Tucked away at the top of the Merrion Centre in Leeds city centre is a bookshop boasting a small size and a big heart. The Bookish Type is Leeds' only independent Queer book store, it's a place for people to read about the past, present and future of the community and for those outside of the community to enlighten themselves on LGBTQ+ culture.
The LGBTQ+ community face hardship everyday, from little points of discrimination to ongoing hate crimes and violent attacks, such as the tragedy that struck Club Q in Colorado Springs last month. These safe and importantly, sober spaces are a place where the community can meet together and engage with a community, that in Leeds, is growing every year.
The shop is owned by Ray Larman and her partner Nicola, it opened just over two years ago during the height of the COVID pandemic after Ray and Nicola traded in modest book stalls for a fully-fledged space to sell all manner of Queer literature.
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Speaking of the importance of the shop, Ray, 49, said: "We were doing book stalls initially around Leeds and we're very much inspired by other queer bookshops that we have been to.
"So like Gays The Word and Category is Books in Glasgow, we sell a range of LGBT literature, fiction, non-fiction a lot of young adult books, poetry, children's books and graphic novels.
"It's important that we are here because Leeds has got a big queer scene and lots of queer venues."
A lot of the LGBTQ+ scene in Leeds consists of bars and clubs, meaning there are fewer sober spaces for people who either don't drink or don't want to engage in that aspect of the community. Ray said that it's important to have the shop as a daytime venue.
She said: "But for a lot of Queer venues, It's often about nightlife, they often revolve around drink and you know sometimes there are more young people, and a bookshop is a daytime space and sober space and it is multi-generational.
"It's important because you can see yourself represented here and it's important to be able to see yourself in books and read stories that are similar to your own and also maybe explore and find out more about your own community as well."
The space is not just for those in the LGBTQ+ community, Ray and Nicola are actively involving non Queer people to come and celebrate LGBT people and engage with stories they might not often come across.
"Even for people who aren't queer, this is still an important space, this is where you can find out about lots of different queer literature.
"It's a celebration of how creative LGBT people are, if I had a bigger space, I could have even more books."
The shop is located on the second floor of the Merrion Centre next door to Leeds Sexual Health Clinic. It sells a range of books and various artworks, and badges and has a noticeboard for events at the shop.
They put on events such as Queer book clubs and in the summer have walking book tours. To find out more, visit The Bookish Type's Instagram page. The store also operates a pay it forward scheme, for those who need helping access books.
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