Here are many great web resources that contributed to the building of this website.
The Best Gay Science Fiction Novel Ever
(http://www.tobyjohnson.com/bestgayscifi.html)
The Best Gay Science Fiction Novel Ever website was created by Toby Johnson. The purpose of this website is to talk about his personal favorite Science Fiction stories. The website is organized by each book and their plot summaries, while Johnson talks about the ‘gayness’ of the books. The website was created for gay Science Fiction fans. Toby Johnson is an author of Science Fiction and many of his books blend Religion, Science Fiction and sexuality together. Unfortunately, this website is not that big, but Johnson’s reviews that include commentary on gay male Science Fiction and gay positive attitudes make it a good Readers Advisory reference.
Exploring Alternatives: Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy
(http://www.scifidimensions.com/Oct03/alternatives.htm)
This website, Exploring Alternatives: Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy, was created and authored by Wendy Darling in 2003. The purpose of the website is to connect LGBTQ people with Science Fiction & Fantasy books. The website is organized in personal essay form with the subheading of “Science Fiction,” “Fantasy,” “Conclusion,” and “Web Resources,” with links to many LGBTQ books at Amazon, LGBTQ friendly publishers & bookstores, and links to web resources. The intended audience is the LGBTQ community that is interested in either reading, or writing Science Fiction or Fantasy. Wendy Darling is a member of the LGBTQ community and Science Fiction/Fantasy author as well. The website is helpful as it addresses some of the controversy behind the label “alternative sexuality,” while Darling also includes some popular LGBTQ Science Fiction & Fantasy books with small plot summaries.
Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Utopia
The Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Utopia website was established in 1994 by Laura Quilter and it is a large database-like website. The website’s purpose to help connect Science Fiction and Fantasy books with feminist readers and fans. The website’s main page is organized in a hierarchal outline of links. Each of the links takes the viewer to another page and another source of information. The intended audience is feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy fans and Laura Quilter is a devoted fan of the genre. The website offers a wealth of information for Reader’s Advisors but one of the main links that is the most useful is: http://www.feministsf.org/bibs/lgbt.html. This link specifically list LGBT Science Fiction authors and their awards.
Gay League
http://www.gayleague.com/home.php
This is an online community for fans of LGBTQ comics and graphic novels. There are some members only sections of this website but also a fair amount of materials for visitors as well. The site notes that it is a “hate-free” environment to read, review and learn information about comics. There are also links conveniently included to Amazon’s website to enable a visitor to quickly purchase an item that appeals to them. The website appears popular with 1300 members as well as having very current information on the site. This site posts reviews and articles from a variety of points of view, thus accuracy could be a problem, but I thought it gave a good introduction to the complex commix and graphic novel genre.
GLBT Fantasy Fiction Resource
This website is a great resource for finding LGBTQ friendly information about the Fantasy genre as well as Science Fiction genre. The authors have divided up the information into two separate parts so visitors can be sure to easily find what they are looking for. You can search by a book’s rating, by the author’s last name or by a reviewer that you trust. The site also allows readers to send in articles that they have written or a book review from a local book club to share. There are some good links included on the side: archives, old reading lists and even a link to other websites that focus on the fantasy genre. A great site for discovering fantasy books to purchase for a library or for a patron to read.
GLBTQ Science Fiction & Fantasy
(http://www.glbtq.com/literature/scifi_fantasy.html)
GLBTQ: An Encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, & queer culture is an online resource that discusses many topics broken down into easy to access articles. The purpose of the web resource is to discuss Science Fiction and Fantasy from an LGBTQ perspective. The article is organized by topic/subject headings and discussed specific authors and their books that fit within each topic or subject. The article is written for the LGBTQ community. The author of the Science Fiction and Fantasy article is Joseph Marchesani who is an Assistant Professor of English and teaches Science Fiction and Fantasy literature at Pennsylvania State University. This is great resource to get a good overview of LGBTQ issues and character in Science Fiction and Fantasy themed books.
Lambda Literary Foundation
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/
This literary award website also focuses on education and advocacy for LGBTQ materials. It contains book reviews as well as award winners in both fiction and non-fiction categories. There is a synopsis of the literary magazine on the website but the reader is unable to read the current issue on the web. Lambda advertises a Facebook and a Myspace presence, so readers will be able to stay current, with the latest awards. The website allows winning titles to be searchable back to 1988, but Librarians will have to go elsewhere in order to find out any real information about the books beyond their titles. A good resource to ensure that you library has the most up-to-date and award-winning titles on hand, but a disappointing website on the whole.
Lambda Science-Fiction
http://www.lambdasf.org/lsf/index.html
This website is devoted to the study of the Science Fiction Genre for an LGBTQ audience in the Washington DC area. Meetings are held once a month and there is a schedule for the next few months to allow members to plan ahead. The most helpful part of this website are the book review archives that allow visitors to read impressions about different books. There are also discussion questions archived, as well as a recommended reading list. This is a fairly basic website but full of good information for a librarian or patron wanting to learn more about LGBTQ characters in the Science Fiction genre.
Queer Horror
This website is devoted to exploring the horror genre with the inclusion of LGBTQ characters. The website includes newer titles and some old classic tales, such as the Picture of Dorian Grey and also breaks up the horror books by interest category such as vampire, werewolves, and ghosts to name a few. The site includes links to learn more about the queer horror genre in general such as author interviews and Movie recommendations. The creator includes a FAQ area in which he states that he is not an expert, so please send your recommendations and favorites and he will include them. Also has a recommendation section for those new to the queer horror genre to get started. This is a good website for both readers and librarians to explore for more information about the queer horror genre.
Science Fiction For Lesbians
Home Page (http://www.lesbiansciencefiction.com/) and
Show All Books (http://lesbiansciencefiction.com/LSFAllbyDate0001.html)
The website Science Fiction For Lesbians, though limited to only one genre and gender is a good resource for a RA. The purpose of the website is to educate and connect the reader with Science Fiction books. The website is organized into seven areas: “Home,” “Show All Books,” “Lesbian Authors,” “Lesbian/Bi Characters,” “Female/Gay Worlds,” “Other Books of Interest,” and “Links.” The intended audience for the website is lesbian and bisexual Science Fiction fans. The creator of the website, Michele Lloyd, is a lesbian and a dedicated fan of Science Fiction. The usefulness of the site rest mainly on the “Home Page”: http://www.lesbiansciencefiction.com/ which offers the most information about the genre and in regards to sexuality. RAs will also find the “Show All Books” page helpful which lists books, their plot summary, and denotes the author’s and/or characters’ sexuality.
Stonewall Book Award
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/glbtrt/popularresources/index.cfm
This page on the ALA website claims that it is the first award that has been given to works for LGBTQ books in both fiction and non-fiction categories. The site maintains an archive of the list back to 1971 the first year the award was given out. It is interesting to see how many titles are mentioned currently and then contrast with the small amount of titles during the 1980’s. There are also links on the side that connect to more information about the ALA’s GLBT Roundtable that sponsors the award and other information about the group. This would be a good website for librarians to use when creating displays or to find ALA award-wining books to add to their collection.
Worth The Trip
http://worththetrip.wordpress.com/
This YA focused blog is full of interviews, information about books and links to relevant websites that highlight LGBTQ materials for youth. Some of the posts are quick and short, whilst others are longer and more in-depth, such as an interview. There is an impressive range of links down the right hand side of this blog that link visitors to other LGBTQ- friendly blogs and to YA LGBTQ content on the web. There was no information easily accessible to establish the authenticity of the information on this blog. Moreover, this blog has not been recently updated (last post July 2008) and some of the links that I tried to connect with were broken. Even so, I am still recommending this blog for the great links that are available in one place that focus on LGBTQ information for youth.