Live Long and Marry has closed!

Bidding at livelongnmarry has closed.

A new community may be set up NOT RUN BY THE CURRENT HAPPY BUT EXHAUSTED MODS to allow people to sell off items that weren't bid on, brag about their purchases (more than they already can in the current brag post), post photos, etc. Watch the current comm for updates on that.

Current donations are now past $10,000 and will continue climbing, as many people have not yet had a chance to donate. (I haven't, though I am the proud winner of the Kazuya Minekura art book Backgammon.) As several people have generously offered to duplicate their offer if losing bidders are willing to match the winning bid, God only knows how high the final totals will go.

Thank you to everyone who participated, bid, offered, and spread the word, and especially to lady_ganesh and telophase, who ended up doing most of the heavy lifting due to my prolonged absences due to my intense workload and, rather appropriately albeit heterosexually, new boyfriend.

This auction went beyond my wildest dreams. It was joyous, crazily inventive (legal critiques! hand-lathed dildos! Bavarian care packages! a soul!), and an expression of a whole lot of people's commitment to equality, justice, compassion, and love.

The glee which you all brought to such a serious and important cause reminded me of the American activist Emma Goldman's quote, "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things," and the popular paraphrase of her ideals, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution."

Let's all keep working, keep fighting, and keep dancing.

Live Long and Marry has closed!

Bidding at livelongnmarry has closed.

A new community may be set up NOT RUN BY THE CURRENT HAPPY BUT EXHAUSTED MODS to allow people to sell off items that weren't bid on, brag about their purchases (more than they already can in the current brag post), post photos, etc. Watch the current comm for updates on that.

Current donations are now past $10,000 and will continue climbing, as many people have not yet had a chance to donate. (I haven't, though I am the proud winner of the Kazuya Minekura art book Backgammon.) As several people have generously offered to duplicate their offer if losing bidders are willing to match the winning bid, God only knows how high the final totals will go.

Thank you to everyone who participated, bid, offered, and spread the word, and especially to lady_ganesh and telophase, who ended up doing most of the heavy lifting due to my prolonged absences due to my intense workload and, rather appropriately albeit heterosexually, new boyfriend.

This auction went beyond my wildest dreams. It was joyous, crazily inventive (legal critiques! hand-lathed dildos! Bavarian care packages! a soul!), and an expression of a whole lot of people's commitment to equality, justice, compassion, and love.

The glee which you all brought to such a serious and important cause reminded me of the American activist Emma Goldman's quote, "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things," and the popular paraphrase of her ideals, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution."

Let's all keep working, keep fighting, and keep dancing.

William Sanders: shooting himself in the foot since he learned how to speak!

I realize that there are very serious issues going on here. But the sight of William Sanders digging himself in deeper and deeper has reached the point now, with his attempt at extorting money for the privelege of getting stories off his website, that it's also quite hilarious. He doesn't seem to have hit fandom wank yet, but he really should. Fandom wank was made for William Sanders.

PS. For the benefit of those not following the story, William Sanders edits an sf magazine called "Helix." He recently rejected a story in a letter which fulminated against Muslims in a crazy, offensive, bigoted, and totally unprofessional and also rabidly nutty manner. The author posted it. Outraged ensued. Several writers asked to remove their stories from the website. Sanders responded by writing them crazy, offensive, bigoted, and totally unprofessional and also rabidly nutty letters. (Paraphrase: "Your story sucked! I only published it because you're Asian-American! Neener neener dumpling!")

Then he demanded that they all pay him $ 40 if they wanted their stories gone. Context can be found via yhlee, ktempest, coffeeandink, and many more.

PPS. I shouldn't even have to say this, but don't even bother saying that Sanders was referring to terrorists, not Muslims in general. "Sheetheads" is an offensive religious and/or racial epithet even if he was referring specifically to terrorists (a defense which Nick Mamatas neatly debunks somewhere which I've lost.) For example, if you refer to Jews as "kikes," it is not a defense to say, "But I only meant that one Jew who held up a bank!" Even in that context, it is still a bigoted slur.