The Books of Love
Charlie’s Queer Books Is a Welcoming House for Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Lit Nerds
50 Years of Queers
Homosexual Betrayals! Wealthy Prudes! Queer Futures! And an Completely Stuffed Delight Calendar!
When Charlie’s Queer Books opened its shiny pink doorways for the primary time in November 2023, the Fremont store, which completely sells books by and about LGBTQ+ folks, virtually immediately grew to become a staple in Seattle’s queer group and past. The store, based by Charlie Hunts, is only one of lower than a dozen completely LGBTQ+ bookstores presently working within the US.
Hunts first got here up with the thought for an all-LGBTQ+ bookstore 12 years in the past after a devastating damage left him bedridden for a 12 months and unable to return to his earlier job with Harley-Davidson. He discovered solace in literature. “I fell in love with books and determined to return to high school,” he mentioned. “I bought my diploma in English and later bought my MBA.”
Hunts began working in print and advertising and marketing and commenced accumulating each LGBTQ+ e book that crossed his desk. As a trans man himself, he was particularly involved in books that centered on trans characters. “I used to be constructing my assortment amid all these anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ payments, in addition to the combo of all of the e book bans,” he recalled. “I felt like this was one thing I might contribute, so I made a decision to check the waters.”
The primary iteration of Charlie’s Queer Books hit the streets of Seattle final summer time as a cell retailer, a flashy, disco-tiled e book cart that Hunts pushed round city. Hunts took the cart to Delight within the Park, PrideFest, and even wheeled it down the streets within the Seattle Delight Parade. Seattle’s many book-obsessed queers couldn’t get sufficient. “There was such an outpouring of help and enthusiasm behind it that we determined to open up a brick-and-mortar in Fremont,” Hunts mentioned.
“There aren’t many third locations for queer those that aren’t round alcohol,” Hunts added. “This bookstore can function that third place in the event you simply need a house to hang around in the course of the day in the event you don’t drink, in case you are below 21, or in the event you similar to going to sleep early.”

Hunts’s store is a brightly coloured bibliophile’s paradise. His spouse, Madeline Burchard, paperwork the kaleidoscope of queer books on their official Instagram account: @charliesqueerbooks. The outside appears like a playful youngsters’s drawing of a home with whimsical colours and mismatched window trim. The inside boasts a vibrant palette of pinks and blues, plenty of pure mild, and comfortable banners that say issues like “You belong right here” and “Being homosexual is so enjoyable” hanging on the partitions. Books are assorted by style and age demographic and categorized with little flags so readers know precisely what identities are featured—it feels welcoming and magical. There may be really one thing for everybody, from the comfy youngsters’s studying nook to the wall of LGBTQ+ stickers to the present part, full with totes, T-shirts, socks, and equipment.
Charlie’s additionally hosts occasions together with cookie adorning, shitty craft nights, bisexual comedy showcases, drag performances, and launch events with visiting authors. Native creator Ray Stoeve participated of their first in-person e book launch at Charlie’s in Might. After strolling into the shop, they have been amazed by the queer utopia tucked contained in the little pink store.
“Charlie, Madeline, and their booksellers created such a welcoming house for everybody to come back collectively and have fun The Summer time Love Technique,” Stoeve mentioned. “Supporting queer areas is necessary to me, so I knew as quickly as Charlie’s discovered a bodily location that I needed to have my launch there. Having the ability to launch my e book in a queer-centered house made me really feel seen and related to our group.”
Delight Month will probably be Charlie’s busiest month but. Day-after-day in June brings a brand new LGBTQ+ occasion and Hunts is most excited concerning the Queer Guide Honest on June 15. “We’re attempting to assist folks chase that Scholastic Guide Honest excessive,” he mentioned with a smile. The occasion will embrace native distributors, authors, workshops, and all of the enjoyable trinkets children might solely get at a 2000’s Scholastic Guide Honest.
Nonetheless, Hunts can also be keenly conscious of the hazard that comes with rising the shop’s visibility. He knew there was a threat in opening a queer bookstore, particularly in a 12 months the place nationwide e book bans, significantly those who heart on LGBTQ+ matters, have gotten extra widespread. In April, Axios reported that e book bans have elevated 65% in comparison with 2023 and, of the greater than 4,200 books focused, the bulk “proceed to be these centered on LGBTQ experiences and other people of colour.” As a consequence of security considerations, Hunts invested in specifically coated glass home windows and high-tech safety cameras. He was additionally intentional concerning the occasions he scheduled in the course of the store’s early days.
“That was on goal—to let ourselves get our first six months below us earlier than we began doing issues like drag story time or placing ourselves on the market, simply so we might get our footing first,” Hunts defined. “Although we’re in a state like Washington, not all of Washington is Seattle. Even in Seattle, we’ve definitely had our points. Once we have been taking a look at totally different areas, we have been advised explicitly to not be in Inexperienced Lake by individuals who reside there.”
As he prepares for the shop’s first drag queen story hour with scrumptious native legend Glam Chowder, Hunts is trying into the most effective methods to make sure security for everybody concerned. Not too long ago, he spoke with the organizers of Drag Queen Story Hour, a 501c3 nonprofit that organizes family-friendly occasions around the globe. “[They] mentioned that this 12 months, of their official occasions alone, they’ve seen one bomb menace every week at bookstores,” mentioned Hunts. “Their threats are all the identical. They’re in a template. They modified the bookstore and its proprietor. It’s emailed on to the cops. We don’t even get a say in whether or not we reply or not. It’s very organized.”
Hunts says he’s not afraid. He finds safety in his group. “I’m a trans man. I used to be scared for a very long time as a result of I solely bought tales of Matthew Shepard or Brandon Teena, who have been killed for his or her queerness,” he mentioned. “Rising up in Arizona, I didn’t get to see tales that have been about queer pleasure, queer love, or different methods of being a trans individual on the planet.” Seeing folks like him get to be the hero of their story has given Hunts energy, and with every e book, he’s passing that energy on to the remainder of the group.
“We’ve had folks delivered to tears in our children’ nook as a result of they need that they had these tales once they have been children, or they discover them simply so therapeutic,” he mentioned. “Individuals thank us daily for current. That’s bittersweet. It’s the explanation we exist. It’s the explanation we do the work. It additionally reveals what we’re up towards on this second.”
For Hunts, the chance is well worth the reward. “What of us need to take care of is a lot greater than what we’ve got to take care of on the retailer,” he mentioned. “My concern is just to maintain our clients protected. Past that, [the pushback] simply makes me need to do it much more. We’ve got to be right here.”
Go to Charlie’s Queer Books at 465 N twenty sixth St in Fremont Wed–Sat 11 am–7 pm and Solar 11 am–5 pm. See their full record of delight occasions at charliesqueerbooks.com.