10 Rad LGBTQIA+ Small Businesses That You Can Support During Pride and Beyond
We might not be completely stuck inside (but we should all be staying home as much as we can! Please!) But we are definitely missing all of the extravagant parades and wild parties that come with Pride Month this year. Fortunately, there are so many other ways to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and history that don’t require you to leave the house! One of those ways is to support LGBTQIA+ Owned businesses. It might not seem as fun dancing on a float but just wait until when your packages arrive in the mail - it’ll feel great!
Chromat
Chromat is an innovative bodywear and swimwear company founded in 2010. The brand became well-known for dressing the Queen of Leotards, Beyoncé, for her Mrs. Carter tour in 2013-2014. Chromat's designer, Becca McCharen-Tran, is queer and committed to representing people of color, trans people, and plus-sized people in her runway shows and in her look book. Their swimwear is absolutely fire. Every piece is sleek, sexy, and truly made for sizes from XS to 4X. And now that summer is officially here, Chromat is the place for swimsuits to feel sexy.
Recently, Chromat has partnered with Reebok to design the cutest athletic shoes and bonus: for all of the shoes Chromat is donating 20% of proceeds to NYC + Miami-based Covid-19 Mutual Aid networks.
Female Founded
Stuzo Clothing
LA-based but NYC influenced, STUZO Clothing is a gender-free clothing brand selling tee shirts boasting simple but powerful sentiments, such as “Woman Up” or “Boi Girl” or “Yup, still gay!”. You can also find face masks, hoodies, hats, mugs, and more at STUZO. If you’re looking for casual street style, sure to make a statement, look no further than STUZO.
Black Owned | Female Founded
Boy Smells
Sensuous, accessible and bright, Boy Smells products elevate your intimate world. Packaged in pink and conceived beyond the gender binary, Boy Smells candles and intimate apparel make loving your identity a daily ritual.
In 2016, Boy Smells began as an experiment in candle-making in the Los Angeles kitchen of co-founders and real-life partners Matthew Herman and David Kien. Herman and Kien–both fashion veterans who worked in design (Herman) and product development (Kien)–began by making the things they’d want to use on a daily basis, products that were fluid and essential.
Boy Smells candles are all developed and mixed in the founders’ home in Los Angeles with fragrance and natural oils, all-natural coconut wax and beeswax. The candles are hand-poured in a reusable glass vessel and hand-labeled in Los Angeles, California.
In 2018, Boy Smells launched Boy Smells, Unmentionables their first collection of intimate apparel, a new direction in the brand’s study of closeness. Made for all genders and all sizes, Boy Smells light jersey underwear are made in Peru from luxurious Pima cotton and dyed with an eco-friendly process to a palette of neo-natural colors that are skin-tone adjacent and inclusive.
Jade & Fox
Jade & Fox is the complete self-care company. Floral infused body oil, velvety body butter, scalp elixir, and massaging soap bars are just a few of Jade & Fox’s impressive product list.
coco & breezy
Coco and Breezy Eyewear was founded in 2009 by twin designers Corianna and Brianna Dotson. Their early designs were an instant hit in the entertainment and fashion world, and can be found in most major publications, e.g. Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Coco and Breezy's designs have ranged from the "third-eye" sunglasses for the late Prince to recent collaborations with Hershey's, Ciroc, and SIX:02. The twins DJ and create visual art.
Black Owned | Female-Founded
Adam J. Kurtz
Adam J. Kurtz (aka @adamjk) is an artist and author whose illustrative work is rooted in honesty, humor and a little darkness. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages and his “very personal” work for clients like Facebook and Urban Outfitters has been featured in the New Yorker, VICE, Adweek and more. Learn more at adamjk.com.
ADAMJK® is an independent brand and small press featuring a range of products by artist and author Adam J. Kurtz. Since 2009, it's been an umbrella for self-published stationery, gifts, and accessories including favorites like "SORRY I AM SUCH AN ASSHOLE" balloons, the annual Unsolicited Advice weekly planner, and "Bottled Up Feelings" products.
Hairrari
Hairrari is an all-inclusive barbershop. Hairrari specializes in individual styles for all. All of our barbers specialize in short hair and some also do long hair. Please check out our barber bios to choose the right stylist for your hair type. Whether its creative, classic, transformation or editorial, we got you! At Hairrari we are constantly growing and evolving and are very grateful for our your positivity and constant support throughout the years. Whether you’re new to Hairrari or have been coming to us for many years, we want you to know that we appreciate you! To show our gratitude, we would like for you to be involved in our goals and missions!
Hairrari’s mission is to spread the word about equal rights for everyone, spread love, raise awareness and educate all about a queer stuff and of course hair trends! Hairrari is actively involved in charities as Planned Parenthood, HMI, LGBTQ center to name a few and we constantly try to provide free haircuts to people in need so please don’t hesitate to email us if you know someone who may need our services free of charge. When booking online please feel free to add your pronoun next to your name or tell us when you visit.
Magda, the owner, a queer immigrant from Poland, has trained a lot of our talent herself and has developed one of the best haircutting programs in New York, allowing new barbers and hairstylists a place to train, grow and work their magic. Customer service, positive energy, client and talent satisfaction are very important to us.
Shop Fluide
Fluide is a makeup company “for him, her, them, everyone”. This two-year old company creates vegan, cruelty-free, free of parabens and phthalates ultra-pigmented liquid lipsticks, non-sticky lip gloss, and glorious glitters.
This month, Fluide is donating 10% of sales from their PRIDE collection to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, a non-profit created to elevate, support, and nourish the voices of black trans people and protect and defend their human rights.
Female Founded
Pals Socks
If you’re a fan of fun, funky socks than Pals Socks might be your new favorite shop. Pals doesn’t just sell cute socks; their sets are adorably mismatched but pair up perfectly, i.e. a moose and a bear or milk and cookies.
And if you’re worried about being too old for these cute socks – don’t. Pals makes socks from baby to adult.
Semicolon Bookstore
In 2016, DL Mullen began working on what she thought would be the ULTIMATE bookstore experience. A plush library feel, a restaurant and cigar lounge, and-of course-THOUSANDS of books! Unfortunately, the more time that passed, the more difficult the project became. Navigating real estate, hospitality groups, and construction woes was causing the project to feel more like a chore than it was intended to be.
This is how Semicolon came about.
After the latest construction issue and in an attempt to 'just do something', Ms. Mullen found a space, signed a lease, and got the keys all in a 24-hour timespan. Much smaller than the original idea, Ms. Mullen set to work making it feel like, well-home. Her favorite museum/library/bookstore all rolled into one. Oh, and BYOB, just for good measure!
A labor of love that she hopes visitors will feel in every area of the space, Ms. Mullen continues to be undeterred by the things that don't work out, and infinitely grateful for the ones that do!
Black Owned | Female Founded
