Gay's The Word | The UK's Olst LGBT+ Bookshop | London, England

Contents:

• THE LTLE GAY BOOK CLUB
•  GAY'S THE WORD 
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• SAVG ‘GAY’S THE WORD’: THE ‘OPERATN TIGER’ RAID ON A LGBTQ BOOKSHOP 1984

THE LTLE GAY BOOK CLUB

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.

Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.

 GAY'S THE WORD 

Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. But to actually be lockg ey wh Ellen and hold her, shakg hands as she said, "I'm gay, " on natnal televisn and for the first time, as she has shared outloud that way publicly, was such a profoundly extraordary and timate gift to that moment that I will forever be grateful for.

Loted along Florida’s “Space Coast, ” known for s proximy to the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, Coa Village is an eclectic muny wh clothg boutiqu, gift shops, rtrants, and craft breweri; once upon a time, there even ed to be a gay bookstore and bar, but those had long sce closed when Elkavich and Burgs moved there. Petersburg,, Atlanta, Books & More, Detur, Bay Books, Kailua, & Children First, Chigo, Unabridged Books, Chigo, As a newly out gay man the early 1990s, long before datg s and apps and at the height of the AIDS crisis, gay bookstor allowed me to feel part of a muny and afford me the safety to fd my place . Louis, Book Company, Helena, JerseyHere’s the Story, Unn, TO THE TOPNew YorkRt Belt Books, Buffalo, Blutockgs Bookstore, Cafe & Activist Center, New York, I uldn’t be gay Jamai.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

”—Nile Dennis-Benn, thor of PatsyBure of General Servic—Queer Divisn, New York, The Bure of General Servic—Queer Divisn is an pennt, all-volunteer queer cultural center, bookstore, and event space loted si of The Lbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgenr Communy Center New York Cy.

SAVG ‘GAY’S THE WORD’: THE ‘OPERATN TIGER’ RAID ON A LGBTQ BOOKSHOP 1984

The Ltle Gay Shop exists to support, celebrate and igne the queer muny by creatg a larger dience of patrons and exposg lol artists to different mographics.

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.

Prottants, Catholics and Jews, enslaved people, immigrants and gay people, tra unnists and rporate el, the nservative right, activist left and many others have been monized by lud Amerins and the lears who stir moral outrage for polil ga. 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.

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. 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.