Overall, YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, has a good history of supporting books that can be or special interest to LGBT youth. James St. James' Freak Show was named on their 2008 list of the Best Books for Young Adults and their past graphic novel recommendations include titles like Young Avengers and Top 10: The Forty-Niners. However, the organization sparked a bit of controversy this year when it picked sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card for its Margaret A. Edwards Award this year.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award is given to an author who has a lifetime history of "helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world." Past winners include Ursula K. Le Guin, S.E. Hinton, Anne McCaffrey and Paul Zindel.

This year, the award has gone to science fiction writer Orson Scott Card, who is best known for Ender's Game, which won multiple awards when it was published (the short story that inspired it is also considered a classic of anti-war sci-fi). However, in recent years, Card has also become known for his political columns where he has expressed some strongly anti-gay positions.

Card's anti-gay views first came to light in a column opposing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, where Card said that advocates for marriage equality were "guided only by the slogan of immaturity and barbarism: 'If it feels good, do it!'" Card's most damning comment came when he advocated for laws criminalizing homosexualty because, essentially, he prefers his homosexuals closeted and fearful: