Local
End of an era, as Lambda Rising to close
Lambda Rising will close in January after a 35-year run. (DC Agenda photo by Aram Vartian)
Lambda Rising, a bookstore serving the LGBT community in the nation’s capital for 35 years, is closing its D.C. store in Dupont Circle and its remaining out-of-town store in Rehoboth Beach, Del., in January.
The closings, announced last week, become another in a series of gay bookstores that have shut down in recent years in other cities, including New York and Baltimore.
Deacon Maccubbin, 66, the store’s founder and co-owner, told D.C. Agenda in an exclusive interview that he plans to retire soon and that he and co-owner Jim Bennett, his domestic partner of 32 years, decided they would rather close the stores than sell them to a new owner who might change their focus and mission.
“The phrase ‘mission accomplished’ has gotten a bad rap in recent years but in this case, it certainly applies,” Maccubbin said.
“When we set out to establish Lambda Rising in 1974, it was intended as a demonstration of the demand for gay and lesbian literature,” he said, noting that few if any mainstream bookstores and newsstands carried gay-related books and periodicals at the time.
“Today, 35 years later, nearly every general bookstore carries GLBT books, often featuring them in special sections,” he said.
Maccubbin said the Internet also enables people today to access LGBT-related information from almost any location in the country, accomplishing yet another part of Lambda Rising’s mission: to provide up-to-date information to a community that could not obtain it elsewhere.
He said he first opened the store in June 1974 in a converted townhouse on 20th Street, N.W., near Dupont Circle, with an initial investment of $3,000 and an additional $1,000 borrowed from a local gay activist. The shop consisted of 300 square feet of space and just 250 gay and lesbian book titles.
“That’s all there were at the time,” Maccubbin said.
The store, along with the LGBT community and gay civil rights movement, grew dramatically over the next three decades, moving in 1977 to a larger storefront space on S Street, N.W., a few blocks away. In 1984, the store moved to its current location at 1625 Connecticut Ave., N.W., in a storefront building that Maccubbin and Bennett own.
Lambda Rising, which opened in 1974, will close in January as its owners prepare to retire. (DC Agenda photo by Aram Vartian)
In the intervening years, the two opened branches of the store in Baltimore, Norfolk, Va., and Rehoboth Beach. In 2003, Lambda Rising bought the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York’s Greenwich Village, recognized as the nation’s first gay bookstore, having opened in 1967. Maccubbin said Lambda Rising bought that store to save it from closing.
After more than three years of helping rebuild the Oscar Wilde store, Lambda Rising sold it to its manager, to return it to its status as a locally owned business. But earlier this year, due to the national economic downturn, the New York owner said he was forced to close the store.
In its three decades of operation, Lambda Rising became one of the nation’s first gay businesses to advertise in mainstream publications and the first to advertise on TV in the 1970s. It has brought in hundreds of authors to its various store branches, including Andy Warhol, Sandra Bernhard, Armistead Maupin and Rita Mae Brown.
“Closing the store now will certainly leave something of a hole in Washington’s literary and political scene, and even though I’m excited about the opportunities that will open up for us as we move into the next phase of our life, there is a bittersweet component to it all,” said Maccubbin.
“But the book market has been changing dramatically, the GLBT community has been making progress by leaps and bounds, and 35 years is enough time for any person to devote to any one thing,” he said. “It’s just time to move on.”
Maccubbin said he and Bennett are happy to offer advice and support for someone interested in opening another LGBT bookstore in Washington.
Veteran D.C. gay activist Frank Kameny, who described himself as a loyal customer of Lambda Rising since it opened, said Maccubbin and the store deserve “enormous credit” as a nationally recognized gay community resource.
But he said he regrets that at least one aspect of the store’s mission has not been accomplished.
“No non-gay bookstore that I know of has a gay section with content remotely comparable to that of Lambda Rising,” he said. “And many of the publications found there will be unavailable elsewhere. Lambda Rising will be truly missed. Progress is often sad.”
Rick Rosendall, vice president of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, called Lambda Rising a “landmark” for the LGBT community.
“It will certainly be a major loss for our community,” he said.
Maccubbin said the store will begin a holiday sale as early as this weekend for many of its books and other products, such as gifts items. He said a “huge liquidation sale” will begin immediately after Christmas, with the store expected to close in early January.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, landed an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a new job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Jaime Christopher Pierce on their appointment to serve as a member of the Virginia Governor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Pierce was sworn in on Sept. 3 by Greg Parks, clerk of the Alexandria Circuit Court.
Pierce currently serves as vice chair of the Alexandria City LGBTQIA+ Task Force and as a member of the Alexandria Pride planning committee. They previously served on the board of directors of Equality Virginia.
Upon being sworn in, Pierce said, “Public service has been a central part of my life for more than 30 years, and this appointment gives me an opportunity to serve the Commonwealth in a different and very personal way. My career has allowed me to work with people and communities throughout Virginia, and I hope to bring that experience, along with my own lived experience and my involvement in the LGBTQ+ community, to the work of the Board.” They added, “Having Greg administer the oath makes the occasion even more meaningful because of his own historic role as Virginia’s first openly gay elected circuit court clerk.”
Pierce also serves as Circuit Court Services Manager for the Department of Judicial Services, at the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. They began their career in Virginia’s judiciary in 1994 as a deputy clerk with the Virginia Beach Circuit Court and have since held several professional and leadership positions within the court system. Pierce is a member of the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management. At the national level, Pierce participated in the workgroup that developed the National Association for Court Management’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Guide, a resource designed to help court professionals advance inclusive practices and strengthen access, fairness and belonging within the justice system.
Pierce earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Liberty University, and a certificate in Paralegal Studies from Norfolk State University.
Maryland
Md. groups receive state grants to fight hate crimes
Pride Center of Maryland among recipients
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy are awarding a total of $10 million in grants in the 2027 fiscal year to nonprofit organizations that work to prevent hate crimes in the state.
The funds will be used to support those who feel targeted or discriminated against because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability status.
The Pride Center of Maryland is among the recipients. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and LGBTQ organizations are all eligible to receive grants
“The safety and security of all Marylanders is my top priority, so we are drawing a hard line because we have no tolerance for hate,” said Moore, according to media reports. “We are committed to protecting and ensuring safe and sacred spaces stay that way by investing in non-profit organizations, houses of worship, and community centers to protect and honor every community that makes our state so diverse and special.”
“Protection Against Hate Crime funding has strengthened the Pride Center of Maryland’s ability to protect, educate, and support the communities we serve … at a time of heightened concern associated with the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ/SGL (same-gender-loving) policies and pressures,” Pride Center of Maryland CEO Cleo Manago said. “PAHC funding helps us do more than improve physical security — it strengthens our community’s knowledge, preparedness, connection to resources, and ability to respond to hate with greater awareness and support.”
Maryland’s hate crimes law includes both sexual orientation and gender identity. The state’s nondiscrimination statute is also LGBTQ-inclusive.
District of Columbia
Blade welcomes fall intern
Alexis McLean is student at University of North Florida
The Washington Blade this week welcomed Alexis McLean as its fall intern.
Alexis is studying political science at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. She is interning with the Blade as part of a continued partnership with the Washington Center.
“I am looking forward to spending my time in the fall with the Washington Blade, as this is a new experience for me,” said Alexis. “I have not experienced any journalist jobs in the past so this would be my first time, and I am excited to better my writing and communications skills with this internship.”
Alexis’s internship with the Blade ends in early December.
‘Thelma and Louise’ remains landmark of unspoken queer rebellion
Comings & Goings
LGBTQ Military Happy Hour set for Sept. 15
Calendar: September 11-17
Multi-billion-dollar 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund to continue until 2090
Iceland implements gender-neutral blood donor rules
Anti-science, anti-LGBTQ movements go hand in hand
Everton Blair makes history as first openly gay congressman from Ga.
Chris Pappas wins NH Democratic Senate primary
Mujer trans salvadoreña es encontrada sin vida
-
Iceland5 days agoIceland implements gender-neutral blood donor rules
-
Commentary4 days ago
Anti-science, anti-LGBTQ movements go hand in hand
-
Georgia5 days ago
Everton Blair makes history as first openly gay congressman from Ga.
-
2026 Midterm Elections4 days ago
Chris Pappas wins NH Democratic Senate primary
