Judges for a prominent LGBTQ literature award withdrew a planned nomination for Lauren Hough's acclaimed essay collection, “Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing," after the author used sharp and sometimes profane language in Twitter exchanges with critics of a novel she had expressed admiration for.
Hough was supposed to be a Lambda Award finalist for best lesbian memoir, one of 24 categories announced last week by the Lambda Literary organization. But her name did not appear. In a letter sent to her publisher, Penguin Random House, shortly before the announcement and shared this week with The Associated Press, Lambda cited a series of tweets (some deleted) from early this month that showed a “troubling hostility toward transgender critics and trans-allies” who had challenged the premise of Sandra Newman's upcoming novel “The Men.”
