This season, we’re helping take the stress out of picking the perfect gifts for the loved ones on your list. From vegan soap to fierce fashion, all of the products and businesses featured are LGBTQ+-owned. Not only are you getting terrific gifts, you are also helping support a community of queer and transgender artisans and entrepreneurs. All of these gifts can be purchased online and shipped to you or a special recipient.
Stocking stuffers
Invented by Akeem Shannon and featured on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” the flipstik is a new tool for the phone-obsessed. Attach the small device to your phone, and stick it on any flat surface to create hands-free selfies and videos. Made with a special reusable adhesive, the flipstik can be used repeatedly (thousands of times, according to the website) and cleaned with an alcohol pad. flipstik already has fans like Snoop Dogg and Diddy and is available in over a dozen color options.
Jonathan Van Ness has managed to cultivate a beauty and hair product empire when they’re not busy on “Queer Eye” or recording his popular podcast, “Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness.” Van Ness, who was an accomplished stylist before their rise to fame, has created a line of cruelty-free, vegan, color-safe, silicone and sulfate-free hair and beauty products.
Couple Tim and Joey are the owners behind the 100% vegan soap and body product business. A hobby cultivated during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic has become a passion for the couple, who sell soaps, shower steamers, beard oil and more. Pick up scents like Flannel (lemon, lime, French lavender, woods, and white musk) and Dark Roast (espresso, chocolate, coconut, nutmeg, sugarcane, tonka bean, and heliotrope), among others.
Food and drink
Do you have a cocktail lover or aspiring mixologist on your holiday shopping list? The LGBTQ+-owned and operated Pink House Alchemy makes syrups, bitters and shrubs using botanicals, barks, fruits, and herbs. You’ll find flavors like Herbalicious Syrup, Pineapple Rosemary Shrub and Smoldered Bitters. Plus, the website includes recipes showing you how to best utilize the products with your favorite spirits.
Gift your loved one something cheesy with something from the queer-owned Cowgirl Creamery. Owners Peggy Smith and Sue Conley have been making cheese, crackers and chocolate since 1997. Have a selection of cheeses sent to the dairy diva in your life, like the Cowgirl Classic, which contains a triple cream Mt Tam, aged Wagon Wheel and Devil’s Gulch topped with dried chilies.
“Queer and Caffeinated” is the motto at this funky roaster and coffee shop in Atlanta. The queer and women-owned business does a lot of community outreach and collaborations with artists and other independent coffee shops. You can order bags of beans, weekly or monthly deliveries and lots of punchy merch.
Wearables
Portland, Oregon-based Wildfang has made quite a name for itself in its nearly 10 years in business. Specializing in gender-neutral and queer-positive clothing, Wildfang clothes have appeared on “L Word: Generation Q” and been worn by celebrities including Tegan and Sara, Megan Rapinoe and Cameron Esposito. Coveralls are Wildfang’s signature look, but the clothier has expanded into jackets, suits, slacks and much more. Most items are available in sizes XS to 3X.
Couple Jesus and Sergio run this quirky apparel company where the motto is, “Be you. Be proud. Year round.” Collections range from the playful “Sounds Gay, I’m In” to the statement-making “Let Boys Be Feminine” collaboration with artist Adam Dalton Blake. Gay Pride Apparel also donates 10% of profits to LGBTQ+ organizations.
Owner/designer Nik Kacy is gender nonconforming and transmasculine and created their shoe line to be gender-equal/gender-free. Kacy’s shoes are made to fit smaller feet and include casual, gender-neutral and masculine styles. Kacy also offers leather modular harnesses with bag attachments for everyday wear.
This Etsy-based jewelry designer has a large collection of items, from earrings and collar chains to enamel pins and necklaces, all with a queer slant. You’ll find femme ghosts, retro designs and playful options for the jewelry fanatic in your life.
Home
This queer-owned and trans-founded company makes domestically grown soy-wax candles with no additives that can burn up to 45 hours. You’ll find transportive scents like Aspen Trail and Northern Lights, along with familiar favorites like Pipe Tobacco and Pear and Fig. Untamed Supply also makes incense in many of the same scents.
TRNK NYC sells chic big-ticket home items like sofas and sectionals plus smaller items, including art, lighting and accent pieces. They feature brands from all over the world, with an emphasis on minimalist style. They also have their own line, the TRNK Collection. TRNK supports both the Ali Forney Center and The Black Youth Project 100.
Books and Music
Blind Eye Books specializes in science fiction, fantasy, mystery and romance featuring LGBTQ protagonists. Their publications have picked up accolades, including Lambda Literary Awards, Gaylactic Spectrum Awards and Rainbow Awards. If the bookworm in your life loves MLM-focused narratives, Blind Eye has many options to choose from.
Bisexual songstress Phoebe Bridgers founded the record label Saddest Factory in October 2020, which includes LGBTQ+ artists like Muna and Claud. You can pick up merch from all the artists or rep Saddest Factory itself with tees, pins and even monthly record subscriptions.
Do you have an LGBTQ+-owned business that should be on this list? Let us know at newsisout@localmedia.org.