Lambda Rising was an

LGBT ' 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 ...

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 ...

that operated from 1974 to 2010 in Washington, D.C. Founded by Deacon Maccubbin in 1974 with 250 titles, it was known for its wide selection of books, ranging from queer theory and religion to

erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use a ...

, as well as DVDs, music CDs and gifts.Sue Levin, ''In the Pink: The Making of Successful Gay- and Lesbian-Owned Businesses'', Haworth Press, 1999. ; Frank Muzzy, ''Gay and Lesbian Washington D.C.'', Arcadia Publishing, 2005. The bookstore originally was located in at 1724 20th Street NW. It moved to a retail space at 2001 S Street NW in 1979 and, in 1984, moved to a space at 1625 Connecticut Ave NW

Connecticut Avenue Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was one ...

Dupont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW ...

, one of Washington's neighborhoods popular among the gay and lesbian community. A second store in Baltimore, Maryland, believed by the ''Baltimore Sun'' to be the only gay bookstore in Maryland, opened in 1984 and closed in the spring of 2008. Film director

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

declared that store's closing "very, very sad". Waters, a long-time customer, said the Baltimore shop was "a seriously good bookshop, with the added touch of porno...I always went in there to find books that I didn't know about and couldn't find anywhere else." A third store in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware opened in 1991 and closed in December 2009. A fourth store in Norfolk, Virginia opened in 1996 and closed in June 2007. Deacon maccubbin

In February 1975, Lambda Rising ran the world's first gay-oriented television commercial; it aired on

WRC WRC may refer to: Broadcasting stations * WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States * Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area: ** WTEM, a radio station (980 AM) l ...

(owned by NBC) and WUSA (TV), WTOP (the local CBS affiliate, now WUSA). Also in 1975, Lambda Rising organized Gay Pride Day, the forerunner to Capital Pride, Washington's first annual gay pride celebration, and continued to host the event for the next four years and then turned it over to a non-profit organization. To support LGBT literature, Lambda Rising created the ''Lambda Book Report'' in 1987 and the annual

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

, also known as "the Lammys", in 1989. In 1996, Lambda Rising turned those projects over to the new non-profit Lambda Literary Foundation. In February 2003, Lambda Rising bought the

Oscar Wilde Bookshop The Oscar Wilde Bookshop was a bookstore located in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood that focused on LGBT works. It was founded by Craig Rodwell on November 24, 1967, as the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop. Initially located at 291 Mer ...

, the country's first gay and lesbian bookstore, to prevent it from closing. The store was founded by

Craig Rodwell Craig L. Rodwell (October 31, 1940 – June 18, 1993) was an American gay rights activist known for founding the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop on November 24, 1967, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors, and as the prime mover ...

in 1967 at 291 Mercer Street in Greenwich Village, later moving to 15

Christopher Street Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th Street west of Sixth Avenue. It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher St ...

, opposite

Gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

Street in Manhattan. After working with the New York City staff for three years and getting the store on solid financial footing, Lambda Rising sold the store to the long-time manager in order to return the store to local control.Karen Schechner, "A Greenwich Village Landmark Turns 40", ''Book Sense'', October 10, 2007
; "Lambda Rising Bookstores Announce Sale of Oscar Wilde Bookshop", ''Echelon Magazine'', March/April 2006. In December 2009, Maccubbin announced that Lambda Rising's two stores would close by January 2010. In his statement, Maccubbin said Facing competition with online book stores, the store closed its doors on December 31, 2010. It was part of a spate of LGBT

brick and mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...

bookstores closures in the early 21st century, including the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York and A Different Light in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

References

External links

Lambda Literary Foundation
sponsor of the annual

s
"Places in Our History: 1724 20th St NW - The Community Building"
by the Rainbow History Project {{Coord, 38.912, -77.0444, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-DC Independent bookstores of the United States Buildings and structures in Washington, D.C. Dupont Circle LGBT bookstores LGBT culture in Washington, D.C. LGBT history in the United States Bookstores established in the 20th century American companies established in 1974 Retail companies established in 1974 Retail companies disestablished in 2010 1974 establishments in Washington, D.C. 2010 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. Defunct companies based in Washington, D.C. Defunct retail companies of the United States