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.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

	Re: Bit of an update: MTM cancelled ekaterinv 2012-02-06 09:56 am UTC (link)
	We recognize the decision to disallow same-sex entries is highly charged. We also opted not to accept YA entries. I can't believe they actually had the gall to put those next to each other as if they were the same type of decision. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Bit of an update: MTM cancelled taktuk 2012-02-06 10:32 am UTC (link)
	"Are You Gay, God? It's Me, Margaret," Why else would they ban same-sex YA? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Bit of an update: MTM cancelled ekaterinv 2012-02-06 03:06 pm UTC (link)
	Did they ban same-sex YA, or all YA? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Bit of an update: MTM cancelled havocthecat 2012-02-06 05:14 pm UTC (link)
	All YA, period. All same-sex across all genres, period. At least until they decided to ~~take their toys and go home~~ cancel the contest. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Bit of an update: MTM cancelled ekaterinv 2012-02-06 05:46 pm UTC (link)
	Okay, I was afraid I'd misunderstood and made a really dumbass comment. I don't see anything wrong with not wanting to include any YA in their contest, since it's pretty much a different genre. The fact that they think that belongs in the same paragraph as banning same-sex romance is ludicrous. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Bit of an update: MTM cancelled havocthecat 2012-02-06 06:09 pm UTC (link)
	No, it's fine. It wasn't clearly worded anyway; I had to go and reread it myself to make sure I could clarify properly. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: Bit of an update: MTM cancelled taktuk 2012-02-06 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	They banned all YA but if I didn't make a joke I'd lose it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -