Adult bookstores have always had a negative image in our society. When many people in the general public think of an adult bookstore, they imagine creepy old men wandering the grungy aisles looking for their next deviant pleasure. But as seen in the new trailer for “Circus of Books,” the iconic Los Angeles adult bookstore is anything but grungy and creepy.
In fact, Circus of Books is a family-run business started by a married couple that helped provide a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community during an era where society was far less inclusive than today. The film follows the story of Karen and Barry Mason, a straight, married couple with three children, that owned and operated a business that specialized in gay porn. The film doesn’t just explain how this couple became legends in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as how they had to hide their business from their own family (including their kids) and friends, but also talks about how Circus of Books gave a whole community a place to feel accepted during the rise of the AIDS epidemic.
The film is executive produced by Ryan Murphy and directed by Rachel Mason, one of Karen and Barry’s children.
“Circus of Books” arrives on Netflix on April 22.
Here’s the synopsis:
For 35-plus years, the gay porn shop Circus of Books gave Los Angeles’ LGBT+ community a space to socialize and celebrate themselves without judgment. Unbeknownst to many customers, the store was cultivated by owners Karen and Barry Mason, a straight, mainstream couple with three children who went to religious school and were unaware of their parents’ business. The Masons long refused to disclose the nature of their business to friends or family. While maintaining the secret, they witnessed the dawn of the HIV/AIDS epidemic firsthand, losing a generation of treasured employees. Still, during that time, they never identified as activists — just everyday entrepreneurs catering to a market, until the Internet destroyed it. Executive produced by Ryan Murphy, CIRCUS OF BOOKS is the debut documentary from artist Rachel Mason, who finally asks the least radical people she knows — her parents — how they became America’s biggest distributors of gay porn, and why Karen reacted so negatively when her own son came out of the closet.