Gay's The Word

What you’ll find

Queer literary fiction and non-fiction, classics, history, memoir, biography, poetry, plays, young-adult and coming-out books, rare titles, LGSM merchandise and bookseller-curated recommendations. The shop can also special-order in-print LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ books not shown online.

Best time to browse

Tuesday-Thursday is best for a relaxed browse and bookseller conversation. The shop is very small and explicitly warns that Friday-Sunday can become extremely busy; groups and school visits must arrange at least three weeks ahead and should avoid those peak days.

Online store & international shipping

Online orders usually take 2-3 working days to process. UK parcels use untracked Royal Mail; the shop currently cannot ship to the EU or Northern Ireland under GPSR rules, but ships to listed non-EU European countries and can quote at-cost international shipping elsewhere by email.

Payment methods

The shop sells and accepts National Book Tokens and its own gift vouchers. A full current card/cash list is not published on the accessible official pages; special-order non-LGBTQ+ books require advance payment, so confirm a specific method before travelling if necessary.

Privacy & inclusion

The shop serves the broader LGBT+ community and hosts community activity, not only gay men. Staff can turn off background music on request, communicate by pen and paper, provide a chair or stool and offer a ground-floor toilet; there is no hearing loop or BSL-speaking staff member, and the toilet is not wheelchair acce