owlmoose | Exciting announcement!

Today, it was announced that

ladybusiness is up for a 2016 Hugo Award in the Best Fanzine category. Our official statement on being named a finalist is here.

I've known since Sunday, and let me tell you, sitting on this news has been pretty difficult. It is really exciting, if a little nerve-wracking, for me and especially my fellow editors to be recognized for the work we've been doing, to be told that our voices are heard and valued. (In a way, I feel a little odd claiming this accomplishment for myself, since I didn't officially join editorial staff until this year, and the award is based on works created in 2015. But I've contributed guest posts and helped with various projects, including a major statistical analysis effort last year, so I suppose that's close enough.) That's part of why we accepted the finalist position in the end: because it's important that voices like ours are heard and valued. I don't doubt that certain racist trolls' heads will explode when they learn that their lock on the category was broken by a blog that calls itself Lady Business, that showcases female and genderqueer voices, that takes an explicitly feminist viewpoint. Ours are the voices they have been trying to silence; ours are the voices that will demand to be heard.