Full text)

Two individuals. In no respect are those individuals differentiated by gender or sexual orientation. LGBT romances are no less romances than stories with heterosexual couples, according to RWA’s own definition.

And yet some still insist on excluding LGBT romance from general romance categories.

Romance Writers Ink(RWI) is a Tulsa, OK based RWA chapter that sponsors an annual contest, More Than Magic (MTM), for published writers. In recent years, LGBT romances have been accepted as contest entries. Many have scored well in the contest, finaled and even won.

This year, MTM’s rules & regulations were changed to state:

– Note: MTM will no longer accept same-sex entries in any category.

No reason for this change is given.

So…I emailed the contest organizer to ask why this change was enacted. The contest organizer replied that RWI chapter members were “uncomfortable” with accepting same-sex contest entries. “Same-sex was just too much.”

Yeah, you read that right.

I don't about you guys, but discrimination makes me pretty 'uncomfortable' too.

Other links:

Online petition.

MTM's rules.

Heidi Cullinan's response.

Stephani Hecht.

Edit: Smart Bitches Trashy Books weighs in.

EDIT 2: RWI responds. They're taking their toys and going HOME because y'all are meanies for complaining about their homophobia. Also, banning YA novels from the contest is totally the same thing as banning same-sex novels. Totally.