Taboo; or, I do not think that word means what you think it means...

[bellatrys]

If I were to claim that science fiction were a forbidden thing today in this country, that fans were persecuted and fandom prohibited in the public sphere, you'd wonder what the hell I was talking about. You might point to the fact that nearly all bookstores have SF sections, except for those few which are devoted to some highly-specialized topic,

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[bellatrys]

It was the fact that they got off the bus and started chatting with a total stranger at the stop who asked them where they were from/where they were going and said "We're going to Barnes & Nobles to buy her a Study Bible," - they were looking for a particular kind with all these notes and extras that was the right size for carrying around, and knew that B&N carried them - that made it all click.

The Religious books section at B&N is just as big as the SF section, if not bigger (it's more spread out) and it's mostly Christian of various denominations, plus there are all these other Christian authors like Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, L'Engle, Lewis, who have their books in other mainstream sections, too. On the other hand, it's almost *impossible* to track down the GLBT books - they're in a totally different part of the store from the het romance/sexuality section - and it's one small vertical of the shelving by comparison. But it's Christianity which is "banished" from the public sphere, and "taboo," right.

And I *have* run into the 'we are a persecuted minority, but we are the Real Elite, the true salt of the earth!" mindset from fans, so it all sort of fell together...