Virtual Paper: A Newsletter About Libraries and Freedom

Drag Makeup for Teens in Chicago

Welcome to my Substack! I actually never thought I would take up any type of writing, but recently I felt the need to take some of the conversations I was having with myself in my head and put them down on ‘paper’. My goal with this platform is partly to share news and information, and partly to engage in discussions and make connections. I promise to elaborate more on my motivations in future newsletters. Today I want to check in about some library happenings that Library Defense and other local organizing groups have been tracking.

We Chicagoans love our public library system for all it’s wonderful services, including events programming. One event series happening during the month of November is a set of workshops for teens about how to do drag make-up, presented by a local drag artist. The workshops were located at 5 different branches throughout the city, and according to the website all dates were full with waiting lists in place.

As we know, libraries and LGBTQ+ positive organizations have been dealing with fascist groups targeting and disrupting drag events throughout the country. Locally, drag events in the suburbs have been subjected to harassment from various groups and so called ‘first amendment audits’. But the extremists seem to not be interested in targeting drag events in the city. Despite the fact that the CPL workshops were mentioned on the despicable Libs of TikTok, Awake IL, and Gays Against Groomers X / Twitter feeds, these events were not targeted. The quiet libraries hosting teens remind us that these programs are happening all the time at libraries across the country, with no fanfare.

It felt like the Queer community had a stress response to seeing the CPL event reported on by Block Club Chicago- CPL Hosting Drag Make-up Tutorial for Teens. And rightly so - the ongoing terrorism aimed at Drag events is disgusting and distressing, by design. There likely won’t be a story published with the title ‘Very Uneventful Library Drag Event for Teens Went Off Without Any Protests and All Participants Had a Lovely Time’. But, that seems to be exactly what happened, and we love to see it. CPL should be commended for continuing their work as usual. In many places the terrorism, or the threat of it, has caused librarians to self censor. CPL Teen Services did their job without flinching, and as a result teens had fun and the library continued with its everyday mission: to create a space where all are welcome. Hell yeah CPL.

I look forward to sharing more of these thoughts in my head with y’all soon. Cheers-

Tara