You Did THAT 💖
Hello, friends of the Nonbinarian,
I think many of you have heard that earlier this month, someone stole our bike. For weeks, I kept looking at where it should be; that bike belongs to us, as in our community as a whole. It was purchased with crowdfunded money, and I felt that loss not just as someone who has spent so much good time with and around the book bike, but also on behalf of those who helped purchase it.
We use the Book Bike to distribute queer books of all genres for all ages across the borough, along with the message of queer joy and resistance. I’m glad to say that we are able to do so again because we have successfully crowdfunded a new bike. This summer, we’ll be back on the streets to continue that mission.
Thank you for your continued support. Thank you for showing up, and for donating your time, money, good will, and knowledge. Thank you for stopping by to say that you miss the bike too, and to reignite my optimism. It is your direct aid that makes me believe in us and our cause.
Hoping to see you all soon out there,
— Jihye Shin-Perez (she/they), Nonbinarian Buyer & Co-Founder
Access! At the Bookstore
Before we were a store, we were a mobile mutual aid initiative. When we decided to go brick-and-mortar, it was in wanting the store to be an extension of and in alignment with our ethos — we take care of us. Which is why we’re committed to making our space as accessible as possible for all queers, not just some. That queer liberation for all means class solidarity and disability justice. So if you’re new to The Nonbinarian, here are some of the ways we practice & uphold our values in our space:
Class-Conscious Business Practices:
“Gay it Forward” wall: suspended store credit from community donations to apply toward your purchases, no questions asked.
All of our used books are priced at 50% of original list price.
All local artists featured in our store receive 100% of the sale of their goods & are not charged a consignment or rental fee.
Partner events/space “takeovers” rooted in mutual aid, skill/knowledge-sharing, or organizing by grassroots groups or individuals do not pay a rental fee for use of the space.
All events are free with an optional chip-in donation, otherwise known as our “ally tax,” to support ongoing programming centering TGNC, QTBIPOC, & disabled queers.
Third-space Amenities:
Public bathroom
Free Wi-Fi
Public PrintWithMe color printer/copier/scanner/fax
Lots of sittables & floor cushions
Free all ages crafts, games, & in-house books (to enjoy in store!)
Free stickers, pins, zines, & resource pamphlets (to take!)
Free Community Resource* Redistribution:
COVID rapid tests
Red cards (Spanish & Creole French)
Binders, mastectomy pillows, post-op supplies
Condoms, dental dams, lube
Narcan kits, fentanyl & xylazine test strips, drug screening kits
Toiletries, period products, Plan B
*Please Note: Stock subject to change based on donations
Store Disability Accessibility Specs:
Metal ramp to enter (holds up to 800s lbs.).
Aisles/store floor accommodates mobility aids, strollers, & scooters.
Bathroom accommodates some mobility aids.*
Desk-height point of sale (< 3 ft.).
Free snacks on hand (for folks with diabetes, POTS, et. al.).
Sensory-friendly hours (no music, lights dimmed) first & last hour of the day.
*Note: Our bathroom currently cannot accommodate a larger chair or scooter.
COVID policy for all events as well as during browsing hours: Masks required, no exceptions. We also have free masks, sanitizer, and rapid tests available. Air purifiers run in-store.
🚲 🚲 🚲
Bookshop.org Nonbinarian Book List Recs
+ Partner Wishlists
When you choose The Nonbinarian Bookstore as your bookstore of choice on Bookshop.org and shop our booklists or any item on Bookshop.org, we receive a 30% affiliate fee from every sale! The affiliate fee directly supports us as a newly opened bookstore as well as sustaining our mutual aid initiative, The Nonbinarian Book Bike.
If you would like to purchase books to donate to The Nonbinarian, please shop below:
Nonbinarian General Inventory — We love it, you love it, help us restock some of our favorite books for adults.
Nonbinarian Kids Book Inventory — Board & picture books are always the first to go at outings—help keep us stocked!
Spanish-language Books — Help us increase our high demand Spanish-language offerings in-store & on the book bike.
If you would like to donate books to our partners, please shop their wishlists below:
Drag Story Hour x The Nonbinarian — Picture books from the DSH NYC book list!
Trans formative Schools x The Nonbinarian — Help stock the permanent classroom library for a trans-centered afterschool program!
The Reading for Black Lives Project x The Nonbinarian —Specifically Black + Queer, all books from this wishlist go towards our comrade in mutual aid distro R4BL.
Project Human Dignity x The Nonbinarian — We provide books to build a permanent library for an adolescent (9-17) in-patient psych ward—because everyone deserves to see themselves on the shelf.
Oklahoma Bar Project x The Nonbinarian — Help stock in-house libraries for 3 of the remaining lesbian bars in the states.
We have a host of events planned in May! Here’s what’s happening this month. All times EST; 💻 = virtual, 🛍 = in-store, 📍 = off-site. Reminder: All in-store events at The Nonbinarian Bookstore are masks required! Testing is encouraged and we have free tests on-site, but negative tests will not be accepted in lieu of a well-fitted mask.
🛍️ T4T Clothing Swap: Sunday, May 4, 1—4 p.m., No Registration Required
💻 Virtual Monthly QT Meditation with Nonbinarian K.: Monday, May 5, 8:30—9 p.m., Zoom
🛍️ Knit to Resist with Nonbinarian Arya: Wednesday, May 7, 6—7 p.m., No Registration Required
🛍️ COVID-Conscious Crafting: Friday, May 9, 7—9 p.m., RSVP via Eventbrite
Bring your own supplies/crafts or come use ours!
📍 Rainbow Book Fair (off-site): Saturday, May 10, 12—6 p.m. at the LGBT Center, 208 West 13th Street, in Greenwich Village
🛍️ The Nonbinarian’s AAPI Book Fair: Sunday, May 11, 12—5 p.m., No Registration Required
Join us for our paperback book fair celebrating AAPI heritage month! Free to browse, with a special day of discounts on book fair titles.
💻 Virtual Queer Writers Brooklyn Workshop with Nonbinarian Art: Tuesday, May 13, 7—8 p.m., Zoom
🛍️ Knit to Resist: Wednesday, May 14, 6—7 p.m., No Registration Required
🛍️ Intimate Fragments: A Smutty Trans Open Mic: Thursday, May 15, 7—9 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
🛍️ T4TTrpg One-Off with Dillin: Saturday, May 17, 7—9 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
🛍️ Queer Cookbook Club: Sunday, May 18, 4—6 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
🛍️ Writing Trauma with Cara Gormally & Emi Nietfeld: Tuesday, May 20, 7—8:30 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
🛍️ Upcycled Journal Making with Nonbinarian Teresa: Thursday, May 22, 6:30—8 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
Materials provided!
🛍️ Queer Disability Aid Art as Therapy Support Group: Saturday, May 24, 7—9 p.m., RSVP Link TK
Materials provided!
🛍️ Little Readers ROAR! Storytime: Sunday, May 25, 11:30 a.m.—12 p.m., No Registration Required
Appropriate for ages 0-5; coloring materials provided!
🛍️ Monthly ATLS Name Change Clinic: Sunday, May 25, 2—4 p.m., No Registration Required
Please remember to bring a valid government ID for the ATLS notary to see.
🛍️💻 Hybrid Reading Trancestors: A Trans History Book Club with Nonbinarian Philomena: Monday, May 26, 8—9:30 p.m.
Register via Zoom or RSVP via Partiful for in-store attendance. Open only to TGNC attendees.
💻 Virtual Queer Writers Brooklyn Workshop: Tuesday, May 27, 7—8 p.m., Zoom
💻 The Nonbinarian Book Club with Nonbinarian Sam: Friday, May 30, 8—9 p.m., Zoom
🛍️ The Nonbinarian's (Indoor!) Community Picnic: Saturday, May 31, 4—8 p.m., RSVP via Partiful
The Nonbinarian Book Club
The Nonbinarian Book Club is reading The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders by Sarah Aziza.*
Join us Friday, May 30, at 8 p.m. ET on Zoom to meet other club members and chat about the book! The Zoom link will be sent out on the day of the meeting.
The Nonbinarian Book Club is a monthly, virtual, queer and trans-focused book club. Attendees will receive $5 off their next purchase at The Nonbinarian Bookstore, in-store or online. Meetings take place on the last Friday of each month and book club picks will be announced via the Nonbinarian Newsletter and social media on the 1st of each month.
Reading Trancestors: A Trans History Book Club
Hosted monthly by Nonbinarian Philomena Polefrone, Reading Trancestors will meet on the last Monday of the month both in-store at The Nonbinarian Bookstore and virtually on Zoom. Each month we will collectively suggest and vote on our next book together.
In May, we’ll be reading A Short History of Trans Misogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson (available in print, digital, and audiobook).*
Reading Trancestors is a free, monthly, hybrid reading and discussion group centering trans authors and readers, focused on learning from a past that insists on continually repeating itself. How did our trancestors survive the things we’re scared will happen again? Where did they find purpose in a world with no concept of their existence? What beautiful siblings are in the archive, siblings we may not even know existed?
Attendees (both virtual & in-person) will receive $5 off their next book club pick purchase at The Nonbinarian Bookstore.
Note: This book club centers the trans gaze and is closed to trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming attendees.
*If ever you cannot afford to obtain a copy of the book club pick for any of our meetings, please reach out to us via email. No judgment, no questions. We take care of us.
The Nonbinarian Bookstore was featured in Publisher’s Weekly National Indie Bookstore Day Round Up!
The Nonbinarian Bookstore in Brooklyn, which opened six months ago, also participated in its first bookstore crawl in April, joining 25 other indies in the borough. Medals were presented by the Nonbinarian booksellers to customers for whom the store was their 20th bookstore; three shoppers for whom the Nonbinarian was their 26th and final stop on the crawl received the honors. "Everyone in the store would erupt into applause" when the first medal was awarded to a shopper, recounted owner K. Kerimian, “It was just like a really wholesome moment, like everyone was celebrating this person."
Featured Partnership: Levine Querido x Trans formative Schools x The Nonbinarian
Pre-order copies of One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller (out 5/13 from Levine Querido) & uplift stories for & about trans kids in sports! All copies purchased from this Bookshop.org Wishlist go to the students & educators at Trans formative Schools.
About One of the Boys (out 5/13): Grace Woodhouse has left a lot behind. She used to have a great friend group, an amazing girlfriend, and a right foot set to earn her a Division I football scholarship—before she came out as trans. As senior year begins, Grace is struggling to find her place in early transition, new social circles, and a life without football.
But when her skills as the best kicker in the state prove to be vital, her old teammates beg her to come out of retirement, dragging her back into a sport—into a way of life—she thought had turned its back on her forever. When a chance meeting cracks the door to college football back open, she has to decide how much of herself she's willing to give up for the game she loves.
If you'd like to partner with us for an event or sponsorship, please reach out via e-mail! In addition to subscribing to our newsletter, following us on social media, visiting the store, and participating in events, you can also support the Nonbinarian in the following ways:
📚 Donate a book (or books)! See our used book policy for details.
📚 Donate funds to help upkeep costs rent and bike maintenance! You can make a one-time donation or set up a monthly one on Ko-Fi, or you can donate via Venmo.
📚 Buy a book from our wishlist!
📚 Buy a book through our Bookshop storefront!
📚 Support us with a Libro.fm subscription!
📚 Buy Nonbinarian merch!
To get involved in our virtual or in-person programming, please email info@thenonbinarian.gay!
Thank you to the Nonbinarian community for always showing up and showing out! We wouldn’t be here without our comrades, cheerleaders, volunteers, and backers! It has been a joy to meet you in-store and at pop-ups, interact with you on social media, and get to know the Brooklyn community and its various neighborhoods.
Want to contribute to the Nonbinarian Newsletter?
If you want to submit something to the newsletter, including events, mutual aid needs, book recs, or ideas you'd like to see us include, please email us at newsletter@thenonbinarian.gay.
Thank you for supporting the Nonbinarian Book Bike! Look for our next newsletter on the 1st of the month. In the meantime, follow us on social media for daily updates.