As we approach the midway point of Pride Month, it’s a great time to send a little extra love to LGBTQ+-owned businesses. The business owners listed here need support in getting their companies to a level where they are as ingrained in the mainstream consciousness as the biggest brands of today. If you’re looking to put your dollars toward helping out business owners and entrepreneurs in the LGBTQ+ community, consider adding these brands to your shopping list for this month and every month after.
Equator Coffees
Are you a coffee lover? A caffeine fiend? Do you also love supporting LGBTQ+ businessfolk? If so, you have to try Equator Coffees! This company was founded by Helen Russell and Brook McDonnell in 1995, with a mission to sell responsibly grown and ethically processed coffee.
Equator Coffees even became an early partner of Fair Trade USA in 1999. This company is proud to be founded and ran by members of the LGBTQ+ community, and anyone looking to support that kind of business needs to look no further!
JZD
JZD is an apparel company that was founded by Jen Zeano in 2014. One of their first-ever designs that took consumers by storm was their “Pink Latina Power Tee,” which showed the founders that there was a demand out there for comfy, cute, and empowering threads. Zeano used social networking and the power of apps like Instagram to connect with her supporters, and the company is now bigger than ever.
“We decided to focus on creating products that made us feel represented and connected to our roots,” they write on their site. “We’ve grown and changed, but at the core, this brand is still on a mission to tell not only our story, but yours too.”
Noto Botanics
One makeup brand that is truly for everyone is Noto Botanics. Gloria Noto founded the company after a vacation to Thailand made her realize she wanted to follow her dreams of starting a beauty line. What came out of that is a burgeoning company that prides itself on offering “radical body care” products through ethical production methods.
All the Noto products are vegan, and they contain natural ingredients intended to heal your skin, not hurt it. Founder Gloria Noto states on her website, “I became excited to use all of the skills I learned over the years to create a line that celebrated the identities I felt I wasn’t seeing in the clean beauty industry at that time. Queer bodies, non-binary bodies, trans bodies, and more BI-POC bodies. I wanted to hear their stories and celebrate their lives.”
This list is just a jumping-off point; there are so many amazing, queer-owned businesses out there that you can support with even the smallest purchase. Be sure to also look up local LGBTQ+-owned businesses in your community who you can support through word-of-mouth marketing or by trying one of their products or services. Good luck in your journey of supporting the tenets of Pride Month as you find new brands with missions you support to put your money behind.
