LavenderBook Created by OAU Open the app Or press Shift 3 times

For trans people and the whole LGBTQ+ community

Find the places that welcome you.

LavenderBook is a free guide to more than 1,500 LGBTQ+ places across Canada: clinics, community centres, shelters, support groups and queer-owned spots, with honest reviews from people like you.

Open LavenderBook

lavenderbook.oau.app · free · works in any browser · no account needed to look

AndroidComing soon iPhone & iPadComing soon
LavenderBook's map of downtown Toronto: LGBTQ+ places as coloured pins, and a list of 180 places nearby with their kinds
A place's card on a phone: Toronto Purple Fins, a gender-free swim club, described by LavenderBook, with Directions and Write a review
1,500+places listed so far, starting in Canada
400+online groups and helplines
24kinds of place, from shelters to bars
Anywhereon Earth: the map works in every city

What’s inside

Everything you need to find your place.

A map, a directory and reviews, made by and for LGBTQ+ people, so you can walk in knowing what to expect.

01

1,500+ places, checked by hand

Every place in the Directory was found, checked and described by LavenderBook, so you know what it is, who it’s for and how to reach it. Choose what you need and see every place near you, nearest first.

  • Shelters, clinics, trans healthcare, food, legal aid, youth services and more
  • Descriptions written by LavenderBook, never by advertisers
  • Online groups and helplines you can reach from anywhere
Shelter Trans healthcare Mental health Food & essentials Community hub Support group Queer-owned Nightlife
The Directory asks what you are looking for, with tiles for Shelter, Food and essentials, Affirming healthcare, Trans healthcare and more, each with how many places it has
Trans healthcare opened on a phone: nine places near Toronto, nearest first
02

Your city’s queer map

Open the map anywhere in the world and see what’s around you: the drop-in centre, the clinic that gets it, the bar where you can just be. Move the map to another city and the whole list moves with it.

  • Works in every city on Earth: review any place you can find on the map
  • Pick your city, or let your phone find you. Your location never leaves your device.
  • Directions to the door in one tap
The map of Toronto on a phone, with LGBTQ+ places as coloured pins
The list of 180 places near Toronto, raised over the map, with each place's kinds
03

Reviews by us, for us

Rate a place in a minute: how welcoming it is, whether there’s a bathroom trans people can use safely, and what happened, in your own words. Your review helps the next person walk in knowing what to expect.

  • Clinics, shelters and other kinds ask a few questions of their own
  • New reviews reach everyone on the map right away
  • Change or delete your review whenever you like

The details that matter

Private by design. Kind by default.

Built for people who can’t afford to be found, and made to feel like somewhere you’d want to be.

Anonymous by design

Your reviews can each carry a different name, so nobody can line them up and find you. Exact dates stay hidden. Your location never leaves your device.

Search the way you talk

Type it the way you’d say it, even with a typo or in French, and LavenderBook’s own places come first.

  • doctorAffirming healthcare
  • HRTTrans healthcare
  • food bankFood & essentials
  • theraphyMental health
  • logementShelter
Searching 'trans clinic': four LavenderBook places first, then other places

A way out, one tap away

Someone walks in? Press Leave now, or Shift three times on a keyboard. LavenderBook clears itself from the device and opens an everyday website.

Checked, or found by visitors

See at a glance who vouches for a place: LavenderBook, or the visitors who reviewed it. Sort by nearest or top rated.

The list's settings: a distance ruler, All, Listed and Visitors, and Nearest or Top rated

Reach out in one tap

Every place we list comes with the details we checked: its website, email, phone number and socials, right on its card. No more digging through search results for a way to get in touch.

Groups you can reach from anywhere

More than 400 online groups, chats and helplines you can reach from home, for the times the nearest door is far away.

Free. No ads. No tracking.

No paywall, no advertisers, no one watching where you go. Just a book of places, kept by the community.

Four looks, one book

Warm paper and the trans flag in OAU, or Basic, Material and Chenfeng. Pick the look that feels like yours; LavenderBook remembers it on your device.

Why we made it

Made by our community, for our community.

We’re trans and queer people ourselves. We know the moment at the door: the second guess, the quick look around, the question of whether it’s safe to be yourself in here.

LavenderBook is what we wished we’d had. No algorithm and no advertiser deciding where you belong, just people like you, telling each other where they were welcomed, where they weren’t, and where to find help. We built it to give back to the community that keeps us going.

Start right now, in your browser.

No download, no sign-up to look around. Open the map, find your city, and see who’s there.

Open LavenderBook

lavenderbook.oau.app

AndroidComing soon iPhone & iPadComing soon

Version: not yet released

On a shared or watched device? Open it in a private window. Leave now is always in the top corner.

For organisations

Run an LGBTQ+ space? Let’s get you listed.

Whether you run a community centre, a clinic, a support group, a queer-owned shop or an online community, in Canada or anywhere in the world, we’d love to add you. Write to us, we’ll check your details, and you’ll be on LavenderBook for the people looking for you.

Email us atinfo@oneamongus.ca
One Among Us's maple leaves

Created by

One Among Us

One Among Us remembers the transgender people and allies we have lost. LavenderBook is our work for the living: a way to find the places where you are seen, safe and welcome.

Visit One Among Us