The 30th Annual Out On Film festival kicked off on Sept. 28 with a screening of the top-selling documentary “Happy:...
Philip Rafshoon, owner of Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, sat down with Richard Eldredge of Atlanta Magazine to discuss the dire financial straits the bookstore — and the city's unofficial LGBT community center — is under as it prepares to hold its first fundraiser tonight.
Rafshoon said things are not pretty, including the store being behind on rent and bills.
"I think by [this week] we will no longer be behind on our rent. But we are behind on some bills and some payments. Everything is not just fine. We try to be upbeat when people are in the store. But the reality is the big LGBT stores that are left in the country are Giovanni's Room in Philadelphia and Outwrite. Lambda Rising in Washington D.C. is gone. A Different Light in New York is gone. Their location in Los Angeles is closed. And the A Different Light location in San Francisco just closed a few months ago. Out Loud in Nashville just closed," Rafshoon told Eldredge.