“The phrase ‘mission accomplished’ has gotten a bad rap in recent years, but in this case, it certainly applies. When we set out to establish Lambda Rising in 1974, it was intended as a demonstration of the demand for gay and lesbian literature. We thought if we could show that there was a demand for our literature, that bookstores could be profitable selling it, we could encourage the writing and publishing of GLBT books, and sooner or later other bookstores would put those books on their own shelves and there would be less need for a specifically gay and lesbian bookstore.
Today 35 years later, nearly every general bookstore carries GLBT books, often featuring them in special sections. The other part of our mission was to make good GLBT books and information available to anyone anywhere at a time when such items were very hard to find. Today, people almost anywhere can access GLBT information on the Internet.”
–Deacon Maccubbin, founder and co-owner of the D.C. and Delaware gay bookstores Lambda Rising, announcing on the stores’ Web site that they would be closing at the end of 2009.
