The Bureau of General Services — Queer Division is the ultimate LGBTQ space

During a time when our community spaces are vanishing or inaccessible, one dynamic duo is keeping the flame alive.

This week I had the pleasure of having a digital chat with Greg Newton and Donnie Jochum, the founders of NYC’s queer cultural hub – the Bureau of General Services – Queer Division. The Bureau is a bookstore, gallery, and cultural space that hosts a wide range of events including things like The NY Queer Zine Fair, The NYC Comic Fair, book releases, gallery openings, workshops, and panels. Greg and Donnie were among the first queer folk in NYC to welcome me into the world when I arrived about seven years ago. In this interview we discuss how they are continuing that work in digital spaces as the pandemic persists in the United States. 

Thank you for taking the time to chat with us at QueerForty. Introduce yourselves and Bureau of General Services Queer Division (BGSQD).

GN: Thank you for the invitation! We are Greg Newton and Donnie Jochum, co-founders of the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, a queer bookstore and event space in NYC.

The Bureau is one of the queer cultural hubs of the city. What effect did the NYC “shelter in place” order have on the Bureau? What was disrupted and what is happening now, almost eight months later? 

GN: We were so sad to have to postpone the opening of Paul Moreno’s solo exhibition, Problem Areas, which had been scheduled for Friday, March 13^th—the day The Center shut down. We had to postpone all of our upcoming events and exhibitions, but we started hosting virtual events in April, and we’re now hosting one to two virtual events each week. We also launched an online store in September, with the help of our wonderful volunteer Karlyn Murphy. 

What kinds of events are happening online?

GN: Since the shutdown began, the Bureau has hosted virtual events with queer zine makers; a British queer activist with a fabulous panel of activists from London and New York; a trans coloring book artist joined by the author of a queer/trans novel for middle-grade students; the author of an illustrated children’s book on Keith Haring; the editor and contributors to a book on LGBTQ people and healthcare; LGBTQ activists in Idaho; a queer author and activist from Nigeria who runs a shelter for asylum seekers here in NYC; and a panel of queer southern artists hosted by you, Dudgrick Bevins!

What reoccurring or upcoming events should we get excited for? 

DJ: TELL, the monthly queer storytelling event founded and hosted by Drae Campbell, is still going strong! Drae started this wonderful series at the Bureau in 2014 and we moved it online in May. With a different theme for each month, TELL gives a platform to three to five queer people invited by Drae to tell a story from their lives. Now that the event is online, we’ve had storytellers join from as far away as Los Angeles and Beirut!

I know diversity and inclusion are built into the fabric of BGSQD, but how are those values enacted in a digital space? 

GN: The selection of books that we offer on our online store is the most concrete way that we highlight the complex intersections of multiple identities within our diverse community. While issues of gender and sexuality are central to any discussion of queerness, we also seek out books that situate gender identity and sexual orientation in relation to the dynamics of class, race/ethnicity, age, physical appearance, religion, geography, nationality, language, HIV status, disabilities, physical and mental health, political and cultural affiliations, educational backgrounds, and historical contexts. 

DJ: We’re also thinking about diversity and inclusion when we book events, although we could definitely work on this more conscientiously. So many of the events we host have been initiated by others who approach the Bureau, which means that we are often reactive rather than proactive. This is partly intentional in that we want programming to be determined by members of the community. But we also recognize that we need to actively and intentionally reach out to engage those who don’t know about the Bureau or who haven’t considered collaborating with us.

With no clear end in sight, what are y’all planning for the expansion of your digital presence and digital culture work? 

GN: We’re going to continue hosting virtual events and expanding our online inventory on our digital store. We’re thinking of other ways that we can serve our community while our physical store remains closed, and we very much welcome ideas, suggestions, and help! We used to say that the primary service that the Bureau offers is space. Now the space we have to offer is exclusively in the digital realm: our website, weekly emails, social media pages, events on Zoom, and our YouTube channel. 

I’m so happy that y’all have found ways to continue your community building in the pandemic. Can you tell us a little about how it all started? The genesis of the Bureau up to, let’s say, March 13^th, 2020?

DJ: In September 2011 we were walking near the former location of A Different Light Bookstore (which closed in 2001) when we first thought of opening a queer bookstore. We continued fantasizing about the idea, and by the end of that year we committed ourselves to the project. 

GN: I had learned in July 2011 that the 2011-2012 academic year would be my last year of full-time employment at Parsons The New School of Design, which led me to begin questioning my goal of completing my PhD in art history from the CUNY Graduate Center and continuing with a career in academia. The idea of co-founding a queer bookstore seemed like much more fulfilling and exciting work! Thankfully, Donnie had a steady job that would support us so that we wouldn’t have to rely on the bookstore for income. 

DJ: In late 2011 and throughout 2012 we connected with independent booksellers, publishers, authors, artists, and others in the LGBTQ cultural world for advice and recommendations, and Greg volunteered at Bluestockings over the summer of 2012. With a lot of help from friends and volunteers, we launched the Bureau as a pop-up shop at Strange Loop Gallery on the Lower East Side in November 2012. Founded by partners Claire Fleury (fashion designer) and Alesia Exum (photographer), Strange Loop already had a queer following, which was great for helping us meet so many wonderful people who have remained friends and supporters. 

GN: We ended up staying longer than anticipated at Strange Loop—through August 2013—hosting all kinds of events: readings, performances, film screenings, exhibition openings, discussions, and workshops. Following the advice of artist AA Bronson, we said “yes” far more than we said “no” when people approached us about hosting events or selling their books and art. 

Ha! I know this is true, because you said yes to my Kintsugi Books event! 

DJ: While the crowdfunding campaign we had launched that summer of 2013 raised over $20K—with the help of so many great queer artists, performers, and donors—we had ambitiously hoped to raise $50K in order to secure a lease for a bookstore and café on the Lower East Side. Looking back, we recognize that $20K is a lot of money for a tiny organization that was not even a year old! And that money enabled us to continuously operate the Bureau for one more year in an upstairs space on Hester Street, right around the corner from Strange Loop. 

GN: In our first couple of years, we participated in many offsite events, lugging books to sell at book fairs, queer literary events, and other cultural events to help spread the word about our project. We worked our asses off and lost more money than we took in, but we also received lots of love, encouragement, and help.

DJ: In early 2014, the filmmaker and founder of Queer|Art, Ira Sachs, reached out to us and suggested we speak with the administration of The LGBT Community Center in the West Village about partnering up. We were thrilled that The Center offered us a room for a very below-market rent just as The Center was finishing major renovations to the building. The Bureau opened at The Center in October 2014 and we’ve been there ever since doing what we do: providing a space dedicated to queer people and culture. 

Is there any way I can still get books from the Bureau? (Feel free to talk about the work of creating it, why buying from an independent bookstore is better, anything). 

GN: Yes! Please check out our online store bgsqd.com/store! We currently have about 200 titles available, and we’re adding more each week. Gift certificates are also available. Jeff Bezos, whose wealth has increased by over $90 billion since the start of the pandemic, remains the world’s richest individual with a net worth of over $200 billion. So please support independent bookstores like the Bureau instead of Amazon. You’ll feel better about yourself if you do!

What the best way for us to stay up to date with the Bureau and see past events? 

DJ: We send out a weekly email every Monday that includes the Bureau’s upcoming virtual events and news of other queer activities we recommend. You can sign up for the weekly email here. We’ve posted recordings of all of our virtual events on the Bureau’s YouTube channel, where you can also view videos of some of the many events that we’ve hosted over the years.