Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans Coffee and Tea, located in the Short North, offer a drink of the month named creatively after queer literature. Credit: Courtesy of Reese Steiner
For those looking for a book to read with a latte to sip on, Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans might be just the place.
Business and romantic partners Lauren Branch and Reese Steiner, an Ohio State alumna, celebrated the grand opening of combined businesses Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans Coffee and Tea in the Short North Sept. 2, in partnership with LGBTQ+ organization Stonewall Columbus.
The couple said they developed the idea in January 2023 with the goal of providing a safe space for all ages of the LGBTQ+ community. Branch said they are excited to see it come to life.
“Our dream of what we wanted the space to be has finally come true — to finally see people come in here and have that safe space to hang out and just have a coffee,” Branch said.
Patrons can browse from a selection of LGBTQ+ books — in-store and online — and a rotating display with work from local artists. Merchandise such as bookmarks, stickers, magnets, pins and cards are also available for purchase.
The café menu consists of coffees brewed with beans from local non-profit Roosevelt Coffeehouse, along with teas and pastries from local bakeries Bake Me Happy and That Bakery.
Steiner said that the café offers a drink of the month, the names of which are often witty references to classic or queer literature. She said one of their previous featured drinks was the Dorian Gray — named after the main character in Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” which is a latte with vanilla and lavender.
Branch said the drinks are intended to get people to try new things.
“It’s also to get [the] hype up with different drinks and make people go outside their comfort zone,” Branch said. “I always get the same thing from the coffee shop because I don’t like change, but this is at least a way — a month-long way — for people to just be like, ‘OK, today is the day, I’m just gonna try it and try something new.’”
Steiner said the café also offers a buy one drink, get one half off special for students on Mondays.
Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans were originally set to open mid 2023. After an issue with the previous lease, the two said they put the coffee shop on a halt and turned the bookstore mobile. In late 2023, Branch and Steiner said they stuffed their supplies in Steiner’s Subaru Crosstrek and spent their weekends at events like the Good Market and Columbus Pride.
Branch said the process of continuously packing and unpacking the shop was not simple.
“It’s definitely an art and a science,” Branch said. “It took a lot of trial and error — like ordering different mobile stuff that we could easily take apart to fit in the car, but also put back together.”
According to Branch and Steiner, it was January 2024 when Kenny Sipes, owner of Roosevelt Coffeehouse, urged the couple to check out a café space he worked on with Stonewall. With the COVID-19 pandemic placing the space’s previous project on hiatus, the couple said that Stonewall’s café space was left vacant.
Branch said they took the leap of sending an email to Densil Porteous, executive director and CEO of Stonewall. After a successful meeting, the couple said they began to collaborate with the organization to put the café and bookstore in the works.
Branch said the organization has provided great support to the businesses.
“They’ve been making our lives so much easier,” Branch said. “It’s fun because we get to include them in our monthly lattes, get their opinions on stuff and bounce ideas off.”
Steiner said she was able to complete her studies at Ohio State while preparing to open the shop, obtaining a degree in English — with a creative writing focus and a women’s, gender and sexuality studies minor — in Spring 2024.
“It gave me enough time to graduate and for us to get our footing under us,” Steiner said.
To build community outreach, Branch said they continuously worked events and built a social media following. Now that the shop is open, the couple said it is a relief to not solely rely on vending anymore.
“It was a lot,” Steiner said. “We’re definitely excited to just stick to the bigger events.”
Through the ups and downs of finding a space and getting the business rolling, the couple agreed that they are grateful for the outcome.
“It felt like the end of the world when we lost that space, and then everything happened,” Steiner said. “I did not believe in karma — or that everything happens for a reason — that kind of spiritual stuff. And now I’m just like, ‘You know what? It does all happen for a reason.’”
Reilly Trembley, a barista and cashier, said she originally applied for the position in 2023. She said she’s happy she stuck through the opening process with Branch and Steiner.
“I’d finally found a cafe that felt so catered to my knowledge and skill set,” Trembley said. “I was able to bring in coffee knowledge and support … getting to be surrounded by queer literature is a huge plus. I didn’t want to give away a chance to be a part of creating a safe haven for the queer community in Columbus.”
Branch said that she and Steiner are grateful for Trembley reaching back out after the initial lease fell through.
“She’s been on our side the entire time and has honestly been our lifeline here,” Branch said. “[Without Trembley], [Steiner] would be working seven days a week, and that’s not healthy. I’m still working my health care job outside of this, so [Trembley] has been a godsend.”
Since the grand opening, Steiner said watching people come in and out of the shop feels special to her.
“I was in the middle of a rush, but I just took a moment to kind of soak it in … it was a little bit of a moment,” Steiner said. “It’s always been a moment whenever it gets busy, because usually it doesn’t really get crazy in here … even when it’s just moderately busy, to hear people laughing — or see people working or reading — is very heartwarming.”
Trembley said that Branch and Steiner went through numerous hurdles to get here and that it is a relief to finally be in the shop.
“The connections we’ve been able to make have been the biggest reward,” Trembley said. “Now, more than ever, it feels so important for us to be here.”
Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans are connected to Stonewall Columbus at 1160 N. High St. The shops are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends.
Patrons can shop online on the bookstore’s website. More information regarding events and updates can be found on the Little Gay Bookstore and Queer Beans Instagram pages.
