L.A.'s Different
Light Bookstore to Close Doors

A fixture in Los Angeles for almost 30 years, A Different Light Bookstore will be closing its doors for good in the near future, reported InstinctMagazine.com .

The LGBT bookstore is located in West Hollywood in the heart of the city's gay village, and was long the epicenter of culture in the neighborhood. The closing of A Different Light follows the recent announcement that New York's gay-themed Oscar Wilde bookstore is shuttering as well.

Bill Barker, owner of A Different Light, told Instinct that two specific events contributed to his decision to close -- a Santa Monica Boulevard street project (where the bookshop is located) that tore up the sidewalk for months on end, and a 2007 fire that closed down a nightclub operating next door to the bookstore.

Barker said his San Francisco store will remain open (a New York ADL shut down years ago) and an online outlet will remain intact. There's no official date set for the closing, but it will be before mid-April. (Neal Broverman, Advocate.com)