LOS ANGELES—The original Circus of Books, the gay porn retail establishment that served as a centerpiece of LGBTQ community life in West Hollywood, Calif., for more than three decades, closed it doors for good in February of last year. Three years before that, the Circus of Books branch in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silver Lake, had closed down.
But the legend of Circus of Books, and the surprising story behind the two-store chain, gets a second life on Netflix starting on April 22, when the streaming service debuts a documentary, also titled Circus of Books, produced by Ryan Murphy—the Glee and Pose creator who in 2018 signed a development deal with the company worth a reported $300 million.
But perhaps more importantly, the documentary is directed and written by Rachel Mason, an artist and musician who is also the daughter of Karen and Barry Mason, the kindly couple who owned and operated the gay porn shops from 1982 to 2019. In fact, the straight couple have three kids. But their modest family business went on to become, according to a description of the documentary by Variety, “one of the biggest distributors of hardcore gay porn in the United States.”
The “nice Jewish couple” first became involved in the adult industry back in 1976 when, looking for a way to get through the mid-70s recession era and support their young family, they responded to a classified ad placed by Larry Flynt, and were hired as distributors for his then-two-year-old publication, Hustler.
“What was supposed to be a brief sideline gig, led them to become fully immersed in the LGBT community,” according to the WeHo Times. They took over a struggling West Hollywood adult store called Book Circus in 1982, changed the name to Circus of Books, and embarked on a “double life” that lasted nearly four decades.
Their career included a federal prosecution during the Ronald Reagan era, when Attorney General Ed Meese lead a nationwide crackdown on porn. Barry was able to strike a plea deal to avoid prison time.
At the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Masons ensured that their shops became a refuge for L.A.’s LGBTQ community, especially the store’s own employees, many of whom were stricken by the disease which in that era was almost always fatal.
Though the Silver Lake store’s previous space is now occupied by a cannabis dispensary, the original, Santa Monica Boulevard location opened earlier this year as Chi Chi LaRue’s Circus, a retail adult shop that pays homage to the LGBTQ cultural landmark that once stood on the spot.
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