Censorship and the Dangers of Being Silenced

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt: Censorship, violations of personal freedoms, and the dangers inherent in the state’s takeover of our private lives during this pandemic will be discussed when New York Times bestselling writer and feminist activist Dr. Naomi Wolf joins The Stonewall National Museum and Archive’s Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian in conversation on Thursday, November 5, at 6:30 pm.

Wolf, embarking on a virtual tour for the North American release of her latest book Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalization of Love, has written extensively about civil liberties and violations of freedom and continues to explore these topics frequently with video essays on her social media platforms and on her website DrNaomiWolf.com.

With her book Outrages—described as “a long-overdue literary investigation into censorship and the life of a tormented trailblazer” by Oprah Magazine—Wolf chronicles the struggles and eventual triumph of John Addington Symonds, a Victorian-era poet, biographer, and critic who penned what became a foundational text on our modern understanding of human sexual orientation and LGBTQ+ legal rights.

Symonds, as Wolf highlights, was writing at a time when anything interpreted as homoerotic could be used as evidence in trials leading to harsh sentences under British law. Wolf sees a connective thread from those draconian laws of Victorian England to this moment, when marginalized people and groups are being targeted, silenced, and often jailed.

“Naomi Wolf’s Outrages is a vitally important book to discuss right now, not just because of its literary scholarship, which is superb, but because it speaks so clearly to the present societal moment. It’s a moment that is incredibly dangerous, a potential turning point,” according to Wolf’s publisher, Margo Baldwin, of Chelsea Green Publishing.

Naomi Wolf ‘s most recent books include the New York Times bestsellers Vagina, The End of America, and Give Me Liberty, in addition to the landmark bestseller The Beauty Myth. She lives in the Hudson River Valley.

This free event takes place Thursday, November 5th at 6:30pm through Zoom where registrants will have the opportunity to engage in conversation with the author.