Lambda Rising, among the first bookstores nationwide to sell gay and lesbian literature, has been a Dupont Circle institution for 35 years. Maccubbin, the store’s founder, explains why he’s closing its doors on Thursday.
Why did you open it?
I opened it originally because you could not find gay and lesbian books in bookstores or even in the library. It was very difficult to do so even in the ’70s.
Why are you closing it now?
When we opened the store, it had a very clear mission. … The first was that we wanted to convince authors and publishers and other bookstores that there was a market for gay and lesbian literature so they would write the books, publish the books and, most importantly, put the books on the shelves all around the country. We have done that. … The second mission was we wanted to make good gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender literature available to anybody who wanted it or needed it. … But these days that information and literature is available all over the country just by going online.
Your customers came from around the world. What was the farthest?
Mongolia. Literally, I believe we’ve had people from virtually every country in the world except maybe some of the little microstates like Andorra or San Marino.
What are you planning to do next, besides getting married to your longtime partner?
That’s No. 1 … I’m going to be writing a book because every bookseller or bookstore owner thinks they’ve got a book in them somewhere. … Other than that, I’m going to be enjoying life. I’ve enjoyed the last 35 years. I am the luckiest man in the world … I have had a job that I adore doing that made a huge positive difference in the lives of literally millions of people. And I got paid for doing it — not a lot, but enough.
– Kytja Weir
