NOOTS- June 2024

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Written by Juniper June 2, 2024

Friendly Reminders: 

  • Please fill out the Interaction spreadsheet that opens up along with the tinycat links on the computer remember every bit of foot traffic counts even if they’re just asking where they can find the bathroom 
  • The new and improved handbook is bookmarked in the bookmark bar of the computer disregard the one that automatically opens up in the tabs is outdated the one in the bookmarks is the one to review if there are any policies or information you want to refresh yourselves on 
  • I have refilled the new Patron waivers, if you are one of our new volunteers who was added this term and hasn’t filled one of those out yet please do so they are in the blue folder in the first shelf beneath the computer just put your own name in the volunteer area as you added yourself and don’t forget to 3-hole punch it and add it to the current year waivers binder in the shelf closest to the floor in the computer desk 
  • GWOOTS or Gaming With Out On The Shelves now has a channel in Discord where they will be posting news and events please do show up for one-page-one-shot Fridays for a no-preparation-necessary good time! 
  • Please feel free to partake in the snacks and drinks on the snack shelf 
  • We’re getting towards summer this month so remember to stay hydrated and (particularly for my fellow pasty bois) wear sunscreen 

What’s NOOTS?: 

  • The move to Malaspina Printmakers Society’s studio space on Granville Island will begin sometime in September 
  • We’ve got a lot of pride events coming up and we need butts in booths check announcements to find the spreadsheet for sign-ups we’re hoping for at least 3 people per booth per event there are plenty of spots left anyone able to carpool for the farther locations would also be appreciated 
  • We will be having a board meeting open to volunteers on June 11th at 5:30 pm so please reach out to me if you have anything you would like to discuss in particular look out for a Google form to fill out for agenda priorities for that meeting so that we cover what you guys want to talk about that day 
  • We will be working on some fundraising and recruiting events looking forward to the move we’ll need to be more strict about around-the-clock operation in the new space given how open to the public it is (foot traffic y’all, foot traffic!!!) Keep an eye out for more announcements on that and be sure to put out the message to anyone who knows who might be interested in working with us  

Queer Creator Spotlight: 

You may have heard of Oscar Wilde and you may be wondering why I’ve chosen such a well-known figure in queer history for this month’s spotlight. Well for one thing it’s pride and its a good time to go big and cover some landmark figures. Secondly, much of the widely known information about Wilde has been a bit overly-sanitized particularly concerning his political beliefs which remain radical today. 

Wilde was born in 1854 in Dublin Ireland to Sir William Wilde a folklorist and surgeon who provided free medical assistance to the local populace in exchange for stories and Jane Wilde. Oscar’s mother was better known at the time as Speranza a pen name she used to write for Irish Nationalist publications in spite of persecution from British Colonial authorities. Wilde was raised in a politically charged and revolutionary environment which he would carry into his own work. 

Wilde was known at school for dressing flamboyantly and writing bad poetry (he would improve with time). All the same, he wasn’t afraid to use his height and strength to beat the shit out of those who picked fights with him. After his education at Oxford Wilde courted Florence Balcombe who would later become engaged to their mutual acquaintance and Oscar Wilde’s frenemy, Bram Stoker (yes the Dracula guy, this was not a coincidence we’ll get to you later Bram). In 1884 Wilde married wealthy heiress Constance Lloyd. The two would go on to have two sons 

By this time Wilde had become the unofficial face and It girl of the aestheticism movement which preached art for art’s sake. Aestheticism in spite of its reputation now and at the time was not an apolitical movement but a radical attack on unfeeling pragmatism in politics and class-based discourse. Everyone deserves to have access to beautiful and fulfilling things be they wildflowers or poetry. It was an argument for the value of art in politics and the overbearing focus on ‘value’ itself. In an essay titled “The Soul of Man Under Socialism” published in 1891 Wilde wrote, “Art is individualism, and individualism is a disturbing and disintegrating force. There lies its immense value. For what it seeks to disturb is the monotony of type, slavery of custom, tyranny of habit, and the reduction of man to the level of a machine.”

The movement was getting big in Europe but hadn’t quite reached the US. Gilbert and Sullivan, a large theater company at the time wanted to distribute their play Patience to the States, a play poking fun at aestheticism. Knowing that the play would make little money in a country where the movement was largely unknown and having no access to the collection of YouTube video essays on the subject we have today they sent the dandiest dandy to ever wear a frilly collar on a lecture tour of America. In addition to preaching the importance of art and beauty, Wilde spoke on anarchism and Irish Nationalism to the Irish diaspora in the States including heading down into a coal mine to speak directly to the workers. America was shocked and scandalized by Wilde. Interestingly enough much of their publications criticizing Wilde were more focused on his Irishness than his flamboyancy contrary to what we talk about today. 

In 1883 Wilde moved to Paris and entered into what most historians agree to be his first queer relationship with Robert Ross. Though their romantic relationship did not last they would remain friends until Oscar’s death after which Ross’ ashes would be buried with Wilde. During this period Wilde would produce the works he is best known for today including a series of plays and his one and only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray a gothic Faustian classic published in 1890. It was also in this time that he met and fell into the ultimate situationship with one Lord Alfred (Bosie) Douglas (one of the foremost evil twinks in history seriously this guy had some bad politics down the line). Bosie’s father disapproved of the relationship and left a card at Wilde’s door calling him a “somdomite” (he couldn’t even be bothered to look it up). Against the advice of his friends, Wilde took him to court for libel. After Wilde lost the case, the evidence of his queerness brought up in the trial resulted in his arrest and trial for sodomy and gross indecency by the crown. It was at this trial that the now infamous phrase “the love that dare not speak its name” first entered the public zeitgeist. In 1895 Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labor for his crimes. The Oscar Wilde trials have since been recognized as a landmark case in queer history bringing it into the public eye and turning the existing moral panic into a legal nightmare for queer people in England. 

Wilde continued to write in prison and it is here that some of his best poetry and writing on anarchy and the state would be written in the form of letters addressed to Bosie since he was not allowed to write outside of correspondence while in prison. I would really recommend checking out those letters if you can. They were published in total as De Profundis meaning ‘in the depths.’ In 1897 Wilde was released and died only 3 years later in 1900 from health issues caused by his time in prison. He was only 46 years old. In 2017 Wilde and his fellow convinced sodomites were pardoned by the crown, 122 years too late. 

Wilde identified himself at one time or another as a socialist and an anarchist. He wrote back against capitalism, colonialism, and the tyrannical rule of government. In “The Soul of Man Under Socialism” Wilde wrote that “the form of government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all. Authority over him and his art is ridiculous.” Ultimately it would be that authority which killed him, an authority whose terrible power he would come to understand personally. So much of our discussion of Wilde today frames him as a frivolous dandy and socialite. While that is certainly a part of his persona which he deliberately cultivated at the time there is so much more to his work and significance to queer activism than we often give him credit for. He was fiercely political and radical in his time, unafraid to engage politically and loyal to his Irish heritage. I think one of the most important lessons we can take from Wilde and his historiography is that frivolity can be incredibly political and incredibly dangerous to those in power. Now as ever it is important to recall our radical roots, Pride was a riot and Oscar Wilde was an anarchist. 

The Gay Agenda: 

Queer Story Recommendation: 

I just finished reading To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose. Blackgoose is a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe and a lineal descendant of Ousamequin Massasoit people. She is an active member in the Steampunk community and has been writing science fiction and fantasy since she was 12 years old. To Shape a Dragon’s Breath published in 2023 was her first novel and what a debut it is. 

The book is set in an alternate version of our world (everything is the same except there’s dragons). Our protagonist, Anequs is a member of the Indigenous people of Masquapaug island which has been colonized by the Angland an imperial power from across the sea. When the first dragon seen on the island in living memory entrusts Anequs with an egg she must journey into the center of the colonizer’s city to learn to train and care for her dragon. At the school, Anequs is thrust into a strange new world ruled by the strange rules of the Anglish upper class. Anequs refuses to compromise herself or her culture in the process of her education, but it’s not an easy road and there are many who would rather she just assimilate, or worse. 

The book has a fascinating and rich setting with a collection of characters who run the gambit from beloved classmates to well-meaning socialites to absolute monsters that we can’t wait to see go down. The book has an incredibly nuanced depiction of Indigenous life and the insidious institutions of colonialism. The book sports a rich collection of queer, POC, and neurodivergent characters. Seriously this is one of the best ‘historical’ depictions of autism I’ve ever read and includes what we might call a bisexual, polyamorous protagonist in our lead character. This is not like any fantasy colonialism book I’ve ever read and brings in a lot of new and revolutionary aspects from an Indigenous perspective. Its out with our display on Indigiqueer lit in the library right now.

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