Selling books and promoting human rights – you know what they say, get you a bookshop that can do both. (They don’t actually say that.) But if they did, they’d surely be talking about Gay’s The Word, the iconic London bookshop that’s been at the heart of the capital’s LGBT+ rights movement since opening on January 17, 1979.
This LGBT+ History Month, head to Gay’s The Word to take a step into the past at the still-thriving icon of London’s queer literary history. Founded by LGBT+ socialist group Gay Icebreakers, and in particular activist Ernest Hole, Gay’s The Word was inspired by similar bookshops in New York, with Hole keen to open one in the capital.
Gay’s The Word is one of only very few dedicated LGBT+ bookshop in England. In fact, it was the ONLY dedicated LGBT+ bookshop in England until York’s The Portal Bookshop opened in 2019.
Named after the Ivor Novello musical, Gay’s The Word is part bookshop, part community space, and wholly beloved. Now under the guidance of longstanding manager Jim MacSweeney with the help of deputy manger Uli Lenart and booksellers Erica Gillingham, Brooke Palmieri, and Jem Nash, the shop remains a mainstay of both the literary and LGBT+ worlds.
In the past…
It hasn’t been a smooth ride, mind you. For starters, the bookshop had to overcome opposition from Camden Council to open in the first place, with key support coming from then-councillor Ken Livingstone. Once the doors were open, the necessity of importing titles from the USA (given the UK’s dearth of LGBT publishers) attracted the ire of HM Customs and Excise. Being a rather prudish lot, they assumed the shop to be a porn store and raided it in 1984, seizing a big swathe of stock in the process.
Gay’s The Word was then slapped with a charge of “conspiracy to import indecent books”, motivated in part by outright homophobia, which brought the case to the House of Commons. Thankfully, with the support of literary giants such as Gore Vidal, the bookshop won their case. In years since, the shop has stood strong in the face of ever-increasing rents and the rise of online booksellers, even as other LGBT+ spaces around the country have shuttered.
Even sporadic acts of vandalism haven’t dampened their spirits, as a groundswell of community support after a 2018 window smashing can attest. Each time, they simply sweep up, clean up, and press on with their business.
The bookshop was quickly established as an influential space for members of the LGBT+ community to meet, attracting everyone from TV stars to hesitant teenagers seeking advice on coming out. Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners held their first meetings in Gay’s The Word before outgrowing the space, with the group and bookshop immortalised in the film Pride. Today, a blue plaque resides on the wall above the shop, commemorating the group’s co-founder and noted gay rights activist, Mark Ashton. It’s an indelible reminder of the bookshop’s influential history.
Gay’s The Word today
An ever-expanding, carefully curated stock is the hallmark of Gay’s The Word – “from the profound to the frivolous, from the liberating to the indulgent” as they put it. And honestly, if you don’t like your literature frivolous and liberating, then you simply haven’t lived.
Offerings on the shelves range across history, politics, travel, poetry, fiction, and more, with authors and biographers pitching up for frequent readings and signings. Alan Hollinghurst, Sarah Waters, Armistead Maupin, Alison Bechdel, and Jake Arnott are just a handful of the names who’ve read their work to a packed house here.
As important as it is as a bookshop – and books on everything from queer theory to advice about coming out do make it a vital outpost – Gay’s The Word is arguably more beloved as a safe, supportive space for members of the LGBT+ community. Though the likes of LGSM and the Icebreakers have come and gone, Gay’s The Word still hosts regular meetings, such as the long-running Lesbian Discussion Group and support group TransLondon.
But more than that, Gay’s The Word is the sort of welcoming place where staff are just happy to have a chat with anyone feeling scared, lost, confused, jubilant, or inquisitive. Customers are able to share stories and tears with staff, having found a friendly ear to listen to their concerns and questions. It’s an incredibly important space for community and individuals alike.
Impressively curated, ever-important, and relentlessly inclusive: Gay’s The Word is an absolute treasure.