Faggots in the Stacks:
A Book Group Discussion of Hold Tight Gently by Martin Duberman
Wednesday, January 11, February 23, 2017, 6 pm
Seattle Public Library, Capitol Hill branch
Community Room upstairs
Free because you are!

Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS is a portrait of two important artistic and political figures who came to prominence in the early years of the AIDS epidemic—Michael Callen was a white gay singer-songwriter who helped invent safer-sex protocols, and Essex Hemphill was a poet-performer central to the black gay renaissance of cultural production in the 1980s and early ’90s. Like so many other gay men of the time, both Callen and Hemphill died of AIDS while still in their 30s (Callen in 1993, Hemphill in 1995). Although they never knew each other, examining their stories side by side offers fascinating insights into the perils and potentials of community building, activism, sexual striving and artistic creation. Duberman, an eminent gay historian of the left, paints a candid picture of homophobia during the early years of the AIDS crisis, quoting from his own journals at the time about the “moral hypocrisy inherent in treating gay people like scum for generations and then demanding that they behave like saints.” Arguably this speaks to our current moment with just as much force.

Faggots in the Stacks is an informal book discussion group for faggots who like to read, and other splendid creatures who want to join us in critical engagement. Let’s imagine our past, present, and future together by exploring the wildness of books. Bring your wisdom, your curiosity, and your sass. And, don’t forget to read the book beforehand!

This event is not officially sponsored or endorsed by the Seattle Public Library, because otherwise some faggots might get offended.

Note: event moved from January 11 to February 23, 2017