April 5, 2019 | UHCL Staff
William T. Hoston, author and associate professor of political science at University of Houston-Clear Lake, has recently published a book that has been nominated for a 2019 Lambda Literary Award. The award identifies and honors excellence in LGBTQ publishing and is the most prestigious LGBTQ literary award achievable. Hoston’s book, “Toxic Silence: Race, Black Gender Identity and Addressing the Violence against Black Transgender Women in Houston,” was nominated in the LGBTQ Studies category.
“The book studies the reasons why trans black women are being murdered and who is responsible,” Hoston said. “There has been a recent epidemic of these crimes in the last five years. After conducting many interviews with women in this demographic, I found that the majority of men who are committing these murders are black cisgender (a person whose personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex) men.”
Hoston said that there were 46 entries in the LGBTQ Studies category. “These are all books that take an academic perspective in looking at concerns within the LGBTQ community,” he said. “The panel considered authors who explored topics that are cutting edge in this category.”
Of the 46 entries, Hoston found out the list had been narrowed to eight finalists. “I was excited to learn the news from my publisher that I was a finalist,” he said. “I didn’t know much about Lambda until I found out what a huge honor it was to even be considered as a finalist. Many of the books are written by authors from tier one research institutions and some have books that have received national attention.”
Submissions from more than 300 publishers were evaluated by a panel of 60 literary professionals. Hoston’s book is available online.
Hoston said he would be attending a gala event in New York on June 3 when the winners in each of the 24 categories would be announced.
For more information about UH-Clear Lake’s social and cultural science programs, visit www.uhcl.edu/human-sciences-humanities/departments/social-cultural-sciences.
