GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

JUNE 21, 1996

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BOOKS

Pride month is also Lesbian and Gay Book Month

by Paul Zeitzew

The birth of the gay and lesbian movement began in New York City on June 28 and 29, 1969, when a bar in Greenwich Village called the Stonewall Inn was raided by New York City police. For the first time in history, gays and lesbians fought back. In the 27 years since that historic occasion, we have been commemorating the event with Pride celebrations throughout the month of June. Each year Pride gets bigger, spreads to more and more cities, with more and more men and women taking part. Each year new events are added to this great month in lesbian and gay history.

Five years ago a consortium of publishers who specialize in writings by and about gays and lesbians got together to form Triangle Publishing, and decided to make June "Lesbian and Gay Book Month." As Pride has grown, so has this particular event in book stores across the country.

The publishers and distributors of gay and lesbian material are now numerous. Not so twenty years ago. In the early 1970s three people had the foresight to see that, not only was there a need for lesbian and gay publications, but that they would sell. Barbara Grier and her lover Donna McBride founded Naiad Press (naiad is Greek for "water nymph"). Their purpose was to publish books of interest to lesbians. Sasha Alyson formed Alyson Press to publish books for both gay men and lesbi-

ans.

Naiad is still under the same ownership. Barbara Grier is known to at least

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one of her male customers as "The Head Dyke of America." He commented, "If Barbara recommends [a book], it has to be good and it has to sell." Naiad publishes 24 new books a year. Along with the new books, they print and stock over 200 titles at any given time. Their books include poetry, mystery, erotica, love stories, and education, and represent some of the top women authors in the world.

Dozens of "small" presses followed suit. Some specialize in erotica, some in S & M, others in leather, others just in general gay and lesbian topics. Two years ago, Doubleday, one of the largest mainstream publishers, took a tongue in cheek attitude and published a humorous book called The Unofficial Gay Manual. It was a satire on everything a gay man should own, wear and say. It caught on and sold thousands of copies. Since then, many mainstream publishing houses are jumping on the gay and lesbian bandwagon, delivering new merchandise specifically aimed at that audi-

ence.

In Cleveland, videos, books, and gifts geared towards the gay and lesbian community are carried at Body Language at West 115th and Lorain and at Gifts of Athena at 2199 Lee Rd. Both stores complement each other in stock. Gifts carries one section of men's books while their main emphasis is for women. Body Language, on the other hand, has one section for women with the rest of the stock being devoted primarily to men's tastes.

In Columbus, An Open Book at 749 North High St., carries a wide range of lesbian and gay material, and in Cincinnati, Crazy Ladies Bookstore at 4039 Hamilton Ave. and the Pink Pyramid at 36-A West Court are the places to shop for lesbigay books and gifts.

During lesbian and gay book month, all of the above mentioned stores will be having special sales and events. Body Language is offering 20 percent off on hard covers and 10 percent off on paperbacks. Recently 150 new titles arrived to augment their already large stock. Gifts of Athena, An Open Book, and Crazy Ladies have several readings and author book signings planned to celebrate gay and lesbian book month. For more information on personal appearances, call the store in your

area:.

Gifts of Athena: 216-371-1937 Body Language: 216-251-3330 An Open Book: 614-291-0080

Crazy Ladies Bookstore: 513-541-4198 Pink Pyramid: 513-621-7465

In addition, Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores throughout the state have large gay and lesbian sections.

Paul Zeitzew is the owner of Body Language.

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