I run a bookstore and I have seen our Gay & Lesbian section diminish year by year. My own inexpert observation is that as homosexuality has become more mainstream, there is less of a need for books about empowerment or books with people to identify with. We used to sell G&L Travel guides, now no one will touch them. I think G&L's no longer feel the need to keep themselves in that box, now that their orientation is more acceptable to the general population. It's just not as big a deal as it was 5 or 10 years ago.

Of course, I am talking about a liberal area so I can't generalize to the rest of the country. I know there are many parts of this country where it still is a big deal.

One frustration of mine in the LGBT community is that lesbian and bi women seem to be homebodies. This is of course a generalization, but one that my partner and I comment upon frequently. We're often disappointed at the lack of social options for queer women, and amazed at what exists for queer men. An obvious explanation is that men seek out sex more often than women do, which gives rise to bars and clubs, while women seem more likely to be in long term relationships. They might also be more likely to be home raising children from current or previous relationships. Yet, we always ask ourselves-- why are other queeer women so boring?! Why don't they like to go out, like us?! We live in an area with a fairly sizeable lesbian community, yet when we go out to dinner or go to bar to grab a drink, we rarely see other lesbian couples. It sucks, and we wish lesbian and bi women would get off their asses and support their lesbian and bi sisters!

Perhaps, (and I say this not knowing anything about San Francisco), lesbians are being gentrified out the way they have been in Park Slope in Brooklyn. Women don't make as much money as men and thus it makes sense that women-headed households and businesses would have a far more difficult time keeping a toe hold in rapidly gentrifying areas.

Also, I have noticed that in the nightlife scene in NYC younger women seem more content to mix with gay guys and straight people who reflect their own values which may account for the dearth of lesbian places there as well ... however, last I checked, lesbian softball teams, the gay and lesbian resource Center, teen drop-in centers, activist groups and other non-alcoholic, non-consumer activities seem pretty active!

I'm a lesbian, and a few years ago I worked on a volunteer committee to help promote our local gay and lesbian film festival. Several committee members who were women really wanted to pull out the stops to get women to come to the film festival, and wanted to show films that had more lesbian appeal instead of the non-stop shirtless-man action that had characterized most of the films in past years. Here were my observations:

When I approached a gay man and said, "Hey, would you like to buy a $250 VIP ticket to the entire festival, which lets you attend all the films as well as a number of VIP receptions?" they'd say, "Sure." Just like that. But when I approached a lesbian, I found it wasn't worth even mentioning the VIP tickets. Instead, I'd talk about one particular film or evening that I'd want the women to turn out for, and even then I'd get cross-examined: "$8 for a film. That's more than it was last year. Is it any good? Have you seen it? Does it have a plot? Is it at that same venue as last year? Because that venue last year sucked" etc. etc. So, I'd say we're a pretty rough crowd to market to to begin with, and the income disparity between gay men and lesbians definitely plays a part in all this.

Then, we had one evening where we showed a film that had "crossover appeal" (i.e., could be enjoyed equally by gays or lesbians). We had a 7:00 p.m. showing and a 9:00 p.m. showing. We marketed this heavily to lesbians. The lesbians all showed up at the 7:00 p.m. showing, having had dinner FIRST, then went directly home, complaining about the long drive they had back to the suburbs. The 9:00 p.m. showing was mostly men, most of whom went out for dinner/drinks AFTER the film. And we didn't really have to market to them much at all to get them to show up.

So, it's not surprising to me that lesbian-targeted businesses struggle; I'm just not sure what can be done about it. On the basis of my experience, I would simply advise them not to assume that what works for gay men will work for lesbians.

And I wouldn't be surprised if one expanded beyond SF to find this is a trend elsewhere. New Hope, PA, which is near where my partner and I live, used to have two lesbian/feminist-oriented bookstores. There also used to be 3 gay/lesbian bars. Neither of the bookstores remain; only one of the gay bars remains--and it's always been predominately gay. (One of the others burnt down and has not been rebuilt; the other was demolished and replaced with a bank.)

But, truth be told, we're honestly not into bars and dancing as much as we used to with either a) we were single or b)in the early stages of dating. I've a feeling we're just part of the changing dynamics within the community: we're now in our 40s and prefer to spend our disposal income on other things, including our motorcycles, continuing education, etc. Our Friday nights are often spent having dinner out, going for a ride, reading.

As to new business opportunities, hmmm. Good question. If someone were to open a new bookstore that offered Starbucks-like seating, coffee/tea, etc., and a mix of "alternative" and mainstream books, sure. (And I'm not talking about the megastores that just pay lipservice to offering LGBT titles.) Or a place like The Barefoot Sage in Oregon (or Washington, forgive my forgetfulness), which offers foot massages in a "living room"-like atmosphere. Do they have to be exclusively lesbian? No, just strongly gay-friendly.

I'd like to know what other Salon readers think.