Gaylactic Spectrum Awards

The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards are given to works of science fiction, fantasy and horror that explore LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) topics in a positive way.

The major award categories are for best novel, short fiction, and other works. The winners and short list of recommended nominees are decided by a jury. One of the most recognized authors, Melissa Scott has received the most awards overall, with five wins. She also holds the record for most nominations. Works of any format produced before the awards were first given were eligible to be inducted into the "Hall of Fame", although no work has been inducted since 2003. The list of award winners and Hall of Fame inductees has been called a "who's who of science fiction" by the GLBTQ Encyclopedia Project. This article lists the winners in each of the categories, and the inductees to the Hall of Fame.

Award process

Since their inception, the awards were given in categories for novels and best other work. Other categories were also added and removed in intervening years, including categories for short fiction (since the second year) and comic books for one year. A short lived "People's Choice" award voted by convention attendees was also awarded to one work from any of the category nominee short lists. The award for best novel was the only one to have been handed out every year since the awards began. there were three regular categories: novels, short fiction and other works. The "other works" category included comic books, graphic novels, movies, television episodes, multimedia, anthologies, story collections, gaming products, artwork, and music.

The results are decided by a panel of judges from the list of submitted nominees; nominations can be made by anyone. The judges are volunteers from science fiction fandom and GLBT community, with one volunteer as the "Award Administrator". The judges review each recommended work and the longlist of nominees is reduced via review and discussion to a shortlist of finalists, and then one or more winners is chosen by consensus or vote. The results are generally announced and presented at Gaylaxicon, a convention dedicated to LGBT science fiction, although on occasion they are presented at Worldcon.

Each award consists of an etched image on lucite on a stand, using a spiral galaxy in a triangle logo, based on the logo of the Gaylactic Network. The award winner's name, work title, award year and category are etched on a small plaque on the base or on the plexiglass itself. A small cash stipend is also awarded to winners in the Best Novel category. The cost of the awards is paid through individual donations and fundraising events. Other authors and editors who have won the award multiple times are Nicola Griffith, David Gerrold, Keith Hartman, Laurie J. Marks, and Stephen Pagel. Samuel R. Delany is notable for winning a special "Lifetime Achievement" award. Steve Berman and Tanya Huff were finalists seven times without winning.

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| Dark Water's Embrace

| Avon Eos

| Novel

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| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | 2000

| Meisha Merlin

| Novel

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| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | 2002

| Algonquin

| Novel

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| rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;" | 2003

| Fire Logic

| Tor

| Novel

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| "Three Letters from the Queen of Elfland"

| Small Beer Press

| Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #11

| Short fiction

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| & Michael Lark

| Gotham Central issues #6–10, "Half a Life"

| DC Comics

| Comic book issues

| Other work

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| "Country People"

| Southern Tier

| in Shadows of the Night

| Short fiction

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| rowspan="7" style="text-align:center;" | 2007

| Vellum

| Del Rey

| Novel

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| "In the Quake Zone"

| SFBC

| in Down These Dark Spaceways

| Short fiction

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| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | 2008

| Wicked Gentlemen

| Blind Eye Books

| Novel

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| Ever So Much More Than Twenty

| Lethe Press

| in So Fey

| Short fiction

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| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | 2010

| The Steel Remains

| Del Rey

| Novel

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| The Behold of the Eye

| Lethe Press

| in Lone Star Stories/Wilde Stories 2009

| Short fiction

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| style="text-align:center;"| 2012

| Honeyed Words

| Tor

| Novel

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| style="text-align:center;"| 2013

| The Song of Achilles

| Ecco Press

| Novel

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| style="text-align:center;"|2014

|Death By Silver

|Lethe Press

|Novel