Edinburgh bookshop stays shut amid fears for staff after series of threats
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Lighthouse Bookshop in West Nicolson Street announced on social media it had decided not to open out of concern for the safety of its staff.
The business’s Twitter post said: “Our booksellers are real people. You might not like what we stand for, but you have no right to threaten our humans or make us feel unsafe at work.
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Hide Ad“Today’s latest threat, pinned to our doors after weeks of harassment, had us choose safety & selfcare. We’ll be back tomorrow.”
The shop, which is normally open seven days a week, describes itself as “a queer-owned and woman led independent community bookshop” and “an unapologetically activist, intersectional, feminist, anti-racist, LGBTQ+ community space”.
In 2020 it was nominated as Scotland’s Best Independent Bookshop.
A notice at the premises said: “We’ve been facing heightened levels of harassment lately and today it didn’t feel safe to open the shop. We are sorry we can’t be here in person for you.
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Hide Ad"You can find us on our website www.lighthousebookshop.com.”
Another Twitter post from the shop said the most recent run of harassment had mostly been “racist anti-Marxist conspiracy theories and violent misogyny” and the latest threat had had a “far right evangelical” current to it.
The announcement attracted many messages of support.
The shop responded saying: “The many messages of solidarity we have had are testament to fact that we are not alone in this – thank you. If you want to do something about the kind of misogynistic, racist, queerphobic hatred we’ve faced, get involved in the community – help change the narrative.”