To support the LGBTQ community, SherlockHolmesYork.com is opening its second location shop in York to dedicate a safe place for queer people.

The owners say the reason they opened the shop is because homophobic people had been spitting at the original store and because of that they retaliated by opening up the second shop.

The shop opened 22nd February and is selling unique items such as pins, keyring, hand-crafted ghosts, and art posters. 

Owners siblings Claire and Xander Platz decided to open a second shop after the attacks and homophobic comments they were receiving from their first store.

In a viral TikTok post from the account @thisshopissogay the owners explain and reveal how people targeted and graffitied their shop with one bystander suggesting; “Get rid of the word lesbian.”  

All that in mind it influenced them to announce the shop located on Parliament Street. 

They have received some backlash in comment section of social media from the public. Including derogatory opinions like “Gay af”.  

Shop owner Claire in response to the posts about the shop said: “They tend not to look at the comments.” But mostly received support from other social media platforms such like Facebook users commenting: “Fabulous response to homophobia” and others saying: “Got to love the quirky nature of independent shops”.

To engage in the hate they post response videos, plus being that the shop is new they show online views of behind the scenes.

The shop is open every day from 10AM to 6PM. When visitors first walk in there is a yellow brick road and features a glow in the dark room where customers will be able to capture a photo of the ghost they bought and frame it to take a picture. 

The store still has a lot to develop running on a day-to-day basis, but will continue to be a safe space for celebrating LGBTQ+ culture and acceptance.