An independent "queer"-bookstore owner accused mainstream bookstore chains of "monetizing" LGBT literature during gay pride months only. The man urged the outlets to "support queer people" all year long.
Matthew Comford, owner of a bookstore called "QueerLit" in Manchester, England, criticized large book chains — specifically the brand Waterstones — for not properly supporting LGBT books and publishers.
"I went into Waterstones Manchester Deansgate a few years ago and very sheepishly asked ‘can you point me in the direction of your LGBT section?’ and they said they didn’t have one," the businessman told outlet SWNS.
"This was the biggest bookshop in the north. They take a whole window to brag they’re the biggest bookshop in the north, but they only put a pride section together during Pride Month," he continued.
“We need mainstream bookstores to step up their game. Places like Waterstones is why my business exists," Comford said.
Comford told the outlet that the big book retailers need to have permanent sections dedicated to literature focused on the various sexual identities of his choosing, in order to tackle homophobia in society.
The 39-year-old argued that the Waterstones website should have a stand-alone "LGBT section" instead of having "pre-selected" books during pride month.
Current categories on the store's website are: Fiction, non-fiction, crime, children's, graphic novels & manga, and science fiction, fantasy & horror.
A Waterstones spokesperson said that the company "strongly supports LGBTQ+ publishing all year round in shops and online, not just for pride month."
“Many of our shops curate dedicated displays and tables of LGBTQ+ fiction and non-fiction throughout the year," the spokesperson added.
Comford said he founded his shop as an online storefront in June 2020 after spotting a gap in the market. He then opened a retail outlet in August 2021.
The store owner boasted that he has sent more than 2,800 books to schools in the United Kingdom and condemned removing LGBT books from curriculums. The man also stressed wanting to help gay children "find themselves within literature" in an attempt to normalize their feelings.
“Libraries don’t have huge budgets, but anything we think we can do to help an LGBTQ+ teen find themselves within literature to normalize the feelings and the emotions and the thoughts that are going through their mind is a huge thing."
"There’s a serious agenda happening within the LGBT activist movement and lobby groups to really push sexual politics," said Lewis Brackpool, an independent journalist in England.
"England is a very relaxed country for anybody to be anything, but it becomes problematic with the consistent affirmation of pushing sexual identity and politics onto people and children," Brackpool added.
Waterstones assures readers that it consistently includes such literature in its rotations, such as its "best LGBTQ+ romance" label.