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)