#lgbtq-literature

#lgbtq-literature

At the start of A Single Man, George Falconer wakes up at home in the morning and drags himself despondently to the bathroom. There he stares at himself in the mirror, observing not so much a face as the expression of a predicament a dull harassed stare, a coarsened nose, a mouth dragged down by the corners into a grimace as if at the sourness of its own toxins, cheeks sagging from their anchors of muscle.

Loraine Hutchins, an esteemed bisexual activist and author, has died. Her death was announced this week on social media and confirmed by friends, who are now recalling how much she contributed to bisexual visibility and acceptance through her writings and activism. "Loraine Hutchins was one of my bicons [bi icons] - I'm considered a bi-plus OG, but Loraine was there even before me," says writer, editor, and activist Robyn Ochs.

The organisation wrote in a subsequent statement that this year's proceedings would be put on hold after the ceremony had been "overshadowed by hurt and anger", which, it said, had been "painful and distressing for all concerned." Officials pledged to undertake a review of its policies to better support LGBTQ+ authors and to "increase representation of trans and gender non-conforming judges."