PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR RAINBOW IS 🌈

Bolster the community during Pride Month *and beyond*. Artists, food industry folks, makers, and more; we compiled a list of some favorites for you to support. Of course, this is by NO means an exhaustive list; we encourage you to search for yourselves. Next time you need a gift, are having a treat-yourself-moment, grabbing some everyday essentials– we can betcha there’s an LGBTQIA+ company that’s got it for ya.

Supporting Queer brands means signing up for their email lists, following + engaging with them on social, paying full price (yes! If you can help it, don’t wait for that coupon code!) for their products and services, spreading the word about their businesses…you know the drill!

Some spots local to ASBURY PARK include…

• Kinetric Wellness - Okay…if y’all are in the Asbury Park area…you MUST visit Kinetric Wellness (truly life-changing!!) Owner + Principle Massage Therapist Dina knows everybody is different, but more importantly, every body responds differently to every treatment. She takes a whole-brained approach to treating your pain and focusing on your recovery

• AP Greenery - Not your typical florist! AP Greenery creates arrangements from a fine art sculptural perspective. Weddings, exotic house plants, they’ve got it all!

• The Empress / Paradise - Iconic ocean-front hotel + gay club/bar duo

• Hotel Tides - Our Summer pool spot!

• Confections of a Rockt$tar Bakery - Offers extraordinary baked goods and cakes for any occasion. They use only the finest & freshest ingredients, handcraft all products from scratch, and all of their products are baked fresh daily *drools*

• Georgie’s - “The gay Cheers” of the Jersey Shore is what they’ve been crowned– karaoke, community (read: heaven!) A stronghold for the LGBTQIA+ community of Asbury Park and neighboring towns

• Project R.E.A.L. - Real empowerment on all levels. Offers free social events that bring together the local young LGBTQ+ community helping build peer support. Project R.E.A.L. also provides sexual health advocacy and serves as a point of contact between the client and community resources such as housing, HIV and STD testing, therapy, and more

• QSpot - Fosters the health, well-being, and pride of NJ’s LGBTQIA+ and allied community by providing resources, referrals, education, and outreach. QSpot works tirelessly to fulfill its mission while operating a safe and welcoming LGBTQIA+ community center

• Garden State Equality - New Jersey's largest #LGBTQ+ advocacy and education organization; services include advocacy, policy work, and trainings. The team at GSE works to address safe environments for youth, improvement of health services that meet LGBTQ+ community needs, and respectful treatment of seniors

AND BEYOND…

FOOD

• Omsom - The Omsom team brings proud, loud Asian flavors to your pantry, proudly reclaiming + celebrating the multitudes to be found in Asian flavors, stories, and communities. Real deal Asian cuisine co-founded by sisters Vanessa and Kim Pham

• Yeah Dawg Vegan - People can be healed by food is what the Yeah Dawg team believes; their products are made from love and a conscience for a better tomorrow for people, animals, AND the environment

• Prime Roast Coffee Company - Our coffee roaster + cafe pals from New Hampshire! The team aims to provide craft quality, bring happiness, build community, and grow thoughtfully

• Shaquanda Will Feed You - Our absolute FAVORITE hot sauce EVER!! Loaded with all goodness, a bouquet of fabulous whole ingredients, and no fillers or starches

• Diaspora Co. - Single-origin spices grown for flavor, rooted in equity, and sourced from small, family farms across India

• Food Plus People - Queer, Black women-owned with the belief that food should be delicious on your palate, nourishing for your body, and accommodating to your budget, “all at the same damn time.” Their products breathe life and joy into your pantry and were created to put humanity back in every meal. As a business, they also hire and train up systemically-impacted people and aim to provide education that will aid in the same folks growing into the hospitality industry

• Third Culture Bakery - After falling in love in Berkeley, CA, Chef Sam Butarbutar and Wenter Shyu started a bakery journey together, offering pastries reflective of their childhood in Indonesia and Taiwan (we may or may not be placing an order for their mochi muffins this very moment…)

• Cowgirl Creamery - Okay…we are sort of OBSESSED with cheese, so we would be remiss to leave these organic cheesemakers out; order online or visit the shop next time you’re in CA

CLOTHING + ACCESSORIES 

• TOMBOYX - The team at TOMBOYX wondered, “how hard can it be to make good underwear?” So they did it themselves! My partner is obsessed with their products that are designed to fit regular bodies and how we see ourselves– regardless of where we fall on the size or gender spectrum

• Outplay - Gender-neutral swim + sportswear

• Fluide - Our FAVORITE mission-driven beauty brand that creates vegan, cruelty-free, and paraben-free cosmetics designed for all skin shades and gender expressions. The team at Fluide believes that makeup is joyful and fun– as well as powerful AND transformative– and that no one should be left out

• Transfigure Print Co. - LGBTQ+-centered screen printed apparel/custom print shop

• Okay Okay Company - Asian American and Queer artist Tia started Okay Okay Company on a whim during the pandemic to turn experimental craft-making into a small business offering accessible and uplifting polymer clay jewelry and wearable art

• Bowtie Behavior - Handmade with high-quality fabrics; With no formal education in fashion or design, owner Robbie learned how to sew and make bowties to fit their style and budget. Bowtie Behavior was founded with the intent to create pieces that are bold and flavorful; pieces that outfits are built around

• Makoma - Creating one-of-a-kind, contemporary designs using a combination of African prints and classic silhouettes; global fashion with African inspiration that encourages folks to be free and be you

• Bianca Designs - Small independent shop that features real cool pins and creative goods made with love in Queens, NY. The shop is run by Queer Latinx Artist, Bianca Negron

• Passionfruit - Passionate Queers that believe in the power of togetherness, a colorful and bright future for all LGBTQQIA youth, and visibility. Their mission is to create inclusive clothing and accessories that enable you to show your pride all year round while giving back to our community

• Automic Gold - Radically wearable fine jewelry for everyone. They believe representation matters, all the pieces are made from reclaimed gold and arrive in recyclable packaging, and they’re totally self-funded (which means no compromising their values just for $$$ from investors!) AND we’ve gotta mention– they don’t Photoshop their models (hell yeah to positive, honest body images!)

HOME + LIFE

• enby - Everyone is welcome; the enby team strives to create a safer, and more comfortable sex-toy shopping experience for the Queer community, specifically centering Trans, non-binary, and other GNC people. They’re climate-conscious (every shipment = carbon neutral) and mission-driven (a portion of all profits are donated to a rotating list of small underfunded organizations focused on improving the lives of Queer/Trans People of Color)

• Hills and Holler - Greeting cards, prints, suncatchers, zines— we just picked up this awesome print for the apartment!

• Ash + Chess - Bold greeting cards and art prints that make political statements— we’re huge fans of their work over here and recommend you buy their book, which I personally think should be a textbook in school!

• Bluestockings - And while we’re chatting books– buy all your books from New York's only Queer, Trans, AND sex worker-run bookstore Bluestockings

• Sigil - Gender-fluid fine fragrances made with natural plant and flower extracts

• Otherwild - Basically your one-stop-shop– they have EVERYTHING you’d need from clothing to home goods, pantry items, self-care products, and more. A store, design studio, and community space, as well as a zero-waste shop, and androgynous swim/apparel line, hirsuit. A favorite shop of mine when I lived in Brooklyn/worked in the city (now only the LA location is open, but you can shop online!)

• SUAY Sew Shop - Los Angeles-based 100% vertical sewing and production shop creating a culture of community and reuse. Products are created from a combination of post-consumer waste, deadstock and domestically, organically grown fibers

• NOTO Botanics - Radical self-care offering natural multi-use products for all your parts (seen + unseen)– my favorite skincare brand EVER, and trust me, I’ve tried at least ~8,340 different skincare brands

• MINNA - Creates ethically made home goods rooted in traditional craft techniques

DONATE

(Reminder: whenever possible, donate to individuals! Reach out to your local TGNC and Queer neighbors to see if anyone could use a hand with funds for any number of things.) 

• Trans Trenderz - Trans Trenderz is more than a record label. The Black Trans-owned organization aims to help Trans artists achieve mainstream success while feeling empowered and respected for who they are. On top of releasing music that is entirely produced by Trans artists, they lead several initiatives to help strengthen the Trans music community

• Black Trans Travel Fund - A grassroots, Black Trans-led collective providing Black Trans women with financial and material resources needed to remove barriers to self-determining and accessing safer travel options

• Trans Defense Fund LA - Mutual aid group that was created in response to the disproportionate violence that Trans women face; provides Trans folks living in LA with safety kits, hosts self-defense classes, partners with various initiatives in the LA community to provide the Trans community with free resources (such as free meals from a local eatery or a free beauty/wellness bag)

• The Okra Project - A collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home-cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans people

• House of Tulip - Building an inheritance for the TGNC community in Louisiana; they’re also working to acquire a separate space that can serve as a community center where TGNC people can safely access social safety net navigation, community programming, a hot meal, a shower, or a safe place to just hang out or do schoolwork

• G.L.I.T.S. - Approaching the health and rights crises faced by Trans sex workers using harm reduction, human rights principles, economic and social justice, along with a commitment to empowerment and pride in finding solutions from our own community. G.L.I.T.S. also advocates and educates to ensure the health, wellness, and inclusion of Trans people in our society, and to address the stigmatization and criminalization of Trans people because of anti-sex work laws

• It Gets Better - Uplifting, empowering, and connecting LGBTQ+ youth around the globe

• FOR THE GWORLS - Hosting monthly parties with the end goal of raising money to help Black Trans people pay for their rent and gender-affirming surgeries– we’re currently offering PRIDE PORTRAITS + collecting to help FTG meet their June fundraising goal! Click here for details on the portrait sessions or donate (thanks for the support!)

• BTFA Collective - Creating spaces for the production and preservation of Black Trans art and culture by building community with + providing resources/support for Black Trans femme artists to thrive

• Trevor Project - Leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to young LGBTQIA+ people under 25