Gay book stores near me
Circus of Books was a bookstore and homosexual pornography shop owned by Karen and Barry Mason, with locations in West Hollywood and Silver lake. As a notable Los Angeles gay cruising see, place of refuge during the AIDS crisis, and mom-and-pop porn shop fighting federal obscenity charges, both locations are now considered significant sites of Los Angeles' gay history.
This store is in the heart of what was once West Hollywood’s “Vaseline Alley,” a parking lot and street where gay men cruised for sex.
“There was a lot of activity in the alley behind our store,” Mason said. “People would meet each other here, and even though we, as owners, kept out of it, it was definitely a pickup spot. I think when Circus of Books opened, this was such a special place for people who were gay or were trying to come out or feel comfortable.”
A documentary on the store, filmed by the Masons' daughter Rachel Mason, was released in 2019.
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For queer people, LGBT-owned bookstores function as more than just a space to buy books, they’re informal meeting places, resources hubs, and safe spaces. This is especially true in rural or politically conservative areas where entity gay, trans, or non-gender conforming comes with a risk.
I’m prosperous enough to have found solace and companionship in the haven of a queer bookshop: Still North Books & Bar in Hanover, New Hampshire. This woman-owned, queer-powered bookstore-café simultaneously functioned as my day job, community gathering hub, and artistic outlet when I needed those things most. Having a workplace where I knew sharing my pronouns and freely embracing my gender presentation would be safe was so valuable to me, and I made lifelong friends there. Queer-owned bookstores around the country propose a similar solace to their staff and patrons every afternoon. The twelve businesses on this list represent just some of the fabulous queer-owned bookstores that are working hard to preserve free speech and provide a refuge for LGBT patrons.
Bookends in Florence, Massachusetts
Tucked into the attractive Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, this lesbian bookstore is strongly c
The Ultimate Guide to Lgbtq+ Literature in Philadelphia
From queer-owned bookstores and book clubs to a reading list of classic and modern works, here are some of the places and spaces that make Philadelphia one of the foremost cities in America to be queer and bookish.
Get a compelling drawn-out read and must-have lifestyle tips in your inbox every Sunday morning — great with coffee!
Giovanni’s Room, just one of Philly’s many resources for gender non-conforming literature. / Photo by C. Benner, courtesy of Visit Philadelphia
To be homosexual today is to dwell at the center of a contradiction: perhaps at no point in history have LGBTQIA+ people experienced such widespread social acceptance and cultural prominence and yet perhaps at no point in recent memory have we also been the target of such intense legal and cultural attacks, from laws that would criminalize our choices, to attacks on our vital healthcare, and bans of books that inform our stories. In 2023 alone, lawmakers proposed more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills and more than 300 trans people (mostly transitioned women of color) were murdered.
To be queer in Philadelphia is also to be part of both a unique, long lineage of activism, jo