Outwrite says goodbye to landmark Midtown corner

• Joeff Davis
• OVER THE RAINBOW: Owner Philip Rafshoon will move LGBT bookstore Outwrite from the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue at the end of his lease.

On Nov. 14, Philip Rafshoon sent out an early morning press release stating that Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, the LGBT shop he opened 18 years ago, will soon vacate its iconic storefront at the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue. No longer able to afford the rent there, Rafshoon is looking for a new, less expensive property for his business.

There are plenty of reasons why bookstores of all kinds are closing nowadays: online shopping, e-readers, Americans' overall lack of spending money. This year, mega-retailer Borders went bankrupt and liquidated, shuttering stores across the nation, including a Ponce de Leon Avenue location minutes from Outwrite. But this is different. This is unlike any big-box bookstore closing because Outwrite is more than a bookstore. Outwrite brought a new kind of center to Atlanta's gay and lesbian community. It wasn't about drinking or going to a bar, but about being connected and visible. The store proved to many Atlantans, gay and straight, that you can be gay even at 9 a.m., with a coffee in your hand instead of a vodka-cran.

Rafshoon opened the original 1,000-square-foot Outwrite in 1993 in the current Rice Box restaurant location in the Midtown Promenade shopping center that now houses Trader Joe's. At the time, "Atlanta was the largest city in the country that didn't have a gay and lesbian bookstore," says Rafshoon (Charis Books & More was catering primarily to women).