WASHINGTON—After four successful years of “Queer to Stay: An LGBTQ+ Business Preservation Initiative”, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) today announced 30 new small-business awardees in 19 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico. The program provides needed funding to LGBTQ+ serving businesses and business owners. With this fifth iteration, “Queer to Stay” will reach $1 million in total distributed funding, supporting 100 LGBTQ+ businesses and helping them keep their doors open and continue serving their local communities. 

“Queer to Stay” originally launched in June of 2020, awarding small-business grants to 10 LGBTQ+ recipients with the goal of supporting LGBTQ+ business owners during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its launch, 90% of previously awarded “Queer to Stay” businesses still remain open. However, many LGBTQ+ small-businesses are still experiencing economic difficulties from the pandemic’s aftermath. With these small-business grants, “Queer to Stay” aims to help ameliorate these barriers to economic success and LGBTQ+ equality, uplifting awardees from coast to coast who provide services, safe spaces and livelihoods for LGBTQ+ people. 

“LGBTQ+ people deserve welcoming, safe spaces that are owned and run by us.” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “LGBTQ+ small-businesses not only provide needed services and employment opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community. They also send a strong signal that LGBTQ+ people belong everywhere, in suburbs, big cities and small towns all across America. As extremist politicians continue to try and take away our rights and push us back into the closet, these businesses stand as a shining reminder that when LGBTQ+ businesses thrive, America thrives.”

Quotes from the small-business awardees include: 

“We, as the LGBTQ+ community, are the true experts when it comes to understanding our own needs. Our existence and success also serve as a powerful reminder that being a business owner is not only possible but achievable,” said Rafeal Newport (She/Her), Owner of Cypress Midwife. “This is why representation will always remain crucial—we need to see ourselves reflected in spaces where decisions are made, and success is defined.”

“We’re here to provide resources and services to that community, to make sure nobody feels alone, but also to give them things to be happy about, too,” said Kylo Freeman (He/They), Founder of For Them & CEO of Autostraddle. “There are so many businesses that serve queer people but are straight-owned, or compromised by corporate interests. We’re proud to be independently owned and in a position to really listen to what our people need and give it to them.”

“LGBTQ+-serving and representative businesses are essential in the current moment because they provide safe spaces where individuals can feel seen, supported, and protected—especially during times of heightened political and social challenges,” said Rebecca Oaks-Mason (She/Her/They/Them) Co-Owner and Office Administrator of Safe Harbor Counseling of Missouri. “They remind us all of the importance of diversity and the ongoing fight for equity, dignity, and human rights.”

“COVID-19 pandemic was scary business wise. We had to switch rapidly to online therapy, and that was a struggle for therapists and for patients. It was difficult to overcome the learning curve of technology, and of course, it was a heavy anxiety episode because of the uncertainty of the situation, and that had consequences on the demand,” said Dr. Miguel Vázquez-Rivera, Owner of Clínica Psicoalternativas LLC. “No one deserves to feel unseen in a place where you are looking for comfort, a self esteem boost, and armor to deal with the cruel outside world.  My motivation is to be a safe space for the queer community in Puerto Rico.”

The full list of this year’s awardees of “Queer to Stay: An LGBTQ+ Business Preservation Initiative” include the following:

All She Wrote Books (Somerville, MA), Burnside Artist Retreat (Locust Grove, GA), Cheer Up Charlies (Austin, TX), Clínica Psicoalternativa (San Juan, PR), Cypress Midwife (Oakland, CA), Empower Fitness Maui (Wailuku, HI), Everywhere Is Queer (Portland, OR), Footprint Wine Tap (Seattle, WA), For Them (New York, NY), Jaymes Mansfield Beauty (Las Vegas, NV), Kingfish Cider (Jefferson, LA), Little Lion Collective (New Haven, CT), Mixx Atlanta (Atlanta, GA), Pink Moon Farm (Eatonville, WA), Pink Sappho (Chicago, IL), Rose Pelvic Physiotherapy (Huntsville, AL), Safe Harbor Counseling of Missouri (Saint Ann, MO), Secret Spot DTLA (Los Angeles, CA), Speed-o Cappuccino (Portland, OR), Sunny (Ashland, MA), Teatotaller Cafe (Dover, NH), Tender Bois Club (Oakland, CA, Minneapolis, MN, and Brooklyn, NY), The Bodega Lounge (Brooklyn, NY), The Lemon Girls (San Antonio, TX), Trans Affirming Training & Consulting (Philadelphia, PA), Trudy’s Spot (Hurricane, UT), Tufting House (Fort Lauderdale, FL), Under the Umbrella Bookstore (Salt Lake City, UT), Welcome Castro (San Francisco, CA), and xHood (Washington, DC).

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.