Giovanni’s Room: Stepping in to Come Out

GR paintingIn a quiet neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, there is a small bookstore tucked into the buildings on South 12th Street called Giovanni’s Room. Walking past, you may quickly notice that this is a specialty bookshop that sells gay and lesbian literature. Not only do the rainbow flags and bold window displays tip off any passerby, but a peek inside the store would make it clear that Giovanni’s Room isn’t just a regular bookstore. However, what might not be noticeable to the eye is the business’s amazing legacy as an important place in the LGBTQ community since its opening in 1973. It has been a meeting place, a refuge, a resource center, a home, and so much more for this community.

The birth and growth of this bookstore has paralleled the Gay Rights Movement that spread across the nation starting in the 1960s. The neighborhood surrounding Giovanni’s Room has been a home for the queer community since at least the beginning of the 20th century (Nickels). During the tumultuous fight for equality, Giovanni’s Room provided a much needed refuge and resource center for the LGBTQ community. But on September 5, 2013, owner Ed Hermance announced that unless he finds someone to buy the store, it will close in January of 2014. This isn’t unusual, as brick-and-mortar stores across the country close in the face of Internet giants. Could it be that Giovanni’s Room grew out of a certain time and place for a certain community? Could it be possible that this bookstore has fulfilled its purpose, despite the major role it has played in the neighborhood?

The timeline below highlights the Gay Rights Movement and the role that Giovanni’s Room played in it:

It was into an atmosphere of secrecy and intermittent violence that Giovanni’s Room entered the scene in 1973.  Tom Wilson Weinberg, Dan Sherbo, and Bernie Boyle took advantage of the political awareness resulting from the Stonewall riots to open the second gay and lesbian bookshop in the country.  It was a labor of love, not money.  When it opened, Giovanni’s Room carried less than 100 books in stock.  Each month the owners drove to New York to meet up with the owner of the other gay and lesbian bookstore, then drove the books back to Philadelphia.

By establishing an openly gay-lesbian bookstore on South Street, a major thoroughfare, the founders made a statement for gay rights that was an essential part of the store’s identity. Current owner Ed Hermance explained that the three founders “wanted to be on a major street, and they wanted a storefront with a plate glass window” (Flynn 36). The founders stepped forward to be leaders in the Gay Rights Movement in Philadelphia; they made their sexuality public and weren’t afraid to be in the spotlight. Through the decades this bookstore hasn’t shied from taking on a political role, simply by being a gay and lesbian bookstore during a time of drastic shifts in attitudes about LGBTQ rights.

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When Ed Hermance bought the store in 1976, he chose to stay in the spotlight. He has accepted his responsibility as a bookseller to influence public opinion, even acting as the mayor’s liaison to his community (Schechner). With this he fulfills the idea of a powerful bookseller promoted in Archibald MacLeish‘s A Free Man’s Books. Books have political importance, which is why MacLeish stresses the importance of a knowledgeable seller to disseminate information. He puts the onus on the bookseller in particular to know “his books and his customers” in order to be persuasive (MacLeish 14).  The original founders, and Hermance, understood the unique literary needs of the LBGTQ community, giving them political power to fight for equality.

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After it changed hands, Giovanni’s Room moved to a new location on Spruce Street. Unfortunately, a new, homophobic landlord would “just stand in the hallway and yell at us” says Hermance. He talks of the early history of Giovanni’s Room as one of ridicule and abuse, with people yelling “faggot” and “queer” and throwing bricks through the windows (Schechner, Flynn). It was time to test the dedication of the community, and they met the challenge, proving that Giovanni’s Room was something they wanted in the neighborhood. Hermance borrowed enough money from customers to buy his own building at 345 South 12th Street, where they remain today.  More than 100 volunteers came to help renovate the run-down structure.  They would aid the bookstore again through fundraisers and donations in 2009 for building repairs costing around $50,000.

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In the 1980s, Giovanni’s Room provided a much-needed gathering place and resource center when the AIDS epidemic traumatized the gay community and the Gay Rights Movement gained momentum. The bookstore was a meeting place for people who wanted to contribute to the Movement, and offered some of the only local AIDS health information. As time went on, Giovanni’s Room continued to find itself at the heart of LGBTQ pride celebrations that would become some of the biggest in the nation, like OutFest and PrideDay. The bookstore was officially recognized in 2011 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, but the community has long known the value of Giovanni’s Room.

 

Today, Giovanni’s Room is located on the edge of the Gayborhood, a neighborhood officially recognized by the city of Philadelphia in 2007 as an important historical site and tourist destination. But, if you’ve been to Philly, you’ll recognize that many of the surrounding buildings in this neighborhood are residential – this is a place where people live, not just visit.

Interspersed among the residential buildings are numerous small businesses and restaurants. There are no chain stores located within the few blocks around the bookstore. Many of the local businesses actively engage with the neighborhood by supporting local artists and hosting community events.  In this area, there are restaurants that range from Greek to Egyptian, a traditional barber shop, a hookah bar, an international accessory boutique, a thriving bar scene, and a historical theater venue. Giovanni’s Room is a product of its community; its cultural function wouldn’t be the same outside of this specific location. The bookstore was able to achieve a sense of belonging in its neighborhood organically and authentically.

For a closer look at the specific businesses in this area, please refer to the following map of the neighborhood:


View Giovanni’s Room – Present Neighborhood in a larger map

While the bookstore prides itself on serving the needs of the community around it, it has also run into the politics of bookselling– fighting against the world of online consumers and super-store customers. Its website emphasizes the specialized service only Giovanni’s Room staff can provide: “Our principal strength is our experience. Our store was founded in 1973, and our staff has a combined experience of over one hundred years working in our specialties. No other online bookseller comes even a little bit close.” With its personal touch, Giovanni’s Room critiques the standardized book chain. Large chains and book superstores are associated with bigness, impersonality, uniformity, and the obliteration of unique communities. Independent bookstores strive to offer a shopping experience that is interesting and stimulating, providing a sense of place that isn’t the same experience as shopping in any other type of store (Miller 110). Giovanni’s Room is that place.

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The store has long been a resource center, and goes even further than that – the store’s website boasts that many lovers have met at Giovanni’s Room. In this way, the store fits the qualities of a “meaningful place,” in that “subjective and emotional attachment” is incredibly strong here (7). Although Giovanni’s Room has become a tourist attraction, its relationship with community’s culture provides a strong connection between bookstore and book-buyer. The bookstore is more than just a warehouse for books; it is a home – a physical place where people can just be. Giovanni’s Room transcends the rational concept of “space” and can be viewed as a “place within which people conduct their lives as individuals” (Cresswell 7).

 

Giovanni’s Room is undeniably part of the Gayborhood. The image it projects onto South 12th Street is one of pride – large windows and waving rainbow flags proclaim its identity as a gay and lesbian business. Upon entering the bookstore, this theme continues.

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You are immediately greeted by safety and informational pamphlets, current magazines, community newspapers, and free condoms. Because these objects greet customers right away, there is no chance that they will feel ashamed about sex and sexuality within this space. Openness and acceptance continues to be expressed through objects as one walks further into the store – it’s not only the employees at Giovanni’s Room that make the customers feel welcome and accepted in this space, it’s the items for sale, too.

It might seem odd that so many non-book items are offered at this bookstore. But for the customers of Giovanni’s Room, these items are probably just as important as the books themselves. The free health information, rainbow paraphernalia, and even the lube displayed around Giovanni’s Room have become “things” in the way Bruno Latour describes them.  He says, “a thing is, in one sense, an object out there and, in another sense, an issue very much in there…the same word thing designates matters of fact and matters of concern” (2288).  On the surface, the fliers and trinkets are just objects – pieces of paper tacked to some cork and things to put on your key chain.

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They are at first just a matter of facts, but on closer inspection these “things” are matters of concern.  They represent a neighborhood of people who have bonded together and come forward to support each other around issues for the LGBTQ community.  It is an issue that gay and lesbian teenagers are afraid to come out to their parents for fear of rejection. It is an issue that many gay and lesbian people, afraid of social consequences, don’t seek needed health care.  Providing solutions, the back upper room has not just books about health and sexuality, but also real-life Philadelphia information on dealing with issues relevant to the community. At Giovanni’s Room, it isn’t only the books that hold importance and value for the customers; all of the things inside the bookstore help to accomplish the goal of providing resources and literature.

A close look at the layout of Giovanni’s Room speaks volumes about the meaning behind the objects within the store. Please use the floor plans below to explore the physical layout of Giovanni’s Room.  Hovering your mouse above the icons will reveal photos and text.

Here is the first floor:

And here is the second floor:

Immediately inside the bookshop, you see a variety of gay and lesbian literature as well as LGBTQ resources and community information. Popular magazines like Bitch, Out, Attitude, Diva, Ms., Curve, Bust and many more are some of the first titles a customer sees upon entering the bookstore. Full of pop culture, travel, and fashion information, these publications are flamboyant but casual.

Thanks to Google Maps, you can “walk” into Giovanni’s Room and explore it for yourself:

View Larger Map

Progressing forward from the front entrance brings you into a room stocked with lesbian and feminist titles, including things like feminist science fiction and fantasy, lesbian fiction, and feminist criticism. Walk through the door to the left and another room is revealed, containing men’s erotica and magazines with adult content. The fact that this room is separated from the main entrance lends a certain privacy to browsers. They can enjoy the fun, friendly entrance, and then proceed on to peruse the shelves of more private matters in peace, but not in hiding.

Unlike most bookstores, erotica isn’t something that needs to be hidden at Giovanni’s Room.  It stands just like any other section of any other bookstore.  There is neither guilt nor boasting, just a simple statement of merchandise.  Giovanni’s Room chooses to ignore the usual placement of pornography and instead gives these objects a firm sense of value. James Clifford says that collections “embody hierarchies of value” (218). The collection of reading material at Giovanni’s Room naturally places sex and sexuality at the top of its hierarchy of value. Erotica is treated the same as the crime novels it is placed next to.

On the second floor, the main room is very open and comfortable. The largest, most central bookcase on the left wall, facing the fireplace and reading area is stocked with books on the history of sexuality. This case begins with books about coming out, then progresses downwardly to books about politics and society.

Screen shot 2013-12-04 at 12.57.13 AMThe sequence of books in this case mirrors the trajectory of someone who is newly out, first providing him comfort through books about the process of coming out, then what that means in today’s society. This area further proves that sex isn’t something that has to be hushed up, because there is a section that boldly includes books on religion right next to a section with S&M titles. Just like the erotica section, S&M literature isn’t put behind closed doors, it’s just another section that deserves a place on one of Giovanni’s Room’s many shelves.

 

Giovanni’s Room presents a very specific conception of literature. As a specialty bookstore, it focuses on providing its customers with LGBTQ literature, but what does this really mean? Looking at the shelves, you see a broad range of genres, categories, authors, and other types of media, as well as a great many non-book objects. Next to books about history you might find a tower of erotic cards, and amidst all of the rainbow decorations at the entrance are lube and condoms. Having these kinds of items mixed in with the books makes a statement: this store has nothing to hide. Their pride shines through not only the literature they sell, but also the eclectic collection of non-book items related to an LGBTQ experience.

The literature also has an important function for members of the LGBTQ community on a more personal level. Literature in this store is seen as a guiding light for finding one’s identity. There are books to help someone through discovering their sexuality, expressing their sexuality, and ultimately becoming comfortable with who they are in a hetero-normative culture. Not only are there many resources, but also rooms full of imaginative literature that contain images of gay pride. Without being able to read lesbian romances, lesbian women would never see characters who are in romantic relationships similar to their own; without biographies written by gay men, other gay men would never have the chance to hear encouraging stories about struggles they are going through. These types of books, along with factual resource items provide a multitude of ways for LGBTQ people to find support, information, and affirmation of their identity. Giovanni’s Room functions simultaneously at a sociopolitical level by making a statement about LGBTQ rights, as well as at a comforting, personal level.

 

As influential as this bookstore has been to Philly’s Gayborhood, Giovanni’s Room is currently facing the reality of possible closure in a few months. Considering the huge role the bookstore has played in supporting the Gay Rights Movement and members of the LGBTQ community, it might seem surprising that the bookstore’s survival is in peril. Hermance suggests that online booksellers and big-box stores are fierce competition in selling LGBTQ literature at low prices.

But perhaps there has been progress for equality in society. Perhaps this safe haven for the LGBTQ community is slowly becoming less necessary to the fight. The situation begs the question of whether or not Giovanni’s Room is still needed to serve its original purposes of a refuge, a resource center, and a space that shamelessly asserts gay pride. Could this age of online bookselling combined with improving attitudes about the LGBTQ community spell the end of a beloved bookshop? Hermance seems to be optimistic that he will find a buyer and that the bookshop will live on, but whatever happens it will always have its place in the history of the Gay Rights Movement.

Sources 

Map and Street Views embedded from Google

Links 

Center for Disease Control, “HIV and AIDS -United States, 1981-2000.” <http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5021a2.htm>

Giovanni’s Room, “Giovanni’s Room: An Introduction.” <http://www.giovannisroom.com/newsletter>

The Leadership Conference, “Stonewall Riots: The Beginning of the LGBT Movement.” <http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2009/06/449-stonewall.html>

Publishers Weekly, “Country’s Oldest LGBT Bookstore Could Close in January.” <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/59005-country-s-oldest-lgbt-bookstore-could-close-in-january.html>

VisitPhilly.com, “Philadelphia: Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay.” <http://www.visitphilly.com/c/gay/>

Wikipedia, “Archibald MacLeish.” <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_MacLeish>

Photos and Images

“Ed Hermance.” <http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/arts-and-culture-everything/item/59384-giovannis-room-owner-puts-groundbreaking-lgbt-bookstore-up-for-sale-in-philly>

“Giovanni’s Room.” Mina Smith-Segal. Watercolor. <http://brewermultimedia.com/PhiladelphiaArt&Artists/william-way-gay-community-center/.

“Historical Marker.” <http://press.visitphilly.com/media/3433>

“Hugging.” <http://articles.philly.com/2013-09-07/news/41836458_1_giovanni-ed-hermance-lgbt>

“Outfest Flag.” <http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/worth-the-trip/Outfest-2013-Philadelphia-226181561.html>

“Outside View.” <https://unpackingthebookstore.susqu.edu/wp-content/uploads/gios-room.jpg>

“Reconstruction of Building.” <http://epgn.com/view/full_story/3899905/article-Giovanni-s-Room-kicks-up-fundraising-efforts>

Images in the timeline

American Booksellers Association. “Historical Marker.” <http://www.bookweb.org/files/GiovannisRoom2.jpg>

Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, “Closed Sign.” <http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs162/1102486612779/archive/1111328797571.html>

Dick Mac (alive!). “Business Owner of the Year -Ed Hermance/Giovanni’s Room.”<http://dickmacalive.blogspot.com/2010/07/business-owner-of-year-ed-hermance.html>

The Gayborhood Guru. “Enter Rusty’s.” <http://thegayborhoodguru.wordpress.com/tag/rusty-parisi/>

Philadelphia Gay News. ”Giovanni’s Room kicks up fundraising efforts.” <http://epgn.com/view/full_story/3899905/article-Giovanni-s-Room-kicks-up-fundraising-efforts>

“Rainbow Flag.” <http://images.wikia.com/rsplayers/images/6/6d/Rainbow_flag_and_blue_skies.jpg>

South Street Headhouse District. “South Street View.” <http://southstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Screen-Shot-2012-10-24-at-9.17.14-PM2.jpg>

Time Magazine. “AIDS: The Growing Threat.” <http://swisely.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/a-modern-tragedy-how-aids-became-a-pandemic/>

uwishunu. “Counter at Giovanni’s Room.” <http://www.uwishunu.com/wp-content/uploads/giovannis_room_comp.jpg>

Visit Philly. “Outfest.” <http://press.visitphilly.com/uploads/photos/1039_l.jpg>

Text

Cresswell, Tim. Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2004. Print.

Clifford, James. The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1988. Print.

Flynn, Elisabeth. “Philadelphia Story.” Lambda Book Report 12.1/2 (2003): 36. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.

Latour, Bruno.  “Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch.  New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 2282-302. Print.

MacLeish, Archibald. A Free Man’s Books: An Address. Mount Vernon, NY: Peter Pauper, 1942. Print.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. Print.

Nickels, Thom. “Philadelphia Stories.” Gay and Lesbian Review 10.5 (Sept/Oct 2003): 25-28. Print.

Schechner, Karen. “Giovanni’s Room Honored with Historical Marker.”Bookweb.org. American Bookseller’s Association, 20 Oct. 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2013.

Giovanni’s Room – A Bold and Public Space for the Gay Rights Movement of Philadelphia

Giovanni's Room

For the past forty years, Giovanni’s Room has lived through numerous events in the Gay Rights Movement and has been a source of support and community for those participating in this struggle for equality. Giovanni’s Room has continued to be a bold assertion of gay pride in Center City’s Gayborhood since its opening in 1973, a time when the LGBTQ community was considerably less acceptable in society’s eyes compared to today. Although the struggle for equal rights is still a central issue facing the LGBTQ population, the fact that the State of Pennsylvania officially recognized Giovanni’s Room as a historical landmark in 2011 testifies to the progress society has made in respecting homosexuality and the Gay Rights Movement. This small, independent bookstore has undoubtedly been through difficult years of civil rights struggles, but it has continued to remain a pillar of strength for the LGBTQ community as the movement continues to take a stand against discrimination in marriage rights in the present day.

Although the Gayborhood that surrounds Giovanni’s Room is currently an affluent, quiet, and quaint part of Philadelphia’s Center City, the area was not always so comfortable and respectable. The main center of Philly’s queer community used to be located around 15th Street, Broad Street and Spruce Street until the early 1980’s when it gradually expanded and shifted to the streets on the east side of Broad.

 

 


View Shift in Philly’s LGBTQ Community Location in a larger map

As Thom Nickels states, the history of the queer community around Broad street is essentially, “a metamorphosis from quaint thoroughfare to hooligan alleyway – where police had to send in ‘troops’ to quell riots and drunken brawls – and finally to a Greenwich Village-style street with literary, sketch, and yachts-man clubs.” Nickels describes that between the mid-1600’s and the the 1870’s, this area was a quaint, picturesque neighborhood of early-American homes and small gardens. During the 1870’s however, the “respectability” of the area declined in the public eye. The Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration wrote in 1937 about how the area “degenerated into one of the meanest and most disreputable streets in the city. Until 1900 it was the scene of brawls by day and crimes by night, requiring at times an entire squad of the city’s police to maintain order” ( Nickels 25).

This trend of violence and crime continued into the 1960’s and 1970’s as the violence became almost exclusively related to conflicts between gay men and lesbian women. At this point in this area’s history, much of the conflict grew out of turf-wars between the men and women of the LGBTQ community. Many acts of violence were committed by “strong looking diesel dykes” against gay men who ended up in the lesbian’s part of the neighborhood (Nickels 25). Not only were men and women of Philly’s LGBTQ community at war with each other, but the local police often attacked lesbian and gay businesses during the 60’s and 70’s in the form of raids. Throughout these years, gays and lesbians were actively persecuted by the police force of Philadelphia, which often resulted in verbal abuse and overnight imprisonment (Skiba).

July 4th, 1967
July 4th, 1967

It is out of this tense time in Philly’s history that Giovanni’s Room was born. In 1973, three gay men – Tom Wilson Weinberg, Dan Sherbo, and Bernie Boyle – opened the second gay bookstore in the country. Largely due to police persecution of gay and lesbians as well as society’s general condemnation of homosexuality, gay and lesbian people were forced to live closeted lives. At this point in history, the Gay Rights Movement in Philly was taking flight, starting with small political demonstrations of a few dozen people in front of Independence Hall. With the work of these few brave people, the city gradually began to change so that gay men could safely gather in public for the New Year’s Day Mummers’ Parade on Broad Street, for example (Nickels 26). Although tensions still ran considerably high around LGBTQ issues during the 50’s and 60’s, enough change was occurring in Philly for the Gayborhood to expand and become less fearfully hidden away from the public eye.

In her article, “Pillar of gay pride Giovanni’s Room…”, Ellen O’Brien states, “And the little bookstore he bought 22 years ago has been a touchstone for gay-rights activists, and a litmus test, of sorts, for the rest of the city.” By establishing an openly gay-lesbian bookstore on South Street, a historically major thoroughfare, founders Weinberg, Sherbo and Boyle certainly made a statement at a time when gay rights activism could use all the help it could get, especially considering how much opposition the activists were facing. Giovanni’s Room’s current owner, Ed Hermance explained that the three founders “wanted to be on a major street, and they wanted a storefront with a plate glass window” (Flynn 36) and O’Brien notes that “From the beginning, everyone who operated Giovanni’s Room had been determined to keep the bookstore out on a busy city street – no back alleys. No embarrassment. No shame. That was part of the purpose of the bookstore.” In this sense, the founders of Giovanni’s Room were certainly bold and fearless leaders in the Gay Rights Movement in Philadelphia; not only did they make their sexuality public, but they also were not afraid to let their business be in the spotlight despite its controversial specialty subjects.

Weinberg, Sherbo, and Boyle clearly made the push for their bookstore to be noticeable, which was successful in helping propel the Gay Rights Movement in their city. Jen Colletta quotes Weinberg saying, “In 1973, it was hard to buy gay books anywhere. There just weren’t many. And the ones that did exist weren’t available in general bookstores… And there really weren’t many alternatives for LGBT people to meet and hang out other than at bars. So we wanted to create a space where we could invite people of all ages together. It had a real coffeehouse atmosphere.” This communal aspect to Giovanni’s Room exemplifies Miller’s statement on the meaning of community in relation to bookstore. She writes, “Community implies social bonds based on affective ties and mutual support in contrast to instrumental social relations directed primarily by the market” (119). It would appear that the founders of Giovanni’s Room were keyed into this idea of community when establishing their bookstore instead of simply a desire to create a new market opportunity. This understanding of their motives further underscores their authentic connection to the LGBTQ community they were serving and supporting.

Not only did Giovanni’s Room serve as an example of boldly asserting one’s sexuality, it also functioned as a resource center and gathering place for people who wanted to contribute to the Movement and help raise awareness of LGBTQ issues. In this sense, Giovanni’s Room was a crucial player in Philly’s Gay Rights Movement because it was one of the few bold voices in the business sphere that asserted its gay pride in such a public manner. Also, during the time, the rise of the chain bookstores had begun, which could have posed a threat to this small, independently owned bookstore. In a culture that was calling for more standardization and rationalization in the book selling business, Giovanni’s Room did not succumb to any of these pressures. It showed no signs of giving up any part of its unique identity as a gay and lesbian bookstore and therefore further affirmed its position as an advocate for a specific movement, as opposed to just another pawn in the capitalist world of book selling (Miller 87-8).

Fast forwarding a few years to the 1980’s, Giovanni’s Room also provided a much-needed gathering place and resource center when the AIDS epidemic flared up in the gay community. Fear gripped the country as people began to hear about the rapid spread of this sexually transmitted disease as well as its prevalence among gay men. This affiliation of HIV/AIDS with homosexuality significantly harmed the Gay Rights Movement by creating new stereotypes and stigmas about gay people and therefore increasing the homophobia of American society. During this challenging time for the gay community, which was made even worse by the large numbers of deaths from AIDS, Giovanni’s Room became as “unofficial clearinghouse” for information and publications on HIV/AIDS (O’Brien). Again, this small bookstore served a crucial role in the gay community of Philadelphia during a traumatic period of history for they gay community. In a country that would barely speak about the reality of AIDS, it would be an understatement to say that the gay people of Philly were thankful for Giovanni’s Room’s continued presence in their neighborhood.

In 2011, the State of Pennsylvania officially recognized Giovanni's Room as an important historical landmark because of its work for the Gay Rights Movement.
In 2011, the State of Pennsylvania officially recognized Giovanni’s Room as an important historical landmark because of its work for the Gay Rights Movement.

Throughout Giovanni’s Room’s forty years of operation, this bookstore has witnessed gradual, yet significant changes in the fight for gay rights and societal tolerance of homosexuality. There is certainly still a long ways to go until equality is reach, and so visibility continues to remain a central part of Giovanni’s Room’s mission in its current location at the corner of 12th and Pine Streets. Not only does it provide a cultural center for the LGBTQ community, but it invites other people to come in and learn about sexual orientation and gender identity as well as tolerance and equality. Perhaps the function of Giovanni’s Room in years to come will be less as a gathering place for LBTTQ people, and more of a place for straight people to ask questions and bridge the gaps in their understandings of sexuality and gender. However, due to the continued opposition that members of the LGBTQ community faces from society, Giovanni’s Room will most likely still be looked to as a steadfast advocate for gay rights and tolerance of differences. As long as Giovanni’s Room remains opened, the bookstore will continue to project a bold and unashamed voice concerning civil rights for the LGBTQ community as well as tolerance of markers of difference in our diverse American society.

 

 

For a visual look at the history of the LGBTQ community and Gay Rights Movement of Philadelphia, please see the timeline below (to view some of the events, you will need to scroll in around the year 1950).

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Text:

Colletta, Jenn. “Giovanni’s Room honored with historical marker.” Philadelphia Gay News. 2011. Web.  http://www.epgn.com/view/full_story/12478810/article-Giovanni%27s-Room-honored-with-historical-marker

Flynn, Elisabeth. “Philadelphia Story.” Lambda Book Report 12.1 (Aug 2003): 36. Academic Search Complete. Web. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=4e5ad3e1-41fc-4180-82e2-b4339b1056b4%40sessionmgr110&vid=3&hid=126&bdata=#db=a9h&AN=11897297

Miller, Laura. Reluctant Capitalists. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. Print.

Nickels, Thom. “Philadelphia Stories.” Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 10.5 (Sept/Oct 2003): 25-28. OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=18ac05fc-6391-4efd-94c4-4457e2571a68%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=126&bdata=#db=ofm&AN=509386422

O’Brien, Ellen. “Pillar of gay pride Giovanni’s Room…” The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philly.com. 7 Oct 1998. Web. http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/auth/checkbrowser.do?ipcounter=1&cookieState=0&rand=0.31876798269801565&bhcp=1

Skiba, Bob. “Rusty’s: Where Were You in ’62?” The Philadelphia Gayborhood Guru. 29 Apr 2013. Web. http://thegayborhoodguru.wordpress.com/tag/rusty-parisi/

 

Images:

Kaczmarek, J. “Historic Marker. GPTMC. JPEG file. Web. http://press.visitphilly.com/media/3433

“Giovanni’s Room.” Post College Philly. Web. http://postcollegephilly.tumblr.com/

“Protesting in front of Independence Hall.” Web.  http://www.businessinsider.com/gay-rights-marriage-timeline-supreme-court-doma-2013-3?op=1

 

Timeline Images:

“Barbette.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Barbette03.jpg

“Bartram House.” The Colonial Architecture of Philadelphia. The Project Gutenberg. Web. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29334/29334-h/29334-h.htm#Page_38

“Giovanni’s Room.” Queerty.com. http://www.queerty.com/worlds-oldest-gay-bookstore-might-be-facing-its-final-chapter-20120102/

Mullins, Sean, “Saturday Gay Rights Protest in Denver.” 17 Nov 2008. Web. http://gonzochasing.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-gay-rights-protest-in-denver.html

Paynter, Kimberly. “Ed Hermance.” newsworks.org. 2013. http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/arts-and-culture-everything/item/59384-giovannis-room-owner-puts-groundbreaking-lgbt-bookstore-up-for-sale-in-philly

“Rusty-Police-Raid.” The Gayborhood Guru. http://thegayborhoodguru.wordpress.com/

“Stonewall Rioters.” newqueerontheblockmagazine.com. http://newqueerontheblockmagazine.com/2013/06/02/images-of-stonewall-1969/

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