Long before B&N and Borders took notice, our community bookstores were making
GLBT books available, supporting GLBT authors and fostering good GLBT literature.
Deacon Maccubbin himself criticized gay writers who put links to Amazon and other
online sellers on their Web sites: “I wonder if they really think they would have been
published at all if not for the gay bookstores that sprang up around the country in the
1980s and 1990s. . . . In the 1970s, that literature barely existed.”
But gay bookshops do more than sell books. According to Completely Queer: The Gay
and Lesbian Encyclopedia, “gay and lesbian - and feminist/women’s - bookstores have
traditionally served as informal community centers, offering everything from space for
bulletin boards to tourist information to legal and medical referrals. Many also provide
space for meetings, performances, and readings.” The late John Preston, writing in
The Big Gay Book (1991) called gay bookstores “the one single most consequential
element in the development of gay culture. These stores have been willing to stock our
books when others wouldn't have them. They represent a distribution system for our
journals and newspapers. They are often the first stop that isolated gay men [and
lesbians] make when they get to a major city, desperate for a gay cultural fix."
Preston’s statement holds true almost two decades later. The surviving GLBT
bookshops, especially those that have coffee shops, provide a social outlet for our
community members, especially queer and questioning youth. Unlike bars,
bookstores are alcohol- and stress-free and are accessible to all segments of our
community. They provide us with hard-to-find items produced by gay-owned, small
book, audio and video publishers. In lesbian and gay bookstores we get personalized
service from knowledgeable, gay or gay-friendly staff members who know their
merchandise and who are part of our community. Many of these
shops have Web sites and/or catalog services that
makes it is as easy for us to buy from them as it is to buy
from Amazon.com.
Sadly, the rise of gay-friendly chain stores and online
GLBT books available, supporting GLBT authors and fostering good GLBT literature.
Deacon Maccubbin himself criticized gay writers who put links to Amazon and other
online sellers on their Web sites: “I wonder if they really think they would have been
published at all if not for the gay bookstores that sprang up around the country in the
1980s and 1990s. . . . In the 1970s, that literature barely existed.”
But gay bookshops do more than sell books. According to Completely Queer: The Gay
and Lesbian Encyclopedia, “gay and lesbian - and feminist/women’s - bookstores have
traditionally served as informal community centers, offering everything from space for
bulletin boards to tourist information to legal and medical referrals. Many also provide
space for meetings, performances, and readings.” The late John Preston, writing in
The Big Gay Book (1991) called gay bookstores “the one single most consequential
element in the development of gay culture. These stores have been willing to stock our
books when others wouldn't have them. They represent a distribution system for our
journals and newspapers. They are often the first stop that isolated gay men [and
lesbians] make when they get to a major city, desperate for a gay cultural fix."
Preston’s statement holds true almost two decades later. The surviving GLBT
bookshops, especially those that have coffee shops, provide a social outlet for our
community members, especially queer and questioning youth. Unlike bars,
bookstores are alcohol- and stress-free and are accessible to all segments of our
community. They provide us with hard-to-find items produced by gay-owned, small
book, audio and video publishers. In lesbian and gay bookstores we get personalized
service from knowledgeable, gay or gay-friendly staff members who know their
merchandise and who are part of our community. Many of these
shops have Web sites and/or catalog services that
makes it is as easy for us to buy from them as it is to buy
from Amazon.com.
Sadly, the rise of gay-friendly chain stores and online
| . |
www.ambiente.us JANUARY | ENERO 2010
Gay Bookstores | A Dying Breed
by Jesse Monteagudo
Like many lesbians, gay men, bisexuals or transgender people, I came out of the
closet with the help of gay books and gay bookstores. Though we didn’t have a gay
bookstore in Miami when I came out in the early 1970s, I took advantage of the mail
order services provided by the newly-established bookshops. My first visit to the Oscar
Wilde Bookshop in Greenwich Village (1977) was like a religious pilgrimage; an
experience that I repeated two years later when I first visited Lambda Rising Bookstore
in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. Both Oscar Wilde and Lambda Rising were part
of a chain of independent bookshops that dotted the gay ghettoes of North America:
Glad Day in Boston and Toronto, Giovanni’s Room in Philadelphia, Outwrite in Atlanta,
A Different Light in West Hollywood and San Francisco, Little Sister’s in Vancouver and,
of course, Lambda Passages in Miami.
Sadly, the quantity and quality of exclusively gay bookstores have declined during the
first decade of the 21st Century. In 2009 the Oscar Wilde Bookshop drew its last
breath; and just last month Deacon Maccubbin, the founder and still co-owner of
Lambda Rising Bookstore, announced plans to close his stores in Washington, D.C.
and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Maccubbin’s reasons are understandable: he and
Jim Bennett, his
partner and co-owner, want to retire after
35 years in the book business. But their
departure will leave a gap in our community
that may never be filled.
Gay Bookstores | A Dying Breed
by Jesse Monteagudo
Like many lesbians, gay men, bisexuals or transgender people, I came out of the
closet with the help of gay books and gay bookstores. Though we didn’t have a gay
bookstore in Miami when I came out in the early 1970s, I took advantage of the mail
order services provided by the newly-established bookshops. My first visit to the Oscar
Wilde Bookshop in Greenwich Village (1977) was like a religious pilgrimage; an
experience that I repeated two years later when I first visited Lambda Rising Bookstore
in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. Both Oscar Wilde and Lambda Rising were part
of a chain of independent bookshops that dotted the gay ghettoes of North America:
Glad Day in Boston and Toronto, Giovanni’s Room in Philadelphia, Outwrite in Atlanta,
A Different Light in West Hollywood and San Francisco, Little Sister’s in Vancouver and,
of course, Lambda Passages in Miami.
Sadly, the quantity and quality of exclusively gay bookstores have declined during the
first decade of the 21st Century. In 2009 the Oscar Wilde Bookshop drew its last
breath; and just last month Deacon Maccubbin, the founder and still co-owner of
Lambda Rising Bookstore, announced plans to close his stores in Washington, D.C.
and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Maccubbin’s reasons are understandable: he and
Jim Bennett, his
partner and co-owner, want to retire after
35 years in the book business. But their
departure will leave a gap in our community
that may never be filled.
| . |
| . |
The demise of Oscar
Wilde and Lambda
Rising bookstores
(among others) leave
behind only a handful of
exclusively GLBT
bookstores, including
Giovanni’s Room,
Outwrite, Little Sister’s
and Lambda Passages,
all teetering on the edge
of insolvency. These
and other stores can not
compete with major
chain stores like Barnes
& Noble or Borders, or
mail order houses like
Amazon.com. Though
the existence of a GLBT
book section in a major
chain store is of course
a step forward for our
community, it cannot
take the place of our
small, independently-
owned, queer
bookshops.
Wilde and Lambda
Rising bookstores
(among others) leave
behind only a handful of
exclusively GLBT
bookstores, including
Giovanni’s Room,
Outwrite, Little Sister’s
and Lambda Passages,
all teetering on the edge
of insolvency. These
and other stores can not
compete with major
chain stores like Barnes
& Noble or Borders, or
mail order houses like
Amazon.com. Though
the existence of a GLBT
book section in a major
chain store is of course
a step forward for our
community, it cannot
take the place of our
small, independently-
owned, queer
bookshops.
| . |
sellers has been fatal to gay bookshops everywhere. Many surviving shops have had
to diversify in order to survive, by selling or renting DVDs, t-shirts, greeting cards and
jewelry along with books and magazines. Independent gay bookstores, like other
"Mom and Mom" or "Pop and Pop" businesses, can only thrive by providing their
customers with products and services that the major chains can't or won't provide --
such as adult videos or DVDs that are not available elsewhere. Only that - and a loyal
customer base - will allow our few remaining bookshops to live long and prosper.
Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and gay book lover who lives in South Florida
with his life partner. You may reach him at jessemonteagudo@aol.com
CLICK HERE for more Jesse Monteagudo
Copyright 2010|Ambiente. Do not reproduce without prior authorization.
to diversify in order to survive, by selling or renting DVDs, t-shirts, greeting cards and
jewelry along with books and magazines. Independent gay bookstores, like other
"Mom and Mom" or "Pop and Pop" businesses, can only thrive by providing their
customers with products and services that the major chains can't or won't provide --
such as adult videos or DVDs that are not available elsewhere. Only that - and a loyal
customer base - will allow our few remaining bookshops to live long and prosper.
Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer and gay book lover who lives in South Florida
with his life partner. You may reach him at jessemonteagudo@aol.com
CLICK HERE for more Jesse Monteagudo
Copyright 2010|Ambiente. Do not reproduce without prior authorization.
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