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Jim Marks and J. Michael
Bailey
Jim Marks oversaw Lambda Literary Foundation's nomination and eventual revocation of The Man Who Would Be Queen for consideration of their book award in 2004. His direct involvement is detailed below. For an overview of the controversy in a larger context, please see the main Lambda Literary Foundation page. Contents
Jim Marks was the Executive Director of the Lambda Literary Foundation (LLF) when they announced on 2 February 2004 that The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey had been chosen by their finalist committee as a nominee for an award in the transgender/genderqueer category (LLF 2004a). After voting to uphold the nomination on 24 February, LLF announced on 12 March 2004 that they were rescinding the nomination, an unprecedented step in the history of the awards. Marks said of the decision:
In 2005, LLF accepted Marks' resignation in June (Smith 2005) and closed their website in September, removing all materials about the controversy in the process (LLF 2005a). LLF eventually opened a new site at a new web address that makes no mention of the debacle (LLF 2005b). Jim Marks GenderTalk interview, 9 February 2004 Below are excerpts from Marks’ comments during his interview with Gordene MacKenzie and Nancy Nangeroni on GenderTalk. (Nangeroni 2004a)
Marks identified two issues that needed to be paramount: the “integrity of the [selection] process and our mission.”
They want to take no more than two weeks from Friday, February 6 to reach a decision.
Marks ended the interview by pointing out:
Jim Marks response of 13 February 2004
One thing about living in the Internet Age: When you hit a raw nerve, you learn about it quickly. Late Monday, February 2, we posted the 16th annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists on our web site and sent out a press release announcing the finalists. Tuesday, February 3, when I opened my e-mail, I found my inbox stuffed with messages about one finalist. It was The Man Who Would Be Queen by Michael J. Bailey, chair of the department of psychology at Northwestern University, and published by Joseph Henry Press, an imprint of the National Academy of Sciences. The correspondents were alternately anguished and outraged by the book’s selection as a finalist. Caitlyn Antrim, for instance, wrote: "I believe this must have been a mishap because the content of [The Man Who Would Be Queen] represents the worst of stereotyping, outdated scientific opinion and misrepresentation. Even its appearance on your list of nominees contributes to harm of modern studies of transsexualism and femininity in boys. "This is a book of anecdotes, not science. Its stories were obtained by stealth and misrepresentation. It engages in the worst of stereotyping of both transgender and gay and lesbian people. Prof. Bailey has admitted to falsifying, to the point of reversal of the truth, a key story of a young boy who he claimed to have been turned away from his transgender feelings by parental guidance. He has now admitted that he created that ending because it illustrated the point he wanted to make and that it Never Happened." Lynn Conway wrote, "I suspect that this must have been either an incredible oversight, or else by intrigue on the inside by transphobic members of Lambda. "Whatever the case, I hereby alert you to the fact that Bailey's book has generated perhaps the greatest crisis transsexual women have ever faced, for the book proclaims as ‘science’ that transsexual women are either (i) gay men who have sex changes so as to have many sex partners, and who are ‘especially suited to prostitution,’ or they are (ii) sexual paraphilics who change sex for autosexual reasons, in a severe paraphilia related to pedophilia..." Conway added, "… the prestigious Southern Poverty Law Center has just published an exposé of Bailey's ‘Queer Science’ in which they link him directly with an elite clique of right-wing racist, white-superiorist and homophobic academics, journalists and ‘pundits’ — making a link with work like his with the escalating wave of violence against trans women." Perhaps most succinctly, Professor Deirdre McCloskey, whose book Crossing: A Memoir was a 1999 Finalist in this category, wrote: "Whoever made this decision needs to do a better job. A much better job. It would be like nominating Mein Kampf for a literary prize in Jewish studies." Many of these letters came with extensive documentation. McCloskey, a well-known economics professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, sent in a lengthy critical review of The Man … and two letters to the editor of another publication concerning the inaccuracies of another review of the book. On the other hand, as we go to press we are receiving comments such as this from Bradley University Associate Professor of Psychology David P. Schmitt, Ph.D.: " I would like to express my opinion, as a sex researcher and scientist, that Mike Bailey's book is based on sound scholarly evidence and reasoning, and certainly deserves recognition as a solid contribution to sexual science." This outpouring of concern raised the question, Should the book be taken off the list of finalists? As I examined that question, I came up with four different considerations:
Whatever the ethical concerns, the LLF is not the appropriate forum for making a judgment: This must be done by a body of Professor Bailey’s peers. Similarly, censorship is not a key consideration: We’re not preventing a book from appearing in the marketplace of ideas if we choose not to highlight it. Therefore, out of the concerns about the process and the LLF’s mission, we will further extend the process. In choosing the finalists to begin with, the procedures we have set up call for the finalist committee members to vote for their preferred titles in each category independently of each other. In any one category, there may be many books nominated, and our procedures are designed to highlight consensus, not have the equivalent of a runoff vote from the top contenders. As far as I know, this is the first time a Lammy finalist book has been challenged as completely inconsistent with our mission. Therefore, in this new situation we will follow the suggestion of one finalists committee member and submit the question to the whole committee for reevaluation. They will consider all the issues and evidence presented, and then vote to keep or remove the book from the list. We’ll announce the results in the March issue of Lambda Book Report, and online as soon as they arrive at their decision. —Jim Marks Jim Marks announces LLF's decision to uphold nomination Below is a letter sent on 24 February 2004.
Man Who Would Be Queen to Remain on Lambda Literary Awards Finalists List After two weeks of discussion, the Finalists Committee for the Lambda Literary Awards voted to retain The Man Who Would Be Queen as a finalist for the 2003 Transgender Award."This was a very difficult decision, and I appreciate the seriousness and integrity with which the committee considered the issues raised by the opponents and supporters of The Man Who Would Be Queen," said Jim Marks, Executive Director of the Lambda Literary Foundation, which organizes the annual Lambda Literary Awards (Lammys). "They have been very sensitive about the depth of feeling on this matter." When the 2003 Lambda Literary Award finalists were announced, the selection of The Man Who Would Be Queen touched off a firestorm of protest that the book was transphobic, poor science and that the author, J. Michael Bailey, was the subject of ethics charges at Northwestern University, where he chairs the Department of Psychology. The book also drew equally strong expressions of support from other transgender activists and from colleagues in the field of study. Given the range of opinions heard by the Finalists Committee, it agreed to focus on whether the content of the book was at odds with the Lambda Literary Foundation’s mission of supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people through cultural literacy. The viewpoint that received the majority vote was that "Bailey has not set out to intentionally do harm to gay men and transsexuals. He doesn't get it on some fundamental levels but he genuinely thinks he does." With the Finalists Committee decision made, now a panel of judges will consider which of the five books in this category will be selected for the 2003 Lambda Literary Award. The five finalists in the transgender category are: She's Not There, by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Broadway Books); The Drag King Anthology, Donna Troka, Kathleen Lebesco, Jean Noble, eds. (Harrington Park Press); The Man Who Would Be Queen, by J. Michael Bailey (Joseph Henry Press); Trans-gendered, by Justin Tanis (The Pilgrim Press); and Transgender Journeys, by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott and Vanessa Sheridan (The Pilgrim Press). The same judging process will be followed for the books in the other 19 categories.The results of the judges’ decisions will be announced at a gala banquet to be held June 3, 2004 at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel. Tickets are $125 for the dinner, $175 for the dinner and gala reception, with discounts for tickets purchased before March 31, 2004. For more information or to order online, go to www.lambdalit.org or call 202-682-0952. Additional information: How was the book selected in the first place? The finalists for the Lambda Literary Awards were nominated by their publishers and other authorized agents in the fall of 2003; the nomination period closed December 15, 2003. The finalists in each category were chosen by an ad hoc committee of LGBT book professionals. Committee members voted independently of each other and their votes were not shared with other committee members. Choices were ranked on a scale of 5 to 1 (five being the highest score) and the five books with the highest totals were selected as finalists. Did every member of the finalist committee vote for the books selected as finalists? No. Because of the ranking system, the fact that categories could have many entrants and that there is no runoff, it is quite possible for a book to become a Lammy finalist without all the Finalists Committee members voting for it. What about the questions raised on the book’s scientific merit? In an Open Letter published in the February 2004 Lambda Book Report, Lambda Literary Foundation executive director Jim Marks discussed the ethical and censorship issues raised by the call to remove the book from the list. As the committee discussed the points being raised, and we continued receiving comments from the public, it became clear that opinion on the scientific merit of the book was divided. For instance, we received comments from two members of the editorial board of the Journal of Sex Research, one speaking on behalf of the book, the other questioning it. Given such a division of expert opinion, it was beyond the competence of a literary review panel to make a judgment on scientific merit.
-- Lambda Literary Foundation revokes nomination
March 12, 2004. The Lambda Literary Foundation announced that "The Man Who Would Be Queen" has been removed as a 16th Annual Lambda Literary Award finalist. The change was prompted by a request from the panel of judges that is reading all the finalists in the transgender category, which said the book was not appropriate for the category. The Foundation does not identify the judges to the public or each other until the Awards banquet, which this year will be held June 3, in Chicago, IL. Upon receiving the request, executive director Jim Marks went back to the Finalist Committee, which had selected the book originally. A majority of the committee agreed to honor the request. Because the action was unprecedented, it provoked heated discussion within the Finalist Committee. Finalist Committee member Kris Kleindienst said, "Removing the book from the list is not censorship. The book is widely available, has been widely reviewed and is not about to be denied to the public. What we are doing is behaving in a responsible manner to make sure the list of finalists is compatible with the Foundation’s mission. Having looked at the book closely, I am sure it is not." Several committee members echoed Kleindienst’s views. Finalist Committee member Victoria Brownworth, along with several others, disagreed on the censorship issue. "Banning a book and censoring a book are two different things. While I hate to be the titular voice of the ACLU here, especially since I personally disagree with many aspects of Bailey's book, if we take the book off the list we are indeed censoring it. It doesn't matter what our reasons are." "This has been a difficult and humbling experience for the Foundation," said Executive Director Jim Marks. "We’ve never before had a case in which a book, whose author and publisher both affirm their support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual rights, has at the same time been opposed by those who say its content in fact is antithetical to those rights." "Throughout the controversy that has raged over the book’s selection as a finalist, we have struggled to maintain the integrity of the process." Marks said. "Since the impetus for the change came from the within the category’s judges, and was reviewed and voted on by the Finalist Committee, we feel that the decision is consistent with our process." The recipients of the 16th Lambda Literary Awards will be announced at a gala banquet to be held June 3, 2004 at the Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel. Tickets are $125 for the dinner, $175 for the dinner and gala reception, with discounts for tickets purchased before March 31, 2004. For more information or to order online, go to www.lambdalit.org or call 202-682-0952. Jim Marks GenderTalk interview 15 March 2004 Excerpts from an interview immediately after the announcement (Nangeroni 2004b). Jim Marks:
Nancy Nangeroni:
Jim Marks:
In June 2005, Marks was ousted as Executive Director, a position he'd held almost continuously since 1996. On 7 June, a majority of Lambda Literary Foundation Board of Trustees voted to accept the resignation. Trustees accepting:
Trustees not accepting
LLF also sold their building on 16 June and suspended publication of the James White Review and the Lambda Book Report. Founder Deacon Maccubbin noted "issues were skipped or late getting on newsstands," which "hurt its credibility." Trustee Katherine Forrest said "Both of the publications have been operating chronically in the red, really, since they left the umbrella of the Lambda Rising bookstore. We’re talking about nine or 10 years that it’s just been sputtering along.” Forrest said there has been an “ongoing, chronic problem” with the Lambda Book Report’s ability to publish in a timely manner. It was supposed to be available monthly, but often was late coming out. (Smith 2005) Marks has since claimed his resignation had nothing to do with the financial difficulties cited by LLF's founder and trustees, nor anything to do with the mishandling of the Bailey fiasco. (Marks 2006) Their lambdalit.org website went offline after the announcement, eventually reappearing in 2006 as a text-only site consisting of three pages. A new site at lambdaliterary.org went live at the end of 1995, announcing "Welcome to the New Lambda Literary Foundation." Any mention of the Bailey debacle was gone from the new site. Lambda
Literary Foundation (2004a). 16th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalists. 2 February. Lambda
Literary Foundation (2005a). Resources
for the debate over The Man Who Would Be Queen [offline as of September 2005] Lambda
Literary Foundation (2005b) Welcome to the New Lambda Literary Foundation.
Letellier P (2004). Group
rescinds honor for disputed book. Gay.com / PlanetOut.com
Network, 16 March. Marks J (2006). Letter to Alice Dreger. July 22. Nangeroni N, MacKenzie G (2004a). Jim Marks discusses the LLF nomination. GenderTalk, 9 February. Nangeroni N, MacKenzie G (2004b). Jim Marks discusses the LLF nomination withdrawal. GenderTalk, 15 March. Smith R (2005). Lambda Literary loses leader, closes publication. New York Blade, 17 June. 
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