A queer bookshop owner has highlighted the changes he wants to see from major book chains as Pride Month approaches. Matthew Cornford says businesses such as Waterstones need to “step up their game” so queer people can find themselves in literature “all year round.”
Matthew is the owner of QueerLit located on Tib Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. It boasts an extensive range of over 4000 LGBTQ+ titles in store and online, as well as stocking bags, stationery and greeting cards.
Ahead of the start of Pride, Matthew has said big bookshops need to have permanent sections for queer literature in order to tackle homophobia in society.
He said all big bookshops should have permanent sections for queer literature to tackle homophobia in society.
“We need mainstream bookstores to step up their game. Places like Waterstones is why my business exists," he explained.
"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.
“This was the biggest book shop in the north. They take a whole window to brag they’re the biggest book shop in the north but they only put a pride section together during Pride Month.
“If you go onto Waterstones’ website they have no LGBT section but all the books have been pre-selected so during pride month it’s their main banner, so any time they can monetise it.
“But our community doesn’t just come out during Pride Month. We’re needing to understand ourselves all year round and find ourselves in literature all year round,” he said.
The 39-year-old said LGBT books need to be more prominent in schools as he was born during a time where section 28 was in place which prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality”, and it wasn't okay to freely discuss homosexuality in schools.
QueerLit has sent nearly 3,000 books to schools for free as part of a recent campaign.
“We started a free books for schools campaign that to date I think we’ve sent more than 2,800 books to schools all over the UK," Matthew said.
“Libraries don’t have huge budgets but anything we think we can do to help an LGBTQ+ teen find themselves within literature to normalise the feelings and the emotions and the thoughts that are going through their mind is a huge thing.
“It is a massive campaign for us just because I wasn’t able to have that myself.”
A spokesperson for Waterstones said: “Waterstones 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.
“These will tend to be larger, and placed in more prominent positions, to mark pride month. Of course, we do not have the focus of a specialist bookshop dedicated to only LGBTQ+, but we are proud of what we do curate and display.
“The Waterstones in Manchester Deansgate has a long-established and successful dedicated table for LGBTQ+ fiction. This is an important part of publishing that we support strongly also online.
“The Waterstones.com pride page is permanent and regularly updated and curated with new and exciting publishing. Across our site we also regularly include LGBTQ+ selections in our curation, such as ‘our best LGBTQ+ romance’ on our romance page.”
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