Today we found an excellent article that we thought relevant to the interests of our followers and readers.
An Official Director of 53 Queer Owned Bookstores in the U.S.
“LGBTQ-owned bookstores have been around for decades. Founded in 1973 in the City of Brotherly Love, Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room—honoring James Baldwin’s queer classic—is perhaps the oldest surviving LGBTQ and feminist bookstore in America. Charis Books and More, in Decatur, Georgia, was launched a year later. A Room of One’s Own has been a fixture in downtown Madison, Wisconsin since 1975, and Chicago’s Women and Children First was started in 1979 by two women who fell in love as students at the University of Illinois.
“These stores are more than shops to browse for books; they are hubs for both entertainment and enlightenment, meeting grounds for hearts and minds. They are, above all, vital community spaces.”
-Michelle Hart, “53 LGBTQ-Owned Bookstores You Can Be Proud to Support, published June 22, 2021
This awesome list includes 53 bookstores in 23 states across the USA. I don’t know about Ya’ll but I can’t WAIT to check them out. The link has them sorted by state; here’s a list of all of them, alphabetical.
- 1977 Books (Birmingham, Alabama)
- All She Wrote (Somerville, Massachusetts)
- Another Read Through (Portland, Oregon)
- Antigone Books (Tuscon, Arizona)
- Astoria Bookshop (Queens, New York)
- Beausoliel Books (Lafayette, Louisiana)
- Big Blue Marble Books (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Black Garnet Books (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
- Bluestockings Bookstore (New York, New York)
- Bookish (Atlanta, Georgia)
- BookWoman (Austin, Texas)
- Burdock Book Collective (Montgomery, Alabama)
- Bureau of General Services – Queer Division (New York, New York)
- Charis Books and More (Decatur, Georgia)
- Dog Ear Books (Russellville, Arkansas)
- Dog Eared Books (San Francisco, California)
- East End Books (Provincetown, Massachusetts)
- Firestorm Books and Coffee (Asheville, North Carolina)
- Foggy Pines Books (Boone, North Carolina)
- Hello Again (Cocoa Village, Florida)
- Here’s the Story (Union, New Jersey)
- The Irreverent Bookworm (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
- Kismet Books (Verona, Wisconsin)
- King’s Books (Tacoma, Washington)
- Kona Bay Books (Kailua, Hawaii)
- Kramers (Washington DC)
- Lavender Library (Sacramento, California)
- Left Bank Books (St. Louis, Missouri)
- Left Bank Books (Seattle, Washington)
- Lit. on Fire Books (Peoria, Illinois)
- Loyalty Bookstores (Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington DC)
- Montana Book Company (Helena, Montana)
- Omnivore Books on Food (San Francisco, California)
- One Grand Books (Narrowsburg, New York)
- Philly AIDs Thrift at Giovanni’s Room (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Outwords Books (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- Rakestraw Books (Danville, California)
- Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse (Baltimore, Maryland)
- The Ripped Bodice (Los Angeles, California)
- Rofhiwa Book Cafe (Durham, North Carolina)
- A Room of One’s Own (Madison, Wisconsin)
- Rust Belt Books (Buffalo, New York)
- The Salt Eaters (Inglewood, California)
- A Seat at the Table (Elk Grove, California)
- Tombolo Books (St. Petersburg, California)
- Tubby and Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop (New Orleans, Louisiana)
- Unabridged Books (Chicago, Illinois)
- Under the Umbrella (Salt Lake City, Utah)
- Village Books (Bellingham, Washington)
- Violet Valley (Water Valley, Mississippi)
- W. Whitman Books (Middleburgh, New York)
- Women and Children First (Chicago, Illinois)
- Womencrafts (Provincetown, Massachusetts)