Save Our Libraries: They are saving us

Libraries stand as monuments to freedom of speech and they bravely stand between us and those who would silence us.

I was invited for an author event by my local library, and then I was uninvited, and then I was reinvited. Let me tell you a story about fear.

The first day this small town library began promoting that an ex-Mormon Lesbian was going to speak about her book and her lived experience as a woman and a closeted queer person in the LDS church, the pearl clutching began. Ironically, it was a straight white man clutching said pearls, which raises questions for me, but I won’t address that here.

When I learned my event was cancelled, I immediately received apologies from the library about how they wished they could host my event, but they were scared and were forced to make their decision under duress.

As information trickled in, I learned that a “concerned’ citizen expressed his outrage that a book about deviant sex was being publicly endorsed and given sanctuary in an institution supported by civic funding. This individual citizen bypassed the process of community consensus in decision making, a process by which my event had already been approved.

His graphic description of the violence that would descend on this little library and the manufactured urgency he relayed had the desired affect. Out of concern for safety, the library cancelled and they immediately posted the cancelation on social media.

This decision to cancel was made so swiftly, with the loving intent to protect the library, the town, and me, that I wasn’t aware of the issue until after it was over.

I explained to the newspaper reporter who asked for a statement that my book was not about sex. It was about living my whole life in a cage. Having my event cancelled without the due process that would have protected me, sent a message to the town and to everyone like me that I belonged in that cage.

Just as this outraged citizen wanted, his fear tactics overroad the town’s inclusive practices and the library’s mission to preserve and defend freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly.

This is how we lose our country. This is how we lose our libraries. This is how hate wins. When fear strikes so close to home that we make our decisions without thoughtful consideration, we vote away our own rights. Our frantic knee-jerk reactions feed directly into the narrative that we must act now and think later. Later is too late.

When we buy into the perceived threats and manufactured urgency of those who don’t understand our purpose or don’t agree with our stance, we lose our ability to make level-headed, thoughtful decisions. This is not the time for scrambling.

This is a long game. Take a breath.

The Bill of Rights has been around for a while. Take a breath.

Our democracy still stands. Take a breath.

Libraries provide a safe space for the development and sharing of ideas. They catalog and curate their collections to facilitate the exploration of alternate perspectives to encourage critical thought. They don’t turn away any honest seekers. They don’t burn books. You know what kind of communities burn books, don’t you? The kind that feel threatened by the ideals that our libraries champion.

Save our libraries. Protect this precious resource. Donate. Volunteer. Patronize. Vote.

This story has a happy ending. The following day, the library reinstated my event after discovering there was no actual threat and the entire fiasco was falsely emergent. Then we modeled to the town how adults communicate and correct things with maturity and respect. I wanted this drama to play out in public view because, just as in the church I devoted my life to until I was fifty, silence benefits the oppressor and isolates the oppressed.

Trolls are no longer as anonymous as they would like. This is not the comments section on a social media post. This is real life. We are real people. There are real consequences for real actions. Live in a way that you can be proud of your choices. Own your shit. Decide what your priorities are and act in alignment with your values. This is integrity.

Identifying people as Others and dehumanizing the perceived enemy will only further separate us from our fellow citizens. Connect with the humanity of the people you disagree with. Look into their eyes and regard them through the lens of loving compassion.

Choose love.

Choose integrity.

Choose community.

Make every place you go, a home for yourself and those around you.

Welcome home,

Chris

---