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  • Los Angeles Times

    They sold gay porn for decades; now, grandma and grandpa are calling it quits

    by Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times Feb 08, 2019 5 minutes

    LOS ANGELES - Karen and Barry Mason swear they never planned to sell porn for long.

    They were just really good at it.

    For 37 years, the couple - now septuagenarian grandparents - have run Circus of Books, a West Hollywood bookstore that sold gay and straight nudie magazines, hardcore pornographic films and sex toys, as well as international newspapers and classic literary titles.

    "I always assumed that we would end up doing something else," Karen said. "We don't know anything, really."

    The Santa Monica Boulevard store gained legendary status in Southern California's LGBTQ community as a place where people could peruse gay erotica or meet other gay people, hanging out in a place free from homophobia.

    Over the years, Circus of Books has survived an FBI raid, federal obscenity charges and complaints from law enforcement who said the store attracted prostitution and other criminal

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