Controversial Author Banned From Texas Library Event For An Unusual Reason

I should immediately disclose that I love Chuck Tingle for reasons I cannot fully articulate, even to myself. His work is absurd, yet sincere, and wildly original. I even have his coloring book.

Chuck Tingle is the author of many self-published erotica novellas (nicknamed "Tinglers"), with subjects/ love interests as quirky and diverse as Bigfoot and Brexit. The titles are mostly not safe for work (they are erotica, after all), so exercise caution when Googling, as you might not have the excuse of writing an article as I do. Recently he has been picked up by traditional publishers for full-length novels.

The erotic adventures of the "Tinglers" are not the reason he was recently "banned" from a Texas library event. It's much stranger.

According to Tingle's Patreon page, he was invited as a featured speaker at the Texas Library Association's (TLA) annual conference but then had his invitation abruptly revoked. The TLA's reasoning was that they had asked Tingle to appear without his signature pink bag mask (pictured above), which he refused:

as you all know, my pink bag way is a VERY IMPORTANT SPACE. 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.

The TLA claimed that the mask would make some folks feel unsafe, which is a head-scratcher to me as someone who lived through an entire year of a pandemic.

As someone who once worked in a library and felt strongly that it was my calling, I am extremely annoyed that the members of the TLA who made this decision failed to research their guest before inviting him. Librarians are supposed to be a light in the darkness of ignorance and misinformation, and dropping the most important ball they are asked to hold offends me deeply.

The TLA has since issued an apology:

This was a misstep that we regret, and it is counter to our mission to ‘unite and amplify voices…through intentional equity, diversity, and inclusion.’

Although Chuck Tingle was re-invited, he has decided to forgo the event after all, as the whole mess has made him feel unsafe. I don't blame him.

Chuck Tingle has attended many other library events, and here's a nice video of him "proving love is real," his primary mission with his writing.