Gay bookstore chicago
CHICAGO — For decades, local, independent bookstores have served as important community spaces for the LGBTQ+ people and remain dedicated to amplifying queer voices and topics.
Unabridged Bookstore in Lakeview, 3251 N. Broadway, which opened in 1980 and Andersonville’s Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark St., founded in 1979 are two of the oldest LGBTQ+ bookstores in the city.
In both stores’ early days, they served as some of the only spaces queer people could come together to share information with each other, build community and further their political goals.
Even though computers have made information much more available, bookstores remain an significant community resource, especially amid legislation that aims to restrict books with gender non-conforming themes in other states.
People from all over the country travel to these bookstores in search of LGBTQ+ literature. Both stores remain dedicated to amplifying LGBTQ+ voices, bringing people together and nurturing today’s social movements.
Fueled by their interest in women’s literature, co-owners Linda Bubon and Anne Christopherson opened the feminist bookstore Women & Children First in
95 LGBTQ-Owned Bookstores You Can Be Confident to Support
In honor of Pride Month, we're revisiting this story that was originally published in 2020, along with an updated directory of queer-owned bookstores by state. If you can’t create it to one of these stores in person, you can support them by shopping from their websites.
In Pride 2020, married couple Amy Elkavich and MerryBeth Burgess were getting ready to launch their independent, LGBTQ- and woman-focused bookstore, hello again books, in their Florida nook of Cocoa Village. The pair saw an opportunity—a need, as Elkavich told Oprah Daily, to “serve as an inclusive and safe territory for those who seek one,” to make their collective a more welcoming and friendly cosmos. “Visibility is everything in small towns, where books are some of the only windows to a more accepting world.”
Visibility is everything in small towns, where books are some of the only windows to a more accepting world.
Visibility allows people with marginalized identities to see themselves and their stories reflected in and worthy of art. As Oprah herself wrote: “When we see ourselves, our presence and life in the nature has been validated.” Additi
For queer people, LGBT-owned bookstores function as more than just a space to buy books, they’re informal meeting places, resources hubs, and safe spaces. This is especially true in rural or politically conservative areas where creature gay, trans, or non-gender conforming comes with a risk.
I’m privileged enough to have found solace and companionship in the haven of a queer bookshop: Still North Books & Bar in Hanover, New Hampshire. This woman-owned, queer-powered bookstore-café simultaneously functioned as my day job, community gathering hub, and artistic outlet when I needed those things most. Having a workplace where I knew sharing my pronouns and freely embracing my gender presentation would be safe was so valuable to me, and I made lifelong friends there. Queer-owned bookstores around the country propose a similar solace to their staff and patrons every diurnal. The twelve businesses on this list represent just some of the fabulous queer-owned bookstores that are working hard to safeguard free speech and provide a refuge for LGBT patrons.
Bookends in Florence, Massachusetts
Tucked into the attractive Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, this lesbian bookstore is strongly c
About Us
Owner Ed Devereux opened Unabridged Bookstore in its current location at 3251 N. Broadway in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood on Saturday, November 1, 1980, and while it has expanded since, his vision has remained the same: to promote and sell great books, focusing on male lover and lesbian titles while maintaining an excellent selection for the general public.
In an era of explosive chain store growth, the advent of Amazon.com, and a corresponding disappearance of independent media outlets, a thriving bookstore specializing in gay and woman-loving woman books as adequately as general fiction, children's, travel, and home design titles is worth celebrating.
Unabridged is known for its dedicated, knowledgeable full-time staff, (and their hand-written personal recommendations) an unequaled sale book section, and an award-winning children's section.
It's secure to say that Unabridged is the only bookstore in the Chicago area where a shopper can buy the latest issue of a gay magazine, a copy of children's classic Goodnight Moon, or newest title, and select up the latest literary fiction & non-fiction sensation, all in one prevent.