Little Gay Bookstore is coming to the Short North

A nonprofit, LGBTQIA-owned bookstore and coffee shop is on its way to the Short North.

Little Gay Bookstore, which will operate as a non-profit, alongside a for-profit coffee shop called Queer Beans, are set to open later this year. They will be located at 1129 N. High St.

Both the bookstore and the coffee shop began as a student organization at Ohio State University, and are overseen by President and co-founder Reese Steiner, Treasurer Stepahnie Houser, Secretary Olivia Dearth and Vice President Madison McAlear. 

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“So my girlfriend and I got the idea when we visited a large independent bookstore in LA. We asked where the queer section was and they said they didn’t have one. The person working there said there should be a gay bookstore because of the amount of requests they got, and we jokingly said we would just do it,” Steiner told 614Now. “Later that day we brought up the actual idea of it, and the rest is history.”

In addition to offering a wide variety of queer literature, Little Gay Bookstore plans to offer “a safe space for all queer people to exist.”

Steiner said the concept is planning to open sometime this fall, but an exact date has not yet been announced.  

The bookstore has been privately-funded through investments, and is currently in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for books, shelving, a security system and more. A separate campaign has been started for Queer Beans.

Want to read more? Check out our print publication, (614) Magazine. Learn where you can find a free copy of our new May issue here!

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