Gay’s The Word, one of the last remag brick-and-mortar LGBT+ bookshops the world, was vandalised early Sunday morng. The inic London bookshop has rid Kg’s Cross the last forty years and was the meetg place for the Lbians and Gays Support The Mers, a 1980s LGBT+ activist group that was portrayed the 2014 film Pri.
Contents:
- GAY'S THE WORD
- SAVG ‘GAY’S THE WORD’: THE ‘OPERATN TIGER’ RAID ON A LGBTQ BOOKSHOP 1984
- “GAY IS GOOD”: HEARTFELT MSAG FOUND THE BASEMENT OF RADIL KG’S CROSS BOOKSHOP
- INIC GAY BOOKSHOP LONDON VANDALISED
- FD HOTELS GAY'S THE WORD BOOKSHOP
GAY'S THE WORD
Gay's The Word, the olst LGBT bookshop the UK, loted at 66 Marchmont St, London, England, WC1N 1AB. Fd Out More. * gay bookshop kings cross *
Readg is fundamental: si Bra’s queer bookshop boom | Dazedâ¬…ï¸ Left Arrow*ï¸âƒ£ Asteriskâ StarOptn Slirsâœ‰ï¸ MailExGay’s The WordCourty of Gay’s The WordAlim Kheraj prents a gui to the UK’s bounty of LGBTQ+ bookshops – om London’s Gay’s The Word and Glasgow’s Category Is Books, to Cardiff’s Paned o Gê and Belfast’s Paperxclips Books.
Queer spac have also diversified, too: whereas throughout the 00s most LGBTQ+ venu were nightlife-specific, terg primarily to an dience of whe cis gay men, the current landspe is far more clive, providg spac for people of lour, trans people, lbians, and those who are sober. From that moment beme a muny hub for the pal’s LGBTQ+ muny, hostg polil and activist groups such as the Gay Black Group, the Lbian Discsn Group (which still meets at the shop) and, 1983, Lbian and Gays Support the Mers – ma famo the 2014 film Pri. Along wh specific sectns dited to gay, lbian, trans and YA fictn, there are shelv foced on history, tobgraphy and memoir, queer theory, and a rather brilliant send-hand sectn, where you n often fd rare and out-of-prt LGBTQ+ books.
Along wh lks to the Gay Liberatn Front, the not-for-prof bookshop Kg’s Cross was the birthplace of the London Lbian and Gay Swchboard (now known simply as the chary Swchboard), which provid a val lifele to queer people throughout the 70s, and was stmental sharg rmatn about the HIV/AIDS crisis the 80s and 90s. As one of the longt-nng radil bookshops the UK, Homans also has a history of stockg LGBTQ+ lerature, and like Gay’s The Word, the shop was raid by HM Ctoms and Excise 1984.
SAVG ‘GAY’S THE WORD’: THE ‘OPERATN TIGER’ RAID ON A LGBTQ BOOKSHOP 1984
Alim Kheraj prents a gui to the UK’s bounty of LGBTQ+ bookshops – om London’s Gay’s The Word and Glasgow’s Category Is Books, to Cardiff’s Paned o Gê and Belfast’s Paperxclips Books * gay bookshop kings cross *
Sharg their profs wh var LGBTQ+ chari, the Gay Pri Shop, loted Manchter’s Northern Quarter, is a place to pick up all your Pri paraphernalia, along wh fancy drs, stickers, toys, accsori and ratns.
2 In April 1984, officers om Ctoms and Excise raid Gay’s the Word, a small pennt bookshop Marchmont Street, Bloomsbury, as well as the hom of two of s directors, and seized thoands of imported books a move they lled Operatn Tiger.
“GAY IS GOOD”: HEARTFELT MSAG FOUND THE BASEMENT OF RADIL KG’S CROSS BOOKSHOP
Gay liberatn graffi has been disvered the basement of Homans Bookshop Kg’s Cross. * gay bookshop kings cross *
This happened durg a perd of right-wg ernment followg Margaret Thatcher’s electn victory 1979 and heightened homophobia om queerbashers the street, the media, polil and relig lears and the thori.
In 1979, Ernt Hole and a small group of iends opened Gay’s the Word bookshop to sell gay and femist lerature at 66 Marchmont Street, London WC1, premis still occupi today. It took s name om the Ivor Novello mil Gay’s the Word and grew out of a portable llectn of books that Hole rried to different venu and events, fund by himself and Peter Dorey who had jt received a small herance. At the time, LGBT+ books were not generally available Brish bookshops but a few radil booksellers stocked some tl, and Gay News, a fortnightly newspaper found by a llective of activists June 1972, had an extensive mail-orr list.
INIC GAY BOOKSHOP LONDON VANDALISED
* gay bookshop kings cross *
Onlywomen Prs had started publishg the UK 1974 and the muny’s publishers were to blossom the 1980s wh the foundg of Gay Men’s Prs and Brilliance Books. Gay’s the Word not only stocked s polics on s shelv, also provid s premis for other lbian and gay polil and muny purpos: was home to the Lbian Discsn Group, the Gay Men’s Disabled Group, the Gay Black Group, and for many years the Lbian and Gay Pri Commtee held s meetgs there. Hole was not alone; lbian and gay bookstor were beg opened around the world wh siar polil and muny motiv and as part of a growg cultural surge of wrg and publishg.
Gvanni’s Room bookstore, named after Jam Baldw’s classic gay novel, was opened Philalphia 1973 by three members of Gay Activists Alliance and was bought for $500 three years later by Ed Hermance. Norman Lrilla and Gee Leigh opened A Different Light bookstore, named after Elizabeth Lynn’s gay science fictn novel, Los Angel 1979, wh further stor openg New York and San Francis. In 1980 and 1981, Gay’s the Word and Edburgh’s First of May radil bookshop supported the Lavenr Books llective, which ran LGBT+ bookstalls the cy and at nferenc and march around the UK.
FD HOTELS GAY'S THE WORD BOOKSHOP
In the same year that Gay’s the Word opened on Marchmont Street, Margaret Thatcher me to power leadg a radil right-wg ernment that would transform Brish polics the 1980s.