HERE’S WHERE IT ALL BEGAN…
No censorship.
No matter
who would be offended.Dick Hewetson, co-founder of the Quatrefoil Library
MEET DICK & DAVID
David Irwin & Dick Hewetson met up in 1975 at the gay social clubs hosted by the Plymouth Congregational Church.They moved into 614 Dale Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota where they lived together until 1984.
Early on in their relationship, Dick (the activist) discovered that David (the book collector) had such a fear about folks visiting their home and seeing the gay books & magazines he was reading, that he had established a discard after reading modus operandi. Dick intervened–suggesting that they tuck visibly gay materials into the linen closet.
Yes, it is true: Gay books were relegated to the closet.
If any of the books had words referring to the gay, lesbian, or homosexual lifestyle on the binding or cover, they would be stored in the linen closet. Among their close friends there was this legend of the linen closet as the place where the books with the L word (Lesbian), G word (Gay), or H word (Homosexual), as Dick called them, could be hidden from people such as David’s family.
–Adam Keim, The History of the Quatrefoil Library (2008)
This is still censorship.
The majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of
self-censorship is intentionally cultivated by an outside power.
–Ada Palmer
The chill effect…it’s a thing.
Very effective.
Very efficient.
“Why did they devise censorship?
To show a world which doesn’t exist, an ideal world, or what they envisaged as the ideal world.
And we wanted to depict the world as it was.”
Krzysztof Kieslowski Polish filmmaker (1941-1996)
Quatrefoil’s adventitious skirting of the gay pulps’ conscripted storyline was a great encouragement to David. The novel created space for the speculative envisioning of a gay couple’s right to the pursuit of happiness, and that struck a chord in David—engendering a brave determination to pursue the same. And so, Quatrefoil, the novel, became the namesake for Dick & David’s queer library. Just like Tim & Phillip in Quatrefoil, the library remained for a time, tucked away in a closet. When the collection came out in 1986, Dick & David took the opportunity to establish a space where all LGBTQ+ voices could be raised–free of (at least, post-publishing and self) censorship.
And yet, as Ada Palmer assures us–“we are not alone…We face these crises in solidarity with many allies across time’s diaspora.”
Today, over 25,0000 LGBTQ+ diverse resources strong, the Quatrefoil Library persists in its original commitment to holding space for queer resources and resisting censorship just as the founders had intended. And yet, we must not collapse ourselves into our success. There is no rest for the weary—for the oppressor is perennially determined to silence the voices that defy the status quo.
Thanks to the dedication and generosity of many stalwart supporters (over many years), the library has been afforded a modicum of privilege—freedom from the constraints of public funding (I will talk about this more in a future post). Safeguarding this vulnerable and tenuous freedom and privilege, requires constant vigilance and obligates everyone, from the catalogers to the Board of Directors to commit to intentional and critical engagement with the struggle for liberation, interrogation and analysis of policies, procedures, day-to-day operations, ongoing group dialogue, and habitual self-reflection.
MISSION STATMENT
The Quatrefoil Library is a community center that cultivates the free exchange of ideas and makes accessible LGBTQ+ materials for education and inspiration.
Author notes: I feel incredibly indebted to Dick & David for their self-reflection, conviction, and bravery. Someone asked me–how can this even be? How did they get away with creating a GAY LIBRARY? They just did. They didn’t wait for permission. They didn’t ask. And, they didn’t do it alone. They were in community with many folx who shared their conviction. To me, the Quatrefoil is a grassroots project–of the people, by the people, for the people. Herein lies the power–the sustenance.
REFLECTION
What do you think of Dick’s conviction: No censorship. No matter who is offended? How does Dick & David’s conviction speak to you? Can you see the truth in Ada Palmer’s assertion that the majority of censorship is self-censorship, but the majority of self-censorship is intentionally cultivated by an outside power?
Do you have a self-censorship struggle you can share in the comments? If you don’t feel comfortable sharing here, please at least write it down.
Bibliography
Barr, J. (1966). Quatrefoil: A Modern Novel. Swan Publishing Co. Ltd. (Original work published 1950)
Caine, D. (2023). 50 Ways to Protect Bookstores. Microcosm Publishing.
Hewetson, D. (n.d.). Dick Hewetson – Lgbt Resource Center. Dick Hewetson. Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://www.dickhewetson.net/quatrefoil-library.html
Keim, A. G. (2009). History of Quatrefoil Library. Friends of the Bill of Rights Association.
Palmer, A. (2024, February 21). Tools for Thinking About Censorship. Reactor. https://reactormag.com/tools-for-thinking-about-censorship/
Suarez, M. F., Woudhuysen, H. R., & Oxford University Press. (2013). The book : a global history. Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia Contributors. (2024, April 8). Quatrefoil: A Modern Novel. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatrefoil:_A_Modern_Novel
Recommended
Der Boghossian , J. p. (n.d.). Paul Kaefer Archives. This Queer Book Saved My Life! Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://thisqueerbook.com/tag/paul-kaefer/
Internet Archive. (2024, February 25). The Majority Of Censorship Is Self Censorship by Cory Doctorow. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_463
next up
Part 3: LEARNING CENSORSHIP HISTORY
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