An Ode To The Bookshop Darlinghurst

Long before gay hockey romance dramas were the world’s most popular shows on major streaming services, before queer books were stocked on mainstream shelves, there was The Bookshop Darlinghurst — a haven that lovingly reminded countless LGBTQIA+ people that our lives were worth documenting.

With its shelves stacked with queer history, memoir, fiction, erotica, activism, theory, romance, and everything in between, it wasn’t just a store. It was a refuge. 

At 21, I moved from a quiet South Australian suburbia to the then-noisy strip of Kings Cross with one suitcase, a few friends-of-friends, and more fear than I ever admitted. I felt alone; surrounded by chaotic city life, completely unsure where I fit in.

A few months into living in the big smoke, I found Bookshop Darlinghurst. Growing up where I did, I had literally never seen a gay bookstore before. And as a writer whose truest love has always been books and history, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and comfort. It felt like home.

I spent nearly three hours there. Running my fingers along spines. Discovering new authors I felt like I somehow already knew. Draining my (admittedly already pretty forlorn) savings account down to the last dollar.

I felt at home in my new city for the first time that day. Truly, the Bookshop Darlo changed my life. 

That’s what this beautiful bookstore did for generations of LGBTQIA+ people. Educated us, comforted us, and gave us a space that veritably felt like home.

On December 25, Bookshop Darlo’s doors closed forever. ‘Devastated’ doesn’t even begin to cover how we’re feeling about it. 

But it will never really disappear — it lives on in every life it steadied, every story it placed gently into queer hands, every kid who walked in searching and walked out seen. I hope it inspires someone to begin the next LGBTQIA+ bookstore for the next generation.

Thank you to founder Les McDonald, owner Charles Gregory, long-time staff Noel and Graeme, and to everyone who ever manned, womanned or themmed those glorious shelves. Thank you for being the caretakers of our stories. For giving us a home ♥️