Fandom is a beautiful thing. Fandom is nothing more and nothing less than people gathering in common cause to say, “We love this!” It is a common bond bringing together people from disparate groups that would ordinarily never mix and mingle. Through movie attendance, book clubs, fan clubs, conventions, and online networks, we join in unanimous praise and critique of the objects of our love. The stories, characters, and settings we love tie us together, and give us shared stories through which we relate to each other.

What happens when certain voices of the community are not represented in those stories, characters, and settings? How do these people make their voices heard. We unite with our friends and allies to hi-light the problems and seek to bring these lost voices out of the community and into the very things we love.

Minority Report

Gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity are only a handful of the communities struggling for representation within Speculative Fiction and fandom. Over the years, I have been delegated the responsibility for dealing with issues of sexual orientation and gender identity by a couple conventions in Maryland. The problems are deep, the solutions are imaginative, and our progress has been impressive.

Roles for women, ethnic minorities, and homosexuals are not only under represented, but they are often included either as stereotypes or as the character who will be killed at some point in the story.

The Jon Stewart Green Lantern movie couldn’t get green lit, but the Hal Jordon Green Lantern did.  Even in the Transformers, the black Autobot died.

It is time for more more minorities to take on leading roles without having to pander to a white, heterosexual, male audience.

Homophobia is Sexism

It is not the most widely held opinion, but I have argued for years that Homophobia is just another form of sexism. For most people, their problem with GLBT people is that we do not fit nicely into the culturally acceptable gender roles assigned to us. The solution to this is not to conform to these gender roles, or to defy them. What we need to do is be ourselves.

IDIC

In this series, I will be discussing my experiences as a gay man in fandom and SF.

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My personal experience in fandom is a mixed one. I was raised in a conservative, Baptist home. When I was ten, I realized I was gay. I hated myself, and never felt like I fit in anywhere, until I attended my first convention.

My first convention

I was a geek in school, and we hadn’t lived in Maryland for every long.  One day, my friend Suzie invited me to go to a convention with her.

It wasn’t easy.  My mother wasn’t keen on me going out for a day trip to a convention north of Baltimore with people she didn’t know very well.  I begged and pleaded, and though I don’t remember them, I am sure I threw in some hissy fits and tantrums just to get the point across.

When we arrived, I felt like I entered the promised land.  Thousands of people who all loved the same things I did.  I didn’t have to lie about anything.

For the first time, I felt like I found a place I belonged. If you have never been to a convention or participated in a fan club, they are amazing things. At a convention, you know that you are a de facto friend with most of the people there. Our mutual love for the same franchises, movies, and books ties us together in a way that is hard to explain. I have made connections with people that have lasted for years.

Coming out

My convention friends were the first people to know that I was gay.  I was open and honest.  Something about being surrounded by so many like minded people empowered me.

I was very lucky.  I never faced or felt any kind of discrimination at the conventions until many years later.  When I first entered fandom, IDIC was not a slogan or piece of jewelry.  It was a philosophy people took to heart.

Conventions are some of the few places that we can be ourselves… or are they?

Are all conventions safe?

It depends from convention to convention, but in general, speculative fiction fans are more open minded then the general population, except in periods of mass popularity for speculative fiction, or when a convention slips into the mainstream.

Popularity often brings more closed-minded people into fandom because they liked the special effects in movie x and have not been exposed to the ethos of open-mindedness which usually pervades fandom.

For me, conventions were a sanctuary from the homophobic world, until I started writing.

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Within fandom, as with the mainstream culture, assimilation into an ‘acceptable person’ is not a way to be safe.

For years I have participated in the panels and sundry other discussions about whether GLBT fans should blend into the background, or whether we should be more vocal, and make our presence known and felt. It was a struggle at first, but eventually we came to believe the price of silence too high for us to pay.

In other words, those who were naturally straight-acting, were encouraged not to change their persona at fan events, and those of us who were a bit more obvious in our sexual orientation and gender identity were encouraged to be ourselves. The only exception we stressed was for cosplay (dressing in costume and pretending you are what you are dressed as).

While we always used common sense, we found it was best to be open and upfront about our orientation and identity. The vast majority of negative experiences I have had at fan events were when someone found out I am gay, and felt like I had hidden it from them.

I am very inappropriate

I am more inappropriate and direct with people then the average person, and will often introduce myself: “Hello, I am Eric, and I am a gay man, may I presume you are heterosexual.”

It usually gets a laugh, and will often open the door for people to understand the awkward position GLBT people are placed in by society. If we are not open about our identity or orientation, it is assumed we were hiding it.

You don’t have to be as upfront as I am, but be careful not to lead people into believing you are covering it up. This self-serving sense of betrayal is often used as a thin veil to excuse a person’s homophobia. “Well, I just don’t know who you are anymore.” Whoever you are, always be yourself, be open, and be honest.

Klingon Drag Queen

Last year, our first klingon drag queen attended Shore Leave. She was stunning and took the time to make each piece of the costume by hand to express her gender identity and passion for klingons. Unfortunately, she also experienced an inordinate amount of sneers and cat calls as she went through the convention.

Our group also features a number of male-to-female transgenders who often come in costume. They have not faced some of the same hurdles the rest of the community have. When I talked to one who asked to remain anonymous, she told me that her biggest problem at the conventions were that people assumed she merely wore a costume.

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I want to start by saying that not all of the reaction to the news of an openly gay character on Stargate Universe has been negative.  Many fans of the series have stood up to the bigotry that is spiraling around the internet.  It is not necessary to respond to positive statements, but it is incumbent on me to respond to the negative ones.

I have decided to use comments from Scifi Wire because they have be responcible enough to remove the most vile, incendiary, and hateful comments from their site.  These are some of the mild ones that remain.

Homophobia

Homophobia is the hatred, fear, stereotyping of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered.  “Homophobia is just another form of sexism.  For most people, their problem with GLBT people is that we do not fit nicely into the culturally acceptable gender roles assigned to us (Where is the Diversity in IDIC?).”

There are five main flavors of Homophobia exhibited in the comments:

1. Blatant Sexism
2. Incomprehension
3. Fear and Ridicule
4. Hetero-centrism
5. Vile Hate

Blatant Sexism

Creno demonstrates this problem well:

Woot! Hot lesbo action FTW! Let’s see them make out. Make it happen guys (Scifi Wire).

The equation of a lesbian character with a  perverse, masturbatory fantasy is a huge problem in our society.  The notion that we are reducing a human down to nothing more than an object of puerile desire is repugnant!

The biggest problem with this comment is that they wanting their own ego stroked, and if the character were heterosexual, they would still be calling for meaningless sex for their own titilation.

Hopefully, the writers of the series will treat the character with more respect, and not succumb to the base lusts that would cheapen the series and rob it of the moral character the franchise has exhibted up to now.

Women are people and deserve respect regardless of their sexual orientation!

Incomprehension

Zaphod said:

I wonder why shows never announce characters who are “openly black” or “openly hispanic” or “openly heterosexual (Scifi Wire)?”

Most of the characters on Stargate (and all series) are assumed to be heterosexual.

Starting in the 1960’s, many characters were “openly black” or “openly hispanic” for the first time and were announced as such.  For decades, shows have incorporated characters dealing with racism or what it means to be an ethnic minority in society.  While there have not been enough, they do exist.

Among the actors I have met, one of the most common complaints I hear is that their are not enough “Openly Female” or “Openly Asian” characters for them to play.

We need more honest portrayals of minority characters on Television and film, not less.

Fear and Ridicule

Someone claiming to be Warwick Sabin said:

Hetero-centrism

Chris Shea said:

i personally dont wants gays in my shows but i dont want straight people either
i want peopel doign there job saving the world killing aliens helping people
cmon in 10 years of sg-1 there was barely any love stuff
they implied it and it was enought (Scifi Wire)

I bet none of the people upset about a lesbian on the show were upset about them flaunting Jack, Daniel, Carter, and Teal’c flaunting their sexuality, all of which played into the story.

• Jack O’Neill was married and the death of his son is the reason he became involved in the Stargate Program.  Not to mention his relationship with Carter and a couple aliens.
• Daniel Jackson’s wife was the only reason he continued his work with the SGC.
  • Shyla
  • Ke’ra/Linea
  • Sarah Gardner/Osiris.
  • Vala Mal Doran
• Samantha “Sam” Carter had many relationships that played heavily into the plot arcs of the series.
  • Jack O’Neill
  • the Tok’ra Martouf
  • Orlin
  • Agent Malcolm Barrett
  • Narim
  • Pete Shanahan
  • Dr. Jay Felger
  • Jonas Hanson (her former fiancé)
  • Joseph Faxon (her husband of a possible future)
• Teal’c’s relationships with:
  • His wife Drey’auc
  • Shau’nac the temple priestess
  • Ishta the leader of the Hak’tyl
• Vala Mal Doran was the most sexual character on the show

I haven’t even finished with the major characters in SG-1, not to mention Atlantis.  There was a lot of love stories in SG-1 and Atlantis.  If one of the characters is gay, I can’t imagine it being any different.

Vile Hate

Facepalm chose to attack the Mentally Challenged!

If nothing else sells your show, then bring in the lesbians.

I wonder when the Stargate Universe will introduce the first openly retarded character? Part of the Stargate initiative for the better integration of the mentally challenged into the work force, this openly dumb person will be in charge major decision throughout the entirety of the series.

Executive producer Brad Wright pointed out: “We no longer only depict villains, played by black actors in alien rubber costumes, as mentally deficient, we want to raise awareness for general stupidity anywhere. Our team of highly skilled writers is looking forward to the groundbreaking shift of paradigms a retard will bring to the show (Scifi Wire).”

My neice has Down’s Syndrome.  Personally, I would love to see Stargate or any series feature a reallistic portrayal on someone like her.  Anything that would make a good story should be considered.

What does this mean for fandom?

It means we have a lot of work to do.  Science Ficition is a genre that is suppose to be about IDIC: Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, progress, and Making a better world.  The mere fact that people with such bigoted opinions can call themselves fans means that the writers have not been doing their job.

It is time to shake things up!

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