There is a MAJOR uproar about this. One of the presenters (Connie Willis) has now said she won't do it because the voting was obviously rigged. The host of the Hugos this year, David Gerrold (also one of the Guests of Honor), is quite saddened that his 1st chance to host the Hugos has been tainted by the controversy.
I've been thinking about this, and the conclusion I came to is...
...conservatives F-ed this one up. BIG time.
We have no right to push our agenda on others, just as the Left should not push their agenda on us. Quite frankly, people who read sci-fi and fantasy tend to fall into the Liberal category. Sure, there are conservatives out there who like sci-fi, but the majority do not think like we do.
Nor do I want them to.
Many of the people who I know in the sci-fi/fantasy fandom community are ‘free-thinkers’. They don't fall into the category of ‘normal’ in any way, shape, or form. They are the people who make life ‘fun’ and ‘interesting’. Although many of them are Liberals, the majority of them ‘wouldn't hurt a fly’, as it were. Peaceful, kind people who...even after they find out you're conservative, say “That's okay” and offer you a beer or a glass of ‘Klingon bloodwine’ at a room party at a con. The Sad Puppies and the Mad (or Rabid) Puppies had no right to force their opinions as the 'only' or 'best' options in the Hugo nominating process. They took advantage of a loophole in the nominating process, thereby violated the spirit of the proceedings, and managed to upset a large number of people. I am of the opinion that they didn't have the right to do what they did. What's worse is that this may have the unintended consequence of ending the Hugo Awards altogether. (Yes...some are talking about that).
I am a conservative, and I support conservative values. But this time...it went WAY too far.
Congratulations on drinking the Kool-aid!
Gerrold and Willis are well-known and exceptionally vocal hard-left Libprogs.
So, you want us to lie back, and think of SF while the Lefties do us all up the back door ??
Sorry, Charlie, but we’re fighting. All WE ask is that people vote based on the merit of the story, NOT the political message and stance of the author.
And rigged ? We showed up to vote. That’s it.
And if leftists so overwhelm SF fandom, then why was it so easy for the Sad Puppies (and Rabid Puppies) to sweep the nominations? Maybe the leftists don't really constitute a majority of fandom... maybe they just yell loudly enough to make it sound like they do. In any case, I think it's worth the effort to push back and see.
I thought the whole idea behind the Sad Puppies thing was protest against the “powers that be” locking conservatives out of the genre?
No, I disagree.
I am attempting to break into SF/F as a writer. I have had mild success. If my author name became linked to my Freeper name, pretty sure I’d never get a contract again anywhere but Baen (and while I adore them, my stories aren’t their usual cup of Romulan ale). I’m not the only newbie author in my circles with the same fears. We talk among ourselves, and we’re all afraid. Even the left-leaning ones know if they don’t toe the line enough they’re out on their ears.
This campaign is the first hope we’ve had that this crap will get dragged out into the open and hit with a flamethrower of truth.
And the Sad Puppies didn’t force their opinions as the only ones. They only had a full slate in one category. What loophole was violated? Perhaps a “spirit of the law” issue but I fail to see it.
And Connie Willis, while being a brilliant writer, probably only knows what she’s been told by others, since my guess based on her books is she’s never seen the Internet in her life.