Gay friendly spaces on Library

Kir McLeod and Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

February 18, 2018 10:44 PM

Gay friendly spaces by Kir McLeod and Tarquin Fox-Reynolds

D&D had been a little… strange and overwhelming. There was the gameplay itself to get used to, but also the fact that their stuff had tried to make an escape on them. Kir still suspected an older student had been pranking them somehow, but he hadn’t seen anyone around. He’d had fun though, but by the end of it, his brain had been full, and he’d walked back to Teppenpaw still going over it all in his head before realising there had been something else he’d meant to do at the library. This was why, one lunch time later in the week, he was back.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted the librarian politely. Given that their interactions were limited to Kir checking out or returning books - and that some of these interactions were handled by the monitors and assistants rather than the librarian himself - Kir did not feel like he knew the librarian very well, which would have made asking a favour of him slightly awkward if Kir hadn’t grown up rattling charity buckets on street corners and lost any self-consciousness about asking strangers for their support from… well, so long ago that it didn’t occur to him to be embarrassed in the slightest.

“I was wondering if I could put a poster up on the board? It’s for the McLeod Foundation - it’s a charity my family runs supporting gay rights, and helping kids - and other people - who might be having a rough time from their families,” he explained. That was the sort of ‘in a nutshell’ version. The McLeod foundation had a lot of things on its agenda, but that had been how it had started, and it was the part that was most relevant as to why he might want to advertise it in school. “I just want people to know it exists, and how to get help,” he added, in case the librarian thought he was on a fundraising mission.

Tarquin had noticed this boy around the library. He had been part of the D&D group that Tarquin… Well, he did not feel he officially ‘supervised’ them, unless it turned out they counted as a club and required a supervisor. As they were just a small group, he doubted they did qualify, and as they didn’t appear to be doing anything dangerous, he doubted they needed one, but he had given them permission to use the library space and to reference him as a responsible adult who had approved them if they ever needed to make such a claim. Danny, who as a halfblood apparently knew something about this kind of thing, had smirked at him when he’d explained he was not-exactly supervisor of something called D&D, and said ‘Of course you are,’ but refused to explain what he meant by that or why it was so funny. But anyway, this kid was one of those kids, but also the Rainbow Badge Kid, the plethora of buttons that adorned the boy’s satchel not having gone unnoticed by the librarian.

“Sounds very worthwhile,” he nodded his approval, as the boy - Somebody McLeod presumably - asked about posters. “Did Sel- Professor Skies recommend you ask me by any chance?” he guessed, although the boy wasn’t in Crotalus… He supposed given that at least two staff members knew he was gay there was a good chance they all did, and if he’d asked any of them where he could put his posters up, they would have directed him here.

“No. I just figured using one of the public notice boards would be easier than using the house ones. If they’re in houses, I have to work out how to monitor the ones I can’t see - check people haven’t ripped them down, or written slurs on them. And I wasn’t sure who to ask about putting them up in Cascade Hall. Plus the library’s a bit quieter. People might get a chance to look at the notice board without other people noticing that they’re looking at the notice board,” he explained. “Why would Professor Skies tell me to ask you?” he asked, both wondering why specifically she would have been the one to tell him, and why specifically she would have told him to ask the librarian.

“Oh. I’m gay,” he explained. This was not something he normally disclosed to students but it was obvious enough that it was safe to do so with this one. “And she knows it, and knows my husband, so,” he shrugged.

“Oh, ok,” Kir nodded, as if the librarian had just told him nothing more remarkable than what he’d had for breakfast. “Hey, you wanna help?” he unrolled the poster. It displayed grey text in rows, reading lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, intergender, asexual over and over. Occasional letters were highlighted in different colours so that a rainbow heart stood out. Underneath this was a white space, with the McLeod Foundation logo, and a brief explanation of what they did, followed by ‘In your school, you can talk to _____________ and find pamphlets with additional information _________________’

“I was going to ask if I could leave pamphlets here. And I was going to put myself down as someone people can go to. But can I put you too?”

“Uh,” Tarquin hesitated. The concern of outing himself, by association with such a cause, was only of minor concern. He was an adult. He could deal with that. “I… I’m not sure I’m the best person. I don’t… I’m not very good with people,” he admitted.

“You’ve been through what some of them might be going through though,” Kir pointed out. “And, it’s not like you have to be a counsellor or anything. It’s more just… You can encourage them to talk to us, cos we do have proper counsellors. It’s just them having that first step, that there’s someone available. The thought of Floo calling an advice line is really intimidating to a lot of people. It kind of involves admitting it to themselves. Talking to someone they already know is easier. And then you can tell them to Floo us, and they’re more likely to do it.”

“Ok. Sure. Put me down,” he nodded. It had been a very long time since he was in school, but it didn’t mean he’d forgotten how much it had sucked. If he’d been told there was someone who would have listened to him and not judged, he knew that would have made a world of difference.

(OOC - Kir and Tarquin share an author, hence the ability to joint post. Students may now readily assume there are pamphlets on various subjects to do with LGBTQI+ issues at the library desk)

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