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intersex

For Writers: Writing Non Binary

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Gender

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer John Allenson: John suggested that we talk about writing non binary characters. So often in fiction, we’re stuck on the idea that characters are either male or female – that they fit into society’s traditional gender worldview. Even with transgender characters, there’s often an expectation that they are “really” one or another – male or female – and are on a journey to physically become their real gender. But that leaves out a whole bunch of people, including folks who are intersex, transgender people who do not fully transition, and gender fluid … Read more

For Readers: Metaphorically Queer

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X-Men

For Readers: Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Andrew Kelley: I know that there are several Sci-fi movies and books that weren’t specifically LGBT themes and didn’t even make mention of any LGBT issues that I strongly identified with and really moved me. Even though I don’t think the author/director/screenwriter meant it to be an analogy it still could have been. Are there movies/ books that others felt this way about as well? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat

Man Tries to Kill His Intersex Child

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A Chinese man has been arrested for trying to kill his newborn baby three times with the help of the child’s grandfather. According to the Deccan Chronicle, the father has been detained while the grandfather was released pending trial. “We thought we would have a girl. But soon we were told the ‘girl’ is actually a boy, with an atrophic sex organ. We panicked and got concerned,” the child’s mother, Yang Xiaoqing, told the newspaper. She said the father tried to kill the baby because “he is neither a boy nor a girl”, but a “monster.” The man tried to … Read more

Categorizing Our Books

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Book categories

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer ‘Nathan Smith: How do we walk the fine line between categorizing books as readers (or writers) in order to challenge the industry to be more representative? A novel with gay characters is often listed as gay (or, m/m) primarily, and discussed that way, even if it’s a science fiction or fantasy or romance or mystery. In SF we have a bit more leeway and I feel like we’ve made a bit more progress than other genres, but even then: if the book involves LGBTQ characters, it’ll be very much treated as a queer book–which … Read more

Announcement: Day of Enlightenment, by Damian Bloodstone

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Day of Enlightenment

QSFer Damian Bloodstone has a new sci fi book out: Ciar, conflicted and troubled, lost everything to the mega city and is hunted by a stalker for things written of the past. To survive, he must first retrieve something in a place forbidden to travel. Alone and tortured by his own code, he wishes to find what’s lacking in his life. Can he accept the very thing he is truly running from? Edyn tried to escape her past from the courtesan houses in the mega city. The Holy Light Church guided her once and wishes for her return… but with … Read more

For Writers: Future of Intersex Rights

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Intersex

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Matthew J. Metzger: What’s the future of intersex rights? Will discrimination fade away as the west progresses, and the view that there’s nothing to fix wins, or could technological and medical advances actually make social discrimination worse and fuel a “why didn’t you fix it?” view instead? Join the chat