Don't Even Whisper "Gay" in Montana

The Montana State Library Commission, the governing body of the state library of Montana, and which has a history of homophobia, having voted down a primary colored logo because it too closely echoed the Pride flag, has now withdrawn from the American Library Association because ALA's current president, Emily Drabinski, tweeted that she's a Marxist lesbian.

“Our oath of office and resulting duty to the Constitution forbids association with an organization led by a Marxist,” read the language the commission voted to send to the ALA.

I am flummoxed, though, about whether the MSLC members are upset because Drabinski believes in the economic philosophy of "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs," is somehow a threat to the preamble to their state constitution

We the people of Montana grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of our rolling plains, and desiring to improve the quality of life, equality of opportunity and to secure the blessings of liberty for this and future generations do ordain and establish this constitution.

Like, does economic equity disfavor rolling plains? Or are they really afraid that ALA's first openly gay (not first queer or first out queer, but first to be public about their sexuality) will roil the "quiet beauty of [their] state" ...with her sensible shoes?

We are in a time when legislators and judges are telling people it's not okay to be who they are, and even more so, that it's not okay to talk about identities that don't conform the what people like the MSLC deem normal--essentially white, heterosexual, and Christian.

That stance is egregious enough unto itself, and everyone should be raising hell about it, but that it's specifically a library institution distancing itself from a queer librarian is c h i l l i n g. Like 1930s Germany-what's my Nazi fighting name c h i l l i n g. We need to do something. What I'm doing at the moment, is with my friend Jessamyn West, circulating a statement of support for Emily Drabinski.

It's further c h i l l i n g to me that the ALA statement about the withdrawal says nothing about Emily's right to share an economic philosophy with a dead white guy, or that her being queer is something to be celebrated not erased. Instead, they basically write "Montana's loss."

Emily is my friend. Jessamyn and I acted out of personal outrage, and the fact that political and sexuality-based repression is a really big deal, and we need to stop it, whether it impacts people we care about, now.

As librarians, we have to be warriors for free speech (except when it's harmful, e.g., racist, homophobic), reading choice for children and adults, and sites that are free from ideological violence (e.g., hosting groups that hate trans people).

If you haven't yet, I hope you'll add your name to our statement (the signature page is a Cryptpad, so it might look unfamiliar to you or take a second to load, but we wanted people to be able to sign whether or not they have a Google account). Or write your own! Or call MSLC members or your friends in Montana, or Florida, or Texas. Or run for your local library board.