As the U.S. book trade downsizes, the average print life of a book is four or five years. A growing number of gay and lesbian titles go out of print, despite reprint efforts by Elysium and a few other presses. There are many reasons for lessened interest in older titles. Gay youth have little opportunity to get educated about their book heritage. First editions of old books are scarce, because many personal libraries get thrown in the dumpster by disapproving families when gay men or lesbians die.
Some gay literati are evidently in denial about the crisis.
The 100 list got major coverage by mainstream and gay media. Publicly, it stirred up a hornet s nest, as angry readers wrote to challenge the literary criteria and complain that their favorite author was not on the list. The greatest damage was invisible, economic. Had the Publishing Triangle limited the list to living authors with books in print, a spurt in sales would have certainly resulted. As it was, fewer authors and publishers will benefit and the list stands as proof that some gay people still don t perceive the growing crisis.