Charis Circle

Since 1996 Charis Circle has worked alongside the South's oldest feminist bookstore, Charis Books and More (founded in 1974), to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. 

Charis is one of the most robust, visible, and accessible (both physically and economically) LGBTQ-centered social justice spaces in the country. As trends come and go, we bring our decades of lived experience to the fight for our lives, our words, our freedom. We were out and proud long before it was safe(r). We are trans-inclusive, anti-racist, multi-generational, anti-capitalist feminists regardless of the political or economic consequences. 

We believe in your right to be weird, to be difficult, to be inconvenient, to be unpalatable, or to simply not perform. In our internal shorthand, Charis is here to center the freaks and the geeks. It's our joking way of affirming the principle that when our most marginalized folks within our larger LGBTQ umbrella are served, centered, and cherished, all queer and trans folks will flourish. 

Queer and trans people are under attack here in Georgia and around the U.S. so we have invested even more of our energy and resources in supporting the health and well-being of trans kids, teens, parents, and adults. We host 4 groups each month devoted to trans people in addition to being the South's premier destination for trans authors to celebrate their books. 

We added a new staff role this year, Assistant Director of Community Engagement, to respond directly to your non-book programming needs. Already in 2026, we hosted mixers, support groups, indie film screenings, parties, and DIY workshops, and there are lots more to come!

Charis is an essential and historic “third space” in Metro Atlanta that asks you to come as you are, share what you wish, and take what you need. We want to help you find movement spaces to join, life resources and support you need, and art to sustain you. We might even help you find friends and romance along the way. 

We are uniquely able to speak and act freely because 80% of our income comes from our community members in increments of $10-$100 at a time. We don’t take money from people who seek to control the kinds of speakers we invite or the popular education programs we create for our community. 

But that means we really need everyone’s support. We have grown our staff and infrastructure to support all of the programming and events we host, but in order to remain the community space you love and rely on, we need your help.

For Give Out Day we are raising a minimum of $10,000 to fund one month of Charis Circle community programming. 

Please consider making a gift in honor of a fabulous feminist in your life or in memory of a queer or trans ancestor who shaped the world in the direction of justice. We need spaces to strategize, organize, connect, and dream the feminist future we all deserve. No gift is too small to help in this fight! 

Together with our partner, Charis Books and More, we host more than 300 events a year. Most of them are free or donation based and most of them are also accessible online from wherever you live in the world. There's never been a better time to plug into community. Join us today!