Savg ‘Gay’s the Word’: The ‘Operatn Tiger’ Raid on a LGBTQ Bookshop 1984 – Brewmate: A Bold Blend of News and Ias

Contents:

• WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE
• SAVG ‘GAY’S THE WORD’: THE ‘OPERATN TIGER’ RAID ON A LGBTQ BOOKSHOP 1984
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS BIRMGHAM
•  GAY'S THE WORD 

WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

This month they’ll be hostg ‘Gay Wr: Reprentatn, Love and Prejudice Young Adult Lerature’ wh William Hsey and Darren Charlton nversatn wh Hamza Jahanzeb. Image source, John Jenner/Atralian Lbian and Gay ArchivImage ptn, Wayne Harrison and L McDonald opened their first shop 1982"People have a sense of ownership when they e here, " says L McDonald. "Wayne and I -found The Bookshop bee we travelled to New York and we noticed that gay books were beg advertised all of the gay prs and we thought: 'No-one's dog that at home.

'"So we ntacted St Mart's Prs [ New York] and we bought a uple of books volume, shipped them back to Atralia and advertised them Campaign [a gay Atralian newspaper at the time].

"Through the 1980s, The Bookshop worked wh the Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras, sellg tickets to the para om s upstairs office, and wh Aids Council of New South Wal (ACON), promotg fundraisg events and ralli. "I had a mother ll om north Queensland, sayg that she thought her son might be gay and she wanted to know how to talk to him about and make him feel safe, bee his dad might not be as OK wh , " he ptn, LGBT rights prott"It's those kds of moments that get me all emotnal and thankful. 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.

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

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.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS BIRMGHAM

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. 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.

 GAY'S THE WORD 

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.

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. It was a difficult time for Brish LGBT+ people: queerbashg and murrs were rife, as scribed a Campaign for Homosexual Equaly (CHE) report entled Attacks on Gay People. Incints clud police cursns to clubs and snas, for example Monroe’s Northampton, 6 and several raids on the Gemi Hudrsfield, which was allied wh so-lled ‘fishg trips’ for spected homosexuals through people’s private addrs books and a no-go area of the town.