gays in space

In doing research for another book I won’t be getting to for awhile I came across this account of a 1988 science fiction convention. There was a panel titled, “Alternate Sexual Lifestyles in F & SF” and among the panelists was Samuel R. Delany. The author of the convention report complains, “[T]he panelists … seemed to want to talk only about homosexuality (or perhaps bisexuality, if pressed). Any attempt … to ask about any other aspect of sexuality was fairly quickly shunted aside and the discussion returned to homosexuality. What is disheartening about this is that I get the impression that the committee wanted a panel on homosexuality and was afraid to use the word.” OK, yes. When I read Worlds Apart I was more hoping for Gays in Space than “alternate sexual lifestyles”. Just because I’m tired of the standard het scenario doesn’t mean I’m looking for just anything else.

Anyway, my favorite bit about Delany goes, “In response to someone's wondering why ‘straight’ porno films (aimed at men, presumably) always have a lesbian scene, Delany observed two things. One, the ‘lesbians’ in these scenes don't act like any lesbians he knows (this was met with general agreement from the audience), and two, ‘if you desire X, why shouldn't you desire 2 X more...especially if you rub them together.’”