Every now and then Romance Writer Land has to stretch and refit itself around what constitutes Romance. Heck the fact that the fastest growing sub-genres are erotica and inspirational tells it all. It's a confusing place out there.
In the past, people who write m/m romance (men in love with men) have had some problems. RWA (Romance Writers of America, over 9,000 members, sort of the trade guild of the authors) went through a kerfuffle a year or so ago and finally decided the definition of romance included m/m and f/f(it had changed the definition to be "between a man and a woman" and simply changed the definition back to "between two people"). Now it's the outside world having some trouble with the sub-genre.
Why should you care? Romance a hugely popular genre and it often reflects popular culture. There's an interesting trend of women writing and reading m/m romance. I get the impression that Brokeback Mountain left a lot of women longing for more of the same. And frankly even if you don't care, this is mostly about the Hyatt's response to the genre, not Romance Land.
There are two huge conferences that romance writers go to. One just took place last week. It's a big event sponsored by Romantic Times, the biggest magazine for romance readers. That's where the writers go meet their readers. And that's where Lauren Baumbach a reasonably well-known writer, ran into trouble.
Here are bits from her blog entry that described what happened.
I write gay erotic romance and fiction. I write in a RWA accepted genre. I’m at a romance conference. My writing wins awards. My books are on best selling lists on both Amazon and B&N. My work is good! I own a small press that print publishes only gay erotic romance and fiction, MLR Press. But I couldn’t find my promo and that of the other gay work I represent anywhere.. . .
she went looking for her promo material and couldn't find it.
RT staff arrived and told me Hyatt personal had removed my things because businessmen (who should not have been in the conference areas to begin with) had complained about them. I found that hard to believe and said so.
[another writer] went off to gather other promo that was far more risque than anything we had. . .
I wanted a better explanation. . . I paid almost $500 registration to attend this conference and promo my work, $1325 to be part of a special promo event, and hundreds of dollars on flights and hotel expenses but my tame, tasteful promo was removed!
Then she [an RT worker] said it was thought that it was more risque that anyone else’s.
She and her friend immediately produced the other promo items that included
a naked woman on her knees in front of a naked man, a woman with her naked buttocks pressed to a man’s naked groin and other items that had bared male chests, bared male thighs and such just like ours. None of our promo had male couples on it except a few bookmarks and since they are yaoi it hard to tell what the sex of the characters. The same bookmarks were not removed from further down the tables. So appearance wasn’t a legitimate issue.
Apparently at a loss for an explanation that would satisfy me she expressed an opinion it was gay related, but that didn’t explain all promo with my name on it being removed, even the postcards for my single mainstream thriller.
The customer service man from Hyatt arrived, briefly introduced himself while standing sideways to me, didn’t offer his hand in introduction, and never made eye contact with me. I made all the same arguments with him, showing examples of the other promo vs ours. He. . . only stated it was 'his decision and that of his peers and boss' to remove it and if I replaced them they would be removed and taken.
His biggest objection was the poster of a single man sleeping in bed with a book and a sheet covering him. [there's a picture in her blog]. . .I stated that single poster could have been removed, not all of the promo, so the M/M content must have been what he had issue with. He abruptly ended the brief chat with "I’m not discussing this with you." Then left the room. This is Hyatt Customer Service.
A lot of people wonder why she'd bother with RT. The magazine refuses to review M/M romance. But I can see why she'd go for the convention. It is simply the biggest game in town. RT at least accepts advertising for the sub-genre. I imagine either the sub-genre will go away, or it'll grow so huge RT and other mainstream places will be forced to accept it.
Now the other big question is what will Hyatt do? It would be one thing if they said no to all the erotic posters (I think that's okay. Silly but okay) but they only had hers removed. This is the Hyatt Regency in Houston, by the way.
I'm off to join all the other romance writers telling them they made a mistake. I hope they get the message.
UPDATED: one of Lauren's readers wrote
I called Hyatt Corporate to lodge my own complaint. I was treated very courteously by Customer Service, and asked to write a letter to Consumer Affairs, which I have done. I would suggest that anyone else who is as offended as I am by this do the same. The email is ConsumerAffairs@Hyatt.com