A packed house of standing room only attendees gathered for the June 7 debut of the Do Say Gay: Banned Books and LGBTQ+ Freedoms exhibit at Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (Gerber/Hart).
The exhibit features works from 19 students from the DePaul University HumanitiesX Do Say Gay: Banned Books and LGBTQ+ Freedoms Spring semester class team-taught by Heather Montes Ireland, an assistant professor in both the women’s and gender studies and critical ethnic studies departments, and Barrie Jean Borich, a professor in English as well as DePaul’s LGBTQ Studies director. Borich and Montes Ireland were assisted by HumanitiesX Student Fellows Bella Netti and Taylor Sellers-Varela.
Members of the cohort each researched one of four topics in the course: “Open Books, Open Minds,” “We Have Always Been Banned,” “Save Our Children” and “Silence=Death.”
Montes Ireland said the theme of the class sprung from “the increased number of challenged books and the role of democracy in our society.” She added that everyone involved with this class came together “to learn about the power and impact of LGBTQ studies and the humanities to shape our democracy and rights and struggles for freedom.”
Additionally, Montes Ireland spoke about the importance of the class, especially now due to the legislative and cultural attacks on the queer and trans communities and communities of color. She noted the rise in book challenges from 2021, when 1,858 individual books were challenged, to 4,240 books challenged in 2023.
Illinois saw over 100 books challenged, but the state passed a law that bans book bans in public and school libraries. Montes Ireland praised the work Gerber/Hart does to protect and promote LGBTQ books and archival materials, as well as what her students were able to learn from their research at the archive.
Borich said the origins of the class began in 2023, when she brought author George M. Johnson to talk about his banned book, All Boys Aren’t Blue, which at that time was the most banned book in the United States (now it is Gender Queer). That talk inspired an entire course on banned books. Borich said “the triumph of the student’s work is their making art” and congratulated them on a job well done.
Gerber/Hart Community Outreach and Strategic Partnerships Manager Jen Dentel said it had been a joy to see the HumanitiesX students every Thursday for three months. She added that college was “really rough” for her, so seeing everyone together in such a joyful and wonderful space that was both kind and welcoming “has meant the world to me.”
Gerber/Hart Operations Director Erin Bell recalled “how enthusiastic all of the students were to learn together. I really loved being given a change to dig deeper in our archives. You would think being here for as many years as Jen and I have been here that we have seen everything, but no, we have not.”
Sellers-Varela praised the 19 students who “did a phenomenal job” in the class and with this exhibit. They stressed the importance of humanities in society and asked that everyone remember the “power of art, literature and history” in any work one does in the future.
Netti said, “A lot of love, care and thoughtfulness was put into this class” and spoke about “how strong and bold” the students were throughout this whole process.
Nadia Carolina Hernandez (“Open Books, Open Minds”), Callie Grober (“We Have Always Been Banned”), Annabelle Pedderson (“Save Our Children”) and Ori Duque (“Silence=Death”) spoke on behalf of their respective student groups.
Hernandez spoke about this “up and down quarter at DePaul and in the world” due to what is happening in Gaza, and said her group “wanted to focus so much on community and how communities are created, especially queer communities … and books hold ideas and identity, and it is so important that we don’t dismiss them because we disagree with them.” She also said “Free Palestine” to close out her remarks.
Grober said her group’s project was also about “we have always been here” and that they decided to use a gay bar as their focal point for their exhibit piece. She added, “We wanted to exemplify the idea of queer joy and community” and said ironically this is what she found with this class.
Pedderson said their exhibit showcased part of a classroom and the name comes from the anti-LGBTQ+ Anita Bryant campaign, Save Our Children. She said they decided to find the connections between past and present anti-LGBTQ movements and “flip the phrase save our children on its head” so all children are not shielded “from the realities of the world around them,” and have all the information they need to make their own decisions and embrace who they are.
Duque said their group’s project title, Silence=Death, is “self-explanatory” and they were able to mine an abundance of for their exhibit. They said the obituaries their group found were very helpful and that everyone should engage in the interactive element of their exhibit.
Borich and Montes Ireland recognized all 19 students and the two student fellows by name and gave them each a Do Say Gay keepsake keychain to congratulate them for their hard work and commemorate this exhibit opening.
Drag performer Cougar Pete (aka Ames Hawkins) closed out the evening with a Drag Story Hour reading of Heather Has Two Mommies, And Tango Makes Three, I Am Jazz and This Day in June.
The exhibit runs through late August during Gerber/Hart’s operating hours—Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6-9 p.m., Fridays from noon-4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.