Over The Rainbow Café is York's LGBTQ+ community café, on the first floor of 5 Patrick Pool in the city centre, above The Portal Bookshop. It is run as a community interest company and calls itself a sober space and a neurodivergent-friendly queer space.
The room is small and bright, with white-painted brick, a rainbow flag and a Progress Pride flag over the counter, bunting, greenery and a chalkboard menu. It serves hot drinks, snacks and ice cream floats.
Much of what happens here is community work: a clothes rail for swapping clothes as part of gender affirmation, a binder donation scheme and a pay-it-forward system for food and drinks. There are arts and crafts sessions, role-playing and board game evenings, talks and low sensory days.
