Gay’s the Word
Britain’s oldest surviving LGBT bookshop
Gay’s the Word opened at 66 Marchmont Street in 1979, founded by Ernest Hole and others from the Icebreakers support group – the first specifically LGBT bookshop in Britain and one of very few in Europe. On 10 April 1984 Customs and Excise raided it and seized over 140 titles, including works by Tennessee Williams, Armistead Maupin and Gore Vidal, as “obscene.” A defence fund raised over £55,000, and the campaign forged an alliance between the bookshop’s supporters and striking Welsh miners – the story behind the 2014 film Pride. The charges were eventually dropped.
It was burgled, targeted in the 2011 riots, and threatened by rising rents. It survived all of it. They came for the books and didn’t realise that banning books is always an advertisement. The bookgroup still meets here weekly. Walk in.