Hey, it’s Pride Month! It’s a time for the LGBTQ+ community to come together and celebrate who they are. And to honor the achievements and the strides that the community has made toward freedom, equality, and acceptance. So, to do our part in supporting the LGBTQ+ community, we have curated a list of the top sustainable LGBTQ businesses to support. Whether it’s a pride flag lapel pin or a t-shirt with a slogan on it, these LGBTQ-owned businesses will serve as excellent finds in your online shopping cart. And let’s help to celebrate diversity and shatter stereotypes, along the way.
1. Meow Meow Tweet
Meow-Meow Tweet is the brainchild of Jeff Kurosaki (they/them) and Tara Pelletier (she/they). The pair’s innate openness and curiosity gave birth to Meow Meow Tweet, where they create everything from all-natural soaps to insect repellant and deodorant cream as well as a complete facial regimen. Drawing on Tara’s background as a chef and herbalist, all of their products are made as if they were modern culinary dishes. And all of the packagings features Jeff’s whimsical illustrations. Oh! And this quirky name of the brand was influenced by their two beloved cats and Jeff’s pet bird.
2. Junebug And Darling
Your search for cute cross-stitches ends here with LGBTQ-owned business Junebug And Darling. They make unique framed cross-stitches and modern stitches kits that will surely bring out the artist inside you. Each finished piece and kit in this Etsy shop is designed and assembled by the owner Zoë, combining nature, queerness, and political justice.
3. Boy Smells
The journey of Boy Smells began in 2016 as a small operation in a kitchen in Los Angeles. The brand first began as an experiment in candle-making by the co-founders and partners Matthew Herman and David Kien. Using his expertise in design and product development, Herman and Kien began making things they would want to use on an everyday basis. Products that were fluid but also affordable. Their candles are made with natural oils, all-natural coconut wax, beeswax blend, and love. These candles are hand-poured in a reusable glass vessel; so you can put the vessels into some other purpose when the candle is all burned up.
4. Automic Gold
Automic Gold makes radically wearable fine jewelry for everyone. They are queer, sustainable, inclusive, and one of the most spoken, woke LGBTQ-owned businesses. To spread body positivity, Automic Gold doesn’t photoshop their models. Instead, they show honest body images. The brand hires size-inclusive, non-cis, non-white models all year round, not just for awareness months. All of their pieces are made from reclaimed gold, and they deliver those to you in recyclable packaging.
5. Noto Botanics
Noto, the clean beauty brand, was born after the founder Gloria Noto’s “mini-life crisis” vacation to Thailand. After 12 years of experience as a makeup artist, Gloria launched Noto in her kitchen. Her clean beauty and body care brand caters to queer, non-binary, trans, and more BIPOC bodies. Not just being a clean beauty and sustainable brand, Noto also supports vulnerable communities, the arts, the environment, and organizations such as Black Mama’s Matter, The Land Foundation, The Trevor Project, and many more.
6. Fluide
Fluide is a mission-driven beauty brand that creates vegan, cruelty-free, and paraben-free cosmetics designed for all skin shades and gender expressions. The brand strives to provide a platform and amplify the voices of queer and gender-expansive identities and showcase queer beauty. Fluide believes that “makeup is joyful and fun — as well as powerful and transformative — and nobody should be left out.”
7. Origami Customs
Origami custom is a team of individuals of diverse identities and needs. This inclusive brand makes customized and handmade lines of swimwear, lingerie, and more for people of all genders. This LGBTQ-owned brand is based in Canada and moves forward with a mission to “offer people of any size, shape, age, ability, and gender expression a safe way to have customized clothing items that meet their needs.“
8. Makoma
Makoma’s goal is to create one-of-a-kind, contemporary designs using a combination of African prints and classic silhouettes. They provide the highest-quality craftsmanship, authentic styles, and clothes that are comfortable. Each piece is ethically made, and you can only buy them on their site or at their once-a-month pop-up shops.
9. Yeah Dawg
June also heralds the start of summer cookouts and barbeques. Marino Benedetto, a non-binary vegan chef, prepares one of the tastiest vegan hotdogs. Thanks to the tasty veggie hotdog, plant-based foodies can now enjoy a vegan grilled dog without using animal products. Benedetto spent 5.5 years working with homeless teenagers, teaching them about good, affordable, and nutritious foods. This also inspired him to reconsider the typical American hotdog and other meat-centric meals. Since then, Benedetto has created vegan burgers, mac & cheese, cornbread, and his Yeah Dawg recipe.
10. W3ll People
Shirley Pinkson and James Walker founded W3ll People to promote equality and end animal cruelty. They encourage consumers to practice equality, inclusivity, and anti-discrimination by using cruelty-free, vegan makeup, and skincare products. This LGBTQ-owned makeup line promotes activism while also offering a voice to an industry where discriminatory acts are typically neglected compared to other businesses.
If you’re looking to support sustainable brands that are owned and operated by members of the LGBTQ+ community, any of the companies mentioned above are a great place to start this LGBTQ pride month. Not only do these businesses offer sustainable products, but they also give back to their local communities. So, remember to support them this month and beyond, by shopping from them, and following them on Instagram.
