Texas Library Association’s Excuse for Dropping Chuck Tingle Appearance Doesn’t Add Up
UPDATE, 1/11/23: The Texas Library Association has issued a public apology here, and re-invited Chuck Tingle to speak at its conference. Tingle issued a response here, thanking TLA but declining the invitation.
Yesterday, two-time Hugo Award nominee Chuck Tingle reported that he was uninvited from a speaking gig at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference—and the reason TLA gave him doesn’t add up.
Tingle, whose new book Bury Your Gays is coming out this July, is known for sex-positive and satirical erotica like My Billionaire Triceratops Craves Gay Ass and Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Theater of Love: An Adult Romance Novel. His second horror novel, 2023’s Camp Damascus, explores Christian conversion camps from the point of view of a queer autistic young woman who discovers that a local camp is using demons to force kids straight. (Oh, and it’s fantastic. You should go read it.)
In a Tumblr post, Tingle reported that after he was invited and confirmed for the event, TLA asked if he could appear without his iconic pink mask. “[A]s you all know, my pink bag way is a VERY IMPORTANT SPACE,” Tingle explained. “as an autistic buckaroo it is a boundary that allows me to express myself freely and relieve my chronic pain from neurotypically masking all day. i have talked about this for years, and it is why i consider my private identity a SACRED THING. it is literally a health issue.
“fortunately THE PINK BAG is never really a problem when making appearances,” Tingle continued. “i have spent years going on television shows, doing interviews, speaking at other conferences and conventions, hosting book events on tour, and even MEETING WITH LAWYERS in my pink face covering. it is always respected and that is very validating to my way.”
In case you haven’t seen Tingle speak, here’s a horror panel from San Diego Comic-Con 2023. Behold, the pink bag is no big deal:
Indeed, given Tingle’s popularity, it’s hard to imagine an event organizer being familiar enough with his work to invite him to be a featured speaker … but somehow not knowing about the face covering. It’s even weirder to think it’s acceptable to ask an author whose practice is to cover his face to make an exception for one event. It’s like interviewing pseudonymous author Elena Ferrante and asking her to reveal her legal name and identity just this once, pretty please? It’s not like there could ever be repercussions afterwards, right?
When Tingle’s publisher told TLA that appearing without the bag wasn’t an option, Tingle’s invitation was rescinded. As Tingle wrote, “the reason given was that people could possibly be uncomfortable with my mask.”
TLA hasn’t issued a public statement about the rescinded invitation. However, several other authors have offered Tingle their public support. Novelist T.J. Klune was originally slated to be on one of the same panels as Tingle, but he announced that he’s declined his invitation out of solidarity.
John Scalzi and Neil Gaiman also expressed public support for Tingle. “I’m so sorry about the TLA bad decision,” Gaiman wrote on Bluesky. “You keep loving and being real, Chuck.”
Scalzi’s Bluesky post was more raw: “BOOOOOO TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BOOOOOOO.”
In his Tumblr post, Tingle took a moment to stress that his public persona isn’t a schtick. “let me be very clear for the 100th time: i am a real person,” he wrote. “this is not a joke. i am not playing a character. i am really autistic and bisexual. tinglers are sincere and they are not ‘so bad theyre good’. they are just good. camp damascus is not ‘my first serious book’ because my queer erotica is serious. my art is important and real.”
Now is a good time to remind you that libraries are not neutral
Without speculating on what might be going on behind the scenes at TLA, I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone that although libraries are often seen as neutral, apolitical spaces, in reality they’re subject to the same biases and bigotries as any other institution. Libraries—along with library associations, library boards, Friends groups, and other library-adjacent entities—are run by human beings. Plus, they’re often subjected to the whims of city and state governments in ways that aren’t always obvious from the outside.
I worked as a librarian for 10 years, so I have some stories I could tell. Instead, I’ll leave it at this: it’s everyone’s job to fight for more inclusive library spaces—whether those spaces are books in the stacks, or authors speaking at an event.
In the meantime, if you’re attending the TLA conference, I’m sorry you won’t get to hear Tingle speak. Whoever made the decision to rescind his invitation is not behaving like a true buckaroo.
(featured image: Penguin Random House)
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