The Portal Bookshop is an independent bookshop on Patrick Pool in the centre of York, a lane off the Shambles Market. Its own line is LGBTQIA, sci-fi and fantasy, and queer resistance, and the shelves follow it: science fiction, fantasy and LGBTQIA books, including titles for teenagers.
It shares the building with Over The Rainbow Café, an LGBTQ+ community café on the first floor, and the two run events together, from board game and role-playing evenings to drawing workshops. There is a pay-it-forward scheme for readers who cannot afford a book.
The branding makes no secret of it: a rainbow wordmark and a green dragon reading a book.
