Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop ad, Village Voice, July 1, 1970. But eventually, the shelves were filled with more and more LGBT-related publications. Gay rights activist Craig Rodwell established the East Coast’s first gay and lesbian bookstore (and the first one in the nation to operate long term), named in memory of Oscar Wilde, in a storefront of this apartment building on Mercer Street in 1967. His first year was a rough one – vandals broke in three times. However, after a couple of years, Adonis evolved into a gay adult bookstore, which made Oscar Wilde the first of its kind in the United States to operate long term.Īt first, Oscar Wilde only offered a limited number of publications for sale and Rodwell had to spread books out so that the shelves would appear full. It was preceded by Adonis Bookstore, in San Francisco, which opened several months earlier, in March 1967. There is a longstanding rumor, which seems to have started while the film was still in production and has been asserted by chronicler of Hollywood decadence Kenneth Anger, that the films cast is composed entirely of gay or bisexual actors in an homage to Oscar Wilde, as per star and producer Nazimovas demand. history that the individual voice can hardly be separated from the. The Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop had its grand opening weekend on November 18-19, 1967, becoming the first gay and lesbian bookstore to operate on the East Coast. Dalton, D., The haunting of gay subjectivity: the cases of Oscar Wilde and John. Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde.

On his letterhead and on the store window, he called Oscar Wilde “A Bookshop of the Homophile Movement.” He modeled the store after the Christian Science reading rooms he had grown up with, which sought to impart a positive image of the world.

Rodwell saw the bookstore as a community bulletin board, carrying announcements of important activities, as a clearing house for those interested in law reform in New York State, and as a spur to writers who would now have a place to sell their gay-themed work. The shop stocked books and periodicals that dealt with gay and lesbian issues in a positive manner Rodwell refused to sell pornography. The shop was named after Oscar Wilde, who, Rodwell wrote, was “the first homosexual in modern times to defend publicly the homosexual way of life, is a martyr to what has recently become known as the ‘homophile movement.’” At the age of 26, Rodwell rented a very public storefront on Mercer Street near Waverly Place. When Mattachine rejected this idea, Rodwell decided to do it himself, despite the fact that he had no experience running a bookstore. Craig Rodwell, an active member of the Mattachine Society of New York, suggested that Mattachine open a bookstore that would also have offices and space for community meetings.

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