Circus of Books, also known as Chi Chi LaRue's Circus, is a

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

and

gay pornography Gay pornography is the representation of sexual activity between males. Its primary goal is sexual arousal in its audience. Softcore gay pornography also exists; it at one time constituted the genre, and may be produced as beefcake pornogra ...

shop in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

. It was established in the 1960s as "Book Circus", and in the past also had branches in the

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

neighborhoods of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. As notable Los Angeles gay cruising spots of the late 20th Century, both the West Hollywood and Silver Lake locations are now considered important sites of Los Angeles'

gay history Societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships have varied over time and place, from requiring all males to engage in same-sex relationships to casual integration, through acceptance, to seeing the practice as a minor sin, repressing it throu ...

History

The store opened at 8230 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood as Book Circus. In 1982, when the owner was having financial problems, it was taken over by Barry Mason, a former special effects engineer and inventor, and his wife Karen, a former journalist, who had been working as distributors for

Larry Flynt Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. (; November 1, 1942 – February 10, 2021) was an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as ''Hustler'', pornographic videos, and three por ...

's publications. They renamed it Circus of Books and opened the Silver Lake branch. In addition to gay porn and adult toys, the store stocked back-list paperbacks, novels by

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

writers,

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

books, Bibles, and foreign newspapers. In the 1980s, after the election of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

as president and especially after the publication of the

Meese Report The Meese Report (named for Edwin Meese), officially the ''Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography'', is the result of an investigation into pornography ordered by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. It was published in July 198 ...

, law enforcement cracked down on pornography. Circus of Books was caught in an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

and Barry Mason was prosecuted; his lawyer mounted a

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

defence and he was let off after a guilty plea by the corporation. In 1989 the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

ordered that the West Hollywood store close from 2 AM to 6 AM after complaints that it attracted hustlers. A third branch in

was forced to close in the 1990s because it was too close to an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. Business declined in the 21st century. The Silver Lake branch closed on August 8, 2016. (A

marijuana dispensary A cannabis shop, cannabis dispensary, or cannabis cooperative, is a location at which cannabis is sold for Cannabis (drug), recreational or Medical cannabis, medical use. In the Netherlands these are called Coffeeshop (Netherlands), coffeeshops. ...

occupies the former space, although the original sign remains.) The West Hollywood location closed on February 9, 2019, with the owners' daughter

Rachel Mason Rachel Mason is an American filmmaker whose work includes performance art, music, films and multimedia projects. Early life and education Mason was born in Los Angeles, California, to Karen and Barry Mason. She has an older brother, Micah, and ...

, an artist, musician, and filmmaker, stating that the easy accessibility of gay pornography and cruising apps like

Grindr Grindr () is a location-based social networking and online dating application targeted towards members of the gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009 an ...

replaced the need for a spot like Circus of Books. The West Hollywood location reopened on January 18, 2020 as Chi Chi LaRue's Circus, with porn director and drag queen

Chi Chi LaRue Larry David Paciotti (born November 8, 1959) is an American director of pornographic films. He appears as the drag-diva persona Chi Chi LaRue (), and has been credited as director under the names "Lawrence David" and "Taylor Hudson". Career ...

acquiring the store from the Masons, although unlike the original Circus of Books the reopened store has more upscale product offerings.

Documentary film

The

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

'' Circus of Books'', directed by

, had its world premiere at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

on April 26, 2019. It was the opening night gala presentation at the 2019

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

film festival. As of April 2020, the film was streamed by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

References

{{reflist Bookstores in California Buildings and structures in West Hollywood, California Independent bookstores of the United States LGBT culture in Los Angeles 1987 establishments in California LGBT bookstores