The sellers at Underdog Bookstore in Old Town Monrovia — an LGBTQ-owned bookshop uplifting diverse authors and local presses — are combating hate with love.
After several recent experiences with racism and homophobia, the owners have added temporary discounts to their diverse book selections as a way to encourage knowledge and empathy. The bookstore, which opened its brick-and-mortar on Myrtle St. in 2023, prides itself on being organized by demographic — with books categorized by AAPI, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, Black authors, etc.
On a quiet Friday afternoon, Underdog bookseller Muse Lee was getting the shop ready for the neighborhood’s weekly evening street fair market, when he was confronted by a customer. Lee, who was working the store alone at the time, said a woman came into the shop around noon on Friday, Feb. 2, looked around for some time, and then began arguing with him about the selection of books in the store. Lee said it was the first time he had ever seen the woman in the store.
“She had a lot of objections, which she proceeded to voice to me — and that included racism, homophobia, and how overall she felt ‘oppressed as a white person’ by the presence of books like this in a store like this,” Lee, 27, said.
She also ranted about slavery and the Holocaust, Lee said.
Lee said the woman then went on to say that “everyone faces oppression,” and that continuing to talk about oppression is “counterproductive.” He noted that he didn’t feel threatened, but tried to steer her away from the many assumptions she voiced, while also trying to get her out of the store as quickly as possible.
“The one thing directed specifically to me was her assuming that I was Japanese, just because I am Asian,” Lee said. “As an example, she mentioned that ‘my people’ attacked America during WWII, and that isn’t talked about. I am not even Japanese.”
Though the woman eventually left and everyone was reported safe, it wasn’t an isolated incident. Later that evening, bookseller Maithy Vu said there were several customers in the bookstore when a man and a child came in, yelling an expletive while banging on the keys of the piano near the store’s entrance.
“That definitely got all the customers’ attention, including kids that were in the store,” Vu said.
After she confronted him, Vu said the man “ignored me, so l got up, got closer to his face, and said ‘I’m going to have to ask you to leave,’ and he did.”
Underdog Bookstore “regularly experiences homophobic patrons and push back” since its opening last year, said co-owner Nathan Allen. Allen, who uses he/they pronouns, said the store experiences an incident “at least once a month.”
They posted an Instagram video on Friday that got widespread attention and support from Underdog patrons and regulars. Allen said it was the first incident to also involve anti-Asian hate.
Though nationwide reports of anti-Asian hate drastically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is still rising overall.
“We’re big fans of freedom of speech. But not all speech is appropriate for the store and we do have some say over that,” Allen, 31, said.
Whenever the bookshop or its employees experience some type of homophobia, Allen said they try to provide a discount on that literature “to encourage people to both educate themselves, as well as donate the books they buy to little free libraries.”
On Friday night, Allen chose to offer 10% off the store’s books by AAPI and LGBTQ+ authors.
“One of the reasons why we’re here is to make the community safer, and the only way we know how do that is to combat (hate) with knowledge,” Allen said. “We encourage you to read and donate books to little libraries, as you can, in order to help combat these troubling ideologies circling our neighborhood and community.”
Underdog Bookstore aims to provide a safe, welcoming space for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC customers, Allen said, and encourage allies to take time to unlearn any biases.
“We continue to get knowledge out there, and I’m not sure if that’s effective,” he admitted. “It always feels a bit helpless when someone walks into your business and not only attacks the business itself, but identities of the people who work in it; people we are very passionate about.”
Bookseller Vu said customers trickled into the shop on Friday, showing their support or donating books for Underdog’s “pay what you can” shelf.
“We certainly didn’t expect a second (attack),” Vu, 32, said. “My coworkers keep asking me if I’m okay, but to be honest, fear did not kick in. My first thought was just, ‘Nope.’”
Monrovia resident Jennifer Vogel, who came to the store with her wife and child to buy kids’ books, called Underdog a “safe environment.”
“Anytime we can spend time and money here, we do,” Vogel, 44, said. “Events like what happened today tell me that there’s something good happening here. Anytime anyone tries to make a change, it’s an issue for someone.”
Emily Lindley-Rodriguez, an event coordinator at the nearby Mt. Lowe Brewing Company in Arcadia, said she worked with Underdog Bookstore on different events, including an adult book fair.
“We are so saddened to hear about the homophobic and racism Underdog Bookstore has had to experience as of late,” Lindley-Rodriguez said. “Our community is better than this. They are truly a great addition to have to our community.”
Bookseller Lee said that Monrovia has “carried us through all of the challenges,” and that he is not afraid to work at Underdog.
“For every hateful person who comes through here, hundreds of incredibly wonderful, supportive Monrovians come through to buy our books, have a conversation with us and attend our events.”