It's a Betiful Day the Gayborhood | Where Y'at New Orleans

Contents:

• GAY NEW ORLEANS
• IT'S A BETIFUL DAY THE GAYBORHOOD

GAY NEW ORLEANS

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the first gay bookstore the Uned Stat, New York’s Osr Wil Memorial Bookshop.

Founr Craig Rodwell served as the vice print of New York’s chapter of the Mattache Society, an early homophile anizatn, but longed to nnect more directly wh everyday gay men and lbians the cy. Upon openg 1967, his storeont served as the first explicly gay public meetg space outsi of bars and bathho, and quickly beme a popular hub for the emergg culture of what would soon flower to the gay liberatn movement. After the Stonewall Rebelln of 1969, gay bookstor began appearg across North Ameri ci wh substantial gay populatns.

Both LGBTQ and femist bookstor—servg overlappg but distct nstuenci—gradually emerged creasg numbers, cludg a handful the South: Fbourg Marigny Art and Books opened s doors 1978, servg as a facto muny center for the New Orleans gay muny, while Whe Rabb appeared Greensboro, North Carola 1983 and went on to open addnal lotns Raleigh and Charlotte.

IT'S A BETIFUL DAY THE GAYBORHOOD

Yet, even as LGBTQ polil movements gaed momentum and muni garnered creased visibily, the bookstor would largely succumb—not to homophobia, but to enomic and technologil chang. The advent of and onle book sal has renred survival for any small pennt bookstore a challenge—and for lbian femist and gay shops wh relatively small target dienc, few managed to survive, even as LGBTQ publishg ntued to expand. A Hoton Chronicle article, reportg on the 2002 mise of the Crossroads Market, a gay bookstore and ffee shop, aptly ptured the paradox: “Although there are probably more gay- and lbian-themed books available now than at any other pot history, ’s a bad time for stor that sell them exclively.

Outwre Bookstore and Coffeehoe (1993-2012) operated at the center of Midtown, Atlanta’s gayt neighborhood.