Little Gay Bookstore, a planned nonprofit, LGBTQIA bookstore, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help it open later this year in Columbus, Ohio, 614Now reported.
The bookstore will share a space at 1129 N. High St. in the city's Short North neighborhood with Queer Beans, a for-profit coffee shop. Per 614Now, both Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans grew out of student organizations at Ohio State University. They are overseen by a group that includes Reese Steiner, president and co-founder; Stephanie Houser, treasurer; Olivia Daerth, secretary; and Madison McAlear, vice-president.
They are looking to raise $15,000 to help open the bookstore and so far have raised just over $1,700. Funds will go toward books, shelving, a security system, and more. The group has also started a separate campaign for Queer Beans.
Steiner told 614Now that the impetus to start Little Gay Bookstore came from a visit to an independent bookstore in Los Angeles that did not have a queer section. "We jokingly said we would just do it. Later that day we brought up the actual idea of it, and the rest is history."
The organizers of Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans hope to open sometime in the fall.