25th anniversary of the raid on Gay’s the Word
The 1980s backlash: the 25th anniversary of the raid on Gay’s the Word bookshop
On April 10, 1984, ‘Operation Tiger’ went into effect. Customs and Excise officers walked into Gay’s the Word bookshop in London, told its customers to leave, and seized all imported titles.
PermalinkAt that time, Gay’s the Word was the only bookshop in the UK in which one could buy Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series. Maupin’s books were amongst those seized, as were titles by Gore Vidal and Tennessee Williams.
