Glad Day Bookshop

First chapter of the first Gore Vidal book I have ever read and I am already hooked! Delightful.

You see, I recently purchased a few books at the local LGBT bookstore here in Toronto. Well there's really only one, the other is mostly a sex shop/women's sexual health and workshop centre/bookstore. But the one I frequent is actually the longest surviving in the world. Crazy! Who knew?

I visited Glad Day before Christmas and found out, that in fact, the store was in dire straits. They hadn't turned a profit in about eight months and the owner and his very dedicated employee hadn't been paid in over two months. The owner had gotten to the point (and I wouldn't be surprised if he still is) where he was done with the community, it had changed and too much for him to keep up and he didn't want to anymore anyway. He had tried Facebook and Twitter but it wasn't his thing, he found it mildly insulting actually. I believe he phrased it "why do I need to know when everyone is taking a shit?". And his employee who is around my age (early thirties), hadn't had much more success.

He informed me that all of his regulars were around his age and to see someone in their forties was not rare but not a common occurrence, as for those my age it was positively rare and should someone in their twenties happen to wander in, it was cause for celebration.

I was gutted. I knew that online retailers like Indigo (here in Canada) and Amazon had basically cornered the market for lower prices and that e-readers were really catching on, and yes, the recent economic down-turn had been hard on many small businesses, but to have one of the largest surviving LGBT bookstores in the WORLD close down? A piece of living history and one of the pillars of the queer community here in Toronto disappear? The books to be thrown in a DUMPSTER and FORGOTTEN?? WHAT?!?!

Well, there is hope people. It turns out that a group of investors had the same thought as me and saved Glad Day. As of my last visit a deposit has been made and the store is in the process of changing hands. The soon-to-be new owners are excited to create a vibrant and inter-ethnic/gender/generational space accessible to all.

There’s an incredible importance in changing what the face of the queer community looks like. Our investors are all very different. There are trans folks, there are queer folks, there are younger ones, there are elders. We very much want to see the population of people coming to the bookstore to really reflect the diversity of Toronto’s population and community, and as well as that of the people who are investing and creating the space.

I look forward to seeing the bookshop change, grow and flourish and to spending more time there. Hmmm... maybe I should volunteer...

Check out their online catalogue, hopefully you'll find something you'll like.