Ten queer and quirky finds from the world’s oldest LGBT bookstore

Hidden gems from Toronto’s Glad Day Bookshop

Glad Day Bookshop, the world’s oldest surviving LGBT bookstore, first opened in 1970, and its shelves have housed some of the queerest and rarest works from around the globe. Now, as the shop plans its move to a new location on Church Street, we decided to take a look and see what you can find between the stacks.

Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition
The quintessential read on nautical anal copulation from 1800–1899.

Danger in High Places; Day Stripper; In the Blood; Woman Sleuth Anthology
Forty years of lesbian mysteries will slay you.

The Daddy Machine (1992)
Beyond being a fantastic drag king persona, this is also one of the earliest books to introduce same-sex parenting to children.

After Dark
Back issues of this magazine put the sub in gay subtext.

Gay Video: A Guide to Erotica
Helping you navigate all the gay porn filmed prior to 1986. Yep, they were able to fit it all in one book . . .

A Legislative Guide to Gay Rights
Even before Portlandia, Portland was blazing the way with these municipal rules and bylaws for gay and lesbian inclusion in 1977.

Having Come the Long Way; The Traveling Sexman; Young Hard Hitch-Hicker; Tied Chicken
Turn off your computer and use your wrist to flip through these vintage tales.

Need a card for the introspective daddy in your life or your Jewish lesbian other half? Glad Day has you covered.

The Strange Trio and Dikesville
I hear Dikesville’s nice in the spring . . . and the summer . . . and the fall and winter.

Homosexual Oral Sex
Everything you need to know on the off-chance you choose to partake in the rare art of fellatio.

You can help Glad Day Bookshop with its move to a new, accessible and adaptable space here.