PRIDE GUIDE 2023

Support Seattle’s LGBTQ-Owned Businesses

It's always a great time to proudly support Seattle's queer community. Right now it feels especially crucial.

By Zoe Sayler June 5, 2023

The products listed here were selected by a member of the editorial staff. Should you choose to purchase a product through a link on this page, we may receive an affiliate commission.

Rainbow capitalism (n.) 1. Pandering to the LGBTQ community, often with rainbow merchandise and LinkedIn avatars—and typically exclusively during Pride Month—in order to make a profit or advance a business interest. 2. Not these local businesses.

Looking for a way to directly support Seattle’s queer community (and maybe even get some rainbow cupcakes out of the deal)? We’ve compiled a list of some LGBTQ-owned businesses in town that stay gay even when July 1 rolls around.

This list is not exhaustive—but we'd like to get a little closer! Please reach out to [email protected] with any suggestions for businesses we should feature.

Baas Framing Studio

madison valley

Seattleites entrust the expert framers at this LGBTQ- and woman-owned Madison Valley shop with framing some seriously precious cargo, from an original powdered wig to a set of Hermes scarves. 

Bang

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

A gender-affirming, centrally located salon with stylists who get that you want a turquoise mullet, not an aqua shag.

Big Little News

capitol hill

Shelves stocked with indie magazines, a fridge stocked with indie beer—print is living in this new-this-year Capitol Hill newsstand co-owned by Queer/Bar’s Joey Burgess.

Shelves full of magazines (our favorite!) at Big Little News.

Bite Society

SOUTH LAKE UNION

Clever, thoughtfully sourced, food-based gift baskets that look more at home in a boutique market than a corporate boardroom. 

Bootyland Kids

CAPITOL HILL

Everything in this shop's carefully curated inventory—stainless steel nesting lunch box kits, organic wool diaper covers, wooden mixing boards for the tiniest DJs, and, of course, plenty of rainbows—passes the environmentally conscious criteria set by the hip moms at the helm of this ship.

Coopers Optique

LOWER QUEEN ANNE

Zac Cooper's niche vision for a truly boutique eyewear shop dedicated to eye-catching, can't-find-it-elsewhere frames comes to life in this brightly lit space across from Climate Pledge Arena. During Pride Month, Coopers Optique offers its high-fashion frames at a discount for members of the LGBTQ community.

Crystallography Gems

GEORGETOWN

Self-described "crystal wizard and professional weirdo" Michelle Ferris runs a metaphysical shop that couldn't be more down-to-earth, with an entirely LGBTQ management team and a space so welcoming that it once played host to a lesbian proposal.

Doll Parts Collective

west seattle

Cofounder Alyssa Kaliszewski’s passion for sourcing gender- and size-inclusive vintage clothing colors the selection at this West Seattle shop: “I'm plus-size, and also bisexual, and wanted to find a way to offer vintage clothing for folks that are like me,” Kaliszewski says. “Folks who don't necessarily follow the normal gender prescription of what people should wear.”

Indian Summer

 

capitol hill

Indian Summer sits on a corner in residential Capitol Hill, a jewelry box of slinky ’60s dresses and shimmery ’90s crop tops nestled next to a convenience store with a bright red Coca-Cola sign. Look here—and at the shop's Instagram page, full of fabulous clothing on a variety of equally fabulous bodies—for a size-inclusive lineup of the glam finds that drew you to vintage in the first place.

Peace, Love, and Happiness Club 

fREMONT

With a houseplant outpost in its tiny Fremont storefront and an enormous, tropical, warehouse-style space for rare varieties just down the street, the shop run by Neil Silverman and his green-thumb partner has grown into the best spot in Seattle—maybe the nation—for collector's plants.

Proto101

Downtown, bellevue square

Designer Rafael Soto's comfy closet essentials were built to end our reliance on fast fashion: Lounge-worthy but flattering T-shirts, joggers, sweatshirts, and more are made from sustainably sourced fabrics in a color selection—and at a price point—that rivals the biggest athleisure brands.

Repair Revolution

SODO

This isn’t your typical auto shop. With a mostly queer, trans, and female staff, Repair Revolution and founder Eli Allison combat the boys club of auto repair. The car maintenance shop offers diagnosis, service, and repair on all makes and models, and holds workshops on car-owning basics.

Rudy’s Barbershop

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Seattle’s legendary queer-owned barbershop, founded in 1993 by David Petersen and Wade Weigel, now boasts over a dozen locations—including one in Manhattan!—where you can get a beer, and a safe, gender-affirming experience, with your buzz cut.

Rudy's own pride flag.

Saltstone Ceramics

WALLINGFORD

A ceramics studio works double duty as a shop of striking-but-useful planters, mugs, and glassware from artists in Seattle and beyond.

Seattle Plant Daddy

wallingford

Come for the personality—Wallingford's plant purveyor more than lives up to his name with suggestive plant selfies, branded booty shorts, and the elusive Penis Cactus (Trichocereus bridgesii). Stay for plants of all varieties that are so obviously loved.

TomboyX

ONLINE

Founded by married couple Fran Dunaway and Naomi Gonzalez to address a lack of gender-neutral underthings, TomboyX has since morphed into a worldwide outfit with cute, comfortable cuts for every body.

TomboyX wears its pride on its everything.

Image: TomboyX

Tribal Electric LLC

SEATTLE AREA

Married couple Boo Torres and Joanne Alcantara say their electrical shop is the only queer women-of-color owned option in the state, with a union crew that works on big commercial projects and residential ones, too.

 

Queer-Owned Bars, Restaurants, and More

Seattle has no shortage of proudly queer-owned eateries (and they're just the place to celebrate Pride). Here are a few we love:

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