Queer comics get recognition at 33rd annual Lammys

The past year has been an amazing year for queer comics, and they are now getting the recognition they deserve at the Lammys! 

The 33rd annual Lambda Literary Awards, the annual award show by LGBTQ+ literary organization Lambda Literary, will be streaming online Tuesday, June 1 at 7:00 p.m. EST. 

Since 1989, Lambda Literary has been celebrating the best in queer literature with their annual Lammy event. The awards are virtual this year, but promises to be just as exciting with a performance by Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello. 

According to The Advocate, the Lammys feature over 24 categories, including LGBTQ Erotica, Gay Romance and Transgender Poetry for readers of various ages and identities. The LGBTQ comics category was added in 2014 “to correct an oversight from the past and to honor the dynamic creators who are working today,” according to William Johnson, Deputy Director of Lambda Literary. 

“While a Lambda Literary award dedicated to honoring LGBTQ comics was not established until 2014, Lambda has often recognized the importance of queer comics to our literary culture,” Johnson goes on to say. “The reason this category was recently added, [is that] we don’t want the awards to become a mausoleum. For them to be vital, they always have to be evolving and offer a snapshot of the contemporary literary landscape.” 

Johnson also explains that the 2021 comic book nominees include books in which “creators skillfully reflect the expansiveness of the LGBTQ experience, an expansiveness that truly makes our community so dynamic.” 

“From subverting traditional ideas of identity to navigating the byways of sex, power, and community, these books offer a kaleidoscope of queer experience”, Johnson says. 

The five exceptional nominees include Apsara Engine by Bishakh Som, which features eight short stories delving “into strange architectures, fetishism, and heartbreak”; The Contradictions by Sophie Yanow, a graphic novel which feature a student who figures out “radical politics in a messy world”; and Everything Is Beautiful, and I’m Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection by Yao Xiao, described as a “one-of-a-kind graphic novel exploring the poetics of searching for connection, belonging, and identity through the fictional life of a young, queer immigrant.” 

The list continues with the fictional SFSX (Safe Sex), Vol. 1: Protection, by Tina Horn, Michael Dowling, Alejandra Gutiérrez & Jen Hickman, which is described as “a draconian America where sexuality is strictly bureaucratized and policed, [and where] a group of queer sex workers keep the magic alive in an underground club called the Dirty Mind”; and Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir, by Bishakh Som, which chronicles the experiences of a transgender artist who explores “the concept of identity by inviting the reader to view the author moving through life as she would have us see her, that is, as she sees herself.”

This year’s Lammy nominees are less mainstream and less superhero-focused, which is a true testament to the growth, strength and power of the medium.

“Literature is the rare forum in which unfiltered lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer lives can be presented with both artistry and authenticity,” says Johnson. “If we want to keep this important form of vibrant art making alive, buy queer books. Support queer comic creators.”

Catch the 2021 Lammy Awards ceremony on Tuesday, June 1 at 7:00 p.m. EST!

RSVP to watch the event at www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/current-finalists/.