At Calgary Pride a few weeks ago, I attended the Calgary Institute for the Humanities’ 7th Annual LGBTQ2S+ Lecture, presented by Dr. Kenneth Kidd, about government book bans. Shelf Life Books was on-site, selling the four graphic novels that are currently in the crosshairs of the Government of Alberta. So, I bought one.
Sit down—this is one of the best books I have ever read—and the best graphic novel to date! Alison Bechdel’s autobiographical story about discovering her lesbianism as well as her father’s closeted homosexuality blew me away. The novel’s title is the nickname for the family’s multi-generational funeral home business in the claustrophobic small town of Beech Creek, Pennsylvania.
I can’t overstate how much I loved this smart, smart book. But I was late to the party…
Fun Home came out in 2006 to rave reviews in many places. Time Magazine called it a masterpiece and the #1 book of that year. The New York Times Book Review stated: “Fun Home must be the most ingeniously compact, hyperverbose, example of autobiography to have been produced..A pioneering work.”
In the ensuing years, Fun Home became a target of U.S. social conservatives, who determined that it was pornographic and offensive. However, some critics admitted that their main critique was that it “promoted a gay and lesbian lifestyle.”
Now I have a quibble. The lesbian sex that is present in the comic is very tame, not arousing. The skin shown in Bechdel’s drawing is much less than what one sees on mainstream television. In my memory, high school locker room graffiti typically features more explicit, hand-drawn content. So, from my perspective, the movement to ban Fun Home is homophobic at its core, hiding behind a fig leaf of pornography.
However, I am grateful for the controversy, because Fun Home wasn’t on my radar before this. Read it! Fun Home is a literary, courageous, and profound work—highly recommended by Kevin Allen and the Calgary Gay History Project.
Note: Fun Home has become a bestseller again, and there is a long wait for it at the Calgary Public Library…
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Calgary Gay History 