Gay & Lesbian

Giovanni’s Room, the oldest gay and lesbian bookstore in the country, has had its place in history officially recognized by the state of Pennsylvania.

With its nightly readings, fair trade café, comfortable couches, and 8,000 titles largely focused on women/LGBTQ/genderqueer issues, Bluestockings has established itself as an indispensable New York cultural venue.

Last summer, Giovanni’s Room asked customers for help with a large-scale renovation. Not only did the Philadelphia bookstore get overwhelming support from both customers and authors, but their support has also been ongoing.

Daniyal Mueenuddin Wins The Story PrizeThe winner of the sixth annual Story Prize was announced on March 3 at an awards ceremony in Manhattan. Debut writer Daniyal Mueenuddin accepted the prize for his collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (Norton), a book of eight connected stories set in southern Pakistan and centering around the estate of a feudal landowner.The other two finalists were Victoria Patterson (Drift, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and Wells Tower (Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, FSG).

This week, Lambda Rising owners Deacon Maccubbin and Jim Bennett announced plans to close their remaining two stores, located in Washington, D.C., and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, by the end of the year. Maccubbin founded Lambda's first, 300-square-foot store catering to the gay and lesbian community in D.C.

Over the course of its four decades, Oscar Wilde Bookshop has played a key, though shifting, role in the LGBT literary world. The store opened for business when there were few, if any, venues where gays and lesbians could find books reflecting their lives. It grew into a meeting place, and today is a destination bookstore with an international reputation. On November 27, Oscar Wilde celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Before Tiffany Dow and Robin Cain opened A Shade of Gray Bookstore, a feminist store with an African-American slant, in Indianapolis, Indiana, last May, they visited other feminist bookstores -- Antigone Books in Tucson, Arizona, and Women and Children First in Chicago -- and researched African-American bookstores, including African-American Images, also in Chicago.

In October, central New York State became home to a new bookstore with a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (GLBT) focus, when The Lavender Inkwell Bookshoppe opened in Syracuse. Co-owners Scott Henni and John Besaw started the barely 700-square-foot store because they felt a need for one, especially in the city's Near Northeast historic district.

Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, a GLBT bookstore in Atlanta, was recently targeted by anti-gay protestors. On several consecutive Saturdays, approximately 20 protestors stood in front of the store carrying signs and a bullhorn. In response, a smaller counter-demonstration also gathered outside. Customers, neighboring businesses, and other community members have shown an "outpouring" of support, said Outwrite owner Philip Rafshoon.

In a press release issued immediately following BookExpo America and its own festive literary awards celebration, the Lambda Literary Foundation Board of Trustees announced dramatic changes regarding the future of the nonprofit organization devoted to the recognition and promotion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) writing.