DC Bookstore Closing

Lambda Rising, a gay bookstore that has served the Washington, D.C., area for 35 years is closing its stores -- in Dupont Circle and Rehoboth Beach, Del. -- next month, theDC Agenda reported. The announcement Friday makes Lambda Rising the latest of a number of major-city gay bookstores, including A Different Light in Los Angeles and Oscar Wilde in New York City, to shut down over the past year.

Deacon Maccubbin, Lambda Rising's founder and co-owner, told D.C. Agenda that he plans to retire soon and that he and co-owner Jim Bennett (also Maccubbin's domestic partner) decided they would rather close the store than sell it to someone who might change its focus.

"When we set out to establish Lambda Rising in 1974, it was intended as a demonstration of the demand for gay and lesbian literature," Maccubbin said. "Today, 35 years later, nearly every general bookstore carries GLBT books, often featuring them in special sections."

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