Celebrate Pride Month
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In our family, Pride Month takes on many meanings. As a strong ally, and someone who grew up in a community of friends who were completely diverse as well as having LGBT+ family members, celebrating Pride takes on a particular importance for me. For those who don’t really understand why we celebrate, here is a little history lesson.
Photo by Rhododendrites — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
Pride Month is an annual month-long celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) pride, observed not just here in the US, but around the world. The month of June was chosen because it marks the anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which occurred in New York City in June of 1969. The Stonewall Riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBTQ+ community against a police raid that took place at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. The riots are widely considered to be the start of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
The first Pride march was held in New York City on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, on June 28, 1970. Since then, Pride marches have been held in cities all over the world, and Pride Month has become a time for the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate their identities and raise awareness of the challenges they continue to face.
Pride Month is also a time for allies to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community. There are many ways to show your support, such as attending a Pride march, donating to an LGBTQ+ organization, or simply learning more about the LGBTQ+ community.
It is a time to celebrate the progress that has been made in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality and to recommit to the work that still needs to be done. It is also a great time to purchase from businesses and those that donate a portion of sales of pride products to organizations that support LGBT+ rights as well as products to show that YOU support them.
Here are a few brands that should be on your radar
Drink Up
Spill It
Just in time for PRIDE 2023, Manhattan Drag Entertainer, Spill It! founder and professional Cocktail Queen Xie Xie (she-she) Stush is launching her first non-alcoholic beverage, Spill It! into the ready-to-drink market. Proud to be a Queer Minority small business owner, Xie Xie is introducing Spill It! and inviting all to Spill The Tea. This glamorous full-time Mocktail Queen is offering consumers a chance to support and celebrate Queer Entertainers by simply spilling the tea with every sip of Spill It! — Ready-To-Drink Mocktail. Spill It! will be available for pre-order starting June 15th with 25% off in honor of PRIDE with each purchase of a 4-Pack of the brand’s most popular flavor “Hibiscus + Friends” on. This all-natural black tea brewed, Caribbean-inspired sparkling mocktail tastes delicious and refreshing with bold, flavorful notes of hibiscus, cinnamon, and orange blended with island spices and sweetened with a touch of honey.
There is no rainbow capitalism here, Drag CEO Xie Xie (pronounced she-she) Stush authentically created Spill It! to spread Queer Joy 365 days a year. For PRIDE 2023, the tea-treat brand has aligned its RTD launch with efforts to raise funds for drag queens and queer artists alike. Spill It! extends an opportunity to support and celebrate LGBTQ+ rights with the founder’s code XIEXIE for 25% off purchases all summer long. A portion of every 4-pack purchased they are donating to Phluidity Phoundation and we are an official sponsor of the Pride Palace.
- Available at SpillItBev.com
Future Gin
Future Gin was created by four queer women and long-time friends — Amy Atwood, Mary Bartlett, Freya Estreller, and Natasha Case — who wanted a spirit that represents everything they love about California, from its natural bounty to forward thinking. Future combines the structure of a dry gin with the vibrant flavors of Southern California. Meyer lemon, honeysuckle, and grape leaf are distilled alongside traditional botanicals to produce a gin that’s classic yet bright. Distinct yet versatile,
Future uses Meyer lemon from Natasha & Freya’s garden to incorporate juicier citrus qualities, avocado leaf, which is plucked from the tree in Amy’s backyard to give the gin a richness and also includes grape leaf as an ode to Amy’s background in wine. Perhaps the most distinctive quality: the entire vertical, from distillation to botanical development, to marketing and branding, to distribution, is owned by women.
- Pick up a bottle (or 2) at Astor Wines
Future Gin
Future Gin was created by four queer women and long-time friends — Amy Atwood, Mary Bartlett, Freya Estreller, and Natasha Case — who wanted a spirit that represents everything they love about California, from its natural bounty to forward thinking. Future combines the structure of a dry gin with the vibrant flavors of Southern California. Meyer lemon, honeysuckle, and grape leaf are distilled alongside traditional botanicals to produce a gin that’s classic yet bright. Distinct yet versatile,
Future uses Meyer lemon from Natasha & Freya’s garden to incorporate juicier citrus qualities, avocado leaf, which is plucked from the tree in Amy’s backyard to give the gin a richness and also includes grape leaf as an ode to Amy’s background in wine. Perhaps the most distinctive quality: the entire vertical, from distillation to botanical development, to marketing and branding, to distribution, is owned by women.
- Pick up a bottle (or 2) at Astor Wines
Playing Favorites
Bingay!
Celebrate Your LGBTQ+ Icons! by Phil Constantinesco houses a wealth of queer history icons — activists, artists, comedians, writers, philosophers, musicians, and poets, all together in one of the most fun and interactive games known to humankind: bingo!
Gather your friends together and celebrate while playing games!
- Find Bingay! on Amazon
Pride playing cards: Icons of the LGBTQ+ Community
Icons of the LBGTQ+ community is a colorful deck of cards that celebrates queer activists, artists, comedians, writers, philosophers, musicians, and poets. These LGBTQ+ community leaders champion civil rights, radically increase queer visibility, and provide a means of escapism through their soul-affirming artistry. Each card features a different icon and a piece of queer history.
No playing Solitaire, these are TOO MUCH FUN for just ONE.
- Available for purchase at Amazon
Everyone is Beautiful
Neutrogena and Clean and Clear
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Proud supporters of the LGBTQIA community for over a decade through the Care With Pride initiative, Clean & Clear and Neutrogena will feature exclusive Care With Pride packaging on bottles in select retailers, such as Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, and Ulta. The brands have donated more than $1 million to LGBTQIA nonprofits and this year, they are thrilled to partner with Family Equity as the spotlight organization once again.
By purchasing products designed with special Pride packaging including the Neutrogena Makeup Compostable Remover Wipes, the Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash, and the Clean & Clear Morning Burst Facial Cleanser, you can show your support for LGBTQIA advocacy organizations while stocking up on the skincare essentials that you need.
- Find them at CVS, Walgreens, Ulta, and Amazon
Andrew Velazquez Makeup
Celebrate Pride with the power of color, celebrate with Celebrity Makeup Artist, Author, and Educator Andrew Velazquez’s Mi Corazón. From warm neutrals to a pop of blue and teal colors, this palette of nine pure pigment, vibrant matte shades is safe for all parts of the face, including the eyes, cheeks, and lips. Plus, it’s cruelty-free and vegan.
Andrew’s inspiration for Mi Corazón was tied to his recently launched queer Latinx memoir, Love is Art, Art is Love. Through the colorful lens of Loteria, the Latinx card game of chance, he reimagines 9 loteria colors to represent the people and events that shaped his life as a gay Mexican American man growing up in East Los Angeles to working with Hollywood’s brightest stars including Lady Gaga, RuPaul and Demi Lovato. He was also a top 3 finalist on Lifetime’s reality show “American Beauty Star”.
- Order yours HERE
Eat It Up
Epic Popcorn Coming Out Box
Coming out is a big moment and one that is worth celebrating. This thoughtful gourmet popcorn gift set is a great way to show your support to those friends, family members, or colleagues who openly joined the LGBTQ+ community.
The Coming Out Box offers three LGBTQ+ Pride-themed gourmet popcorn flavors:
- Pride Mix — a delicious blend of caramel-coated popcorn with a generous cheddar dusting and bold cheddar cheese
- Rainbow Mix — a beautiful mix of Epic’s most popular fruit flavors
- Love is Love Mix — a sweet and spicy mix everyone loves featuring Epic Caramel, Kettle Corn, and Whoa Mama Flavors
Epic Popcorn celebrates pride EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR, so you can ALWAYS order these flavors.
- Order these and more at Epic Popcorn
Sending some Love (is Love)
The Pride Bouquet from The Bouqs Com
This beautiful Pride bouquet contains a colorful rainbow of roses, and in honor of Pride Month, 20% of Net Profits* from this Bouq will be donated to the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
It’s Pride Month, and the Bouqs is making it rainbow and everyone’s invited! Lots of lucky recipients will be making their very own rainbows at home by filling their vases with farm-fresh roses in every color. Brighter than ever, our Rainbow Bouq is back and ready to celebrate love in all its forms — rain or shine.
- Order yours for the one(s) you love at The Bouqs Co
Wear It Proudly
Tipsy Elves Pride Collection
Tipsy Elves puts its money where its mouth is and 10% of all Pride product sales will be donated to San Diego PRIDE. To learn more about San Diego PRIDE, please click here.
Did you wake up this morning feeling particularly fabulous? It can’t just be the weather — Pride is coming! If you’re in a panic over what to wear this summer, check out our range of gay pride clothing. Our rainbow bodysuit paired with our rainbow tassel earrings will make the ultimate statement this Pride — love wins and you are ready to show the world who you are. Looking to wear a subtle, yet obvious outfit this pride?
With everything from their Born This Gay Tank Top paired or the popular rainbow pride leggings and YES, even t-shirts and tanks for allies like me. Tipsy Elves has you covered…by the rainbow. Oh, and while you’re there, pick up a couple of colorful Pride Pins to share with your friends.
- Shop the entire PRIDE collection at Tipsy Elves
Friendsheep
Tired of boring laundry chores? Friendsheep’s got you covered, just grab a set of these Pride special edition Disco Rollers rainbow eco dryer balls. Next thing you know, you’ll find yourself roller skating in the laundry room with your favorite tunes playing on a boombox! Replace chemically loaded dryer sheets and liquid softeners with a set of reusable Disco Rollers eco dryer balls. Handmade, fair trade, compostable, plastic-free, they will naturally soften your clothes and help you reduce drying time. A set of 4 handmade rainbow balls (two white and rainbow, two all rainbow balls) inside a reusable black and white handmade cotton storage bag. Perfect for small and medium loads, can be doubled for large loads. No physical user manual included, no paper waste, just download your zero-waste user manual here.
Naturally soften your laundry, reduce wrinkles, static, and increase your dryer efficiency. No chemicals, no fragrances, just pure organic, cruelty-free certified New Zealand wool. You can add your favorite essential oils for a naturally fresh-scented laundry or try their organic essential oils. Can be used on white, dark, and colored loads, the eco dryer balls are colorfast and never bleed! Their dyes are eco-friendly, certified azo-free, lead-free, and compliant with the German Safety Product Safety Act.
- Pick up a set and rainbow your laundry at Friendsheep Wool
Read All About It
RBG A to Z: The Life of an Icon from ACLU to Gen Z
Turn the pages of this charming, illustrated book about a superhero liberal icon who fought hard for the rights of marginalized groups. RBG A to Z: The Life of an Icon from ACLU to Gen Z by Jo Stewart provides a comprehensive understanding of the incredible life of RBG. The book covers her humble beginnings in Brooklyn to her days at Harvard Law School in the Supreme Court.
While there, she championed issues like equal pay, gender equality, reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, voting rights, and more. She had a hand in many of the laws now in place. More than just a list of accomplishments, she became a pop culture icon, soon known as the Notorious RBG.
- Available on Amazon
No One Owns the Colors
No One Owns the Colors is a lively celebration of self-expression and a bolstering invitation to advocate for your special uniqueness. The unnamed and non-gendered narrator shows us that colors are simply part of our natural world. No bit of the spectrum — from pink and blue to scarlet and chartreuse — is meant to be claimed by any one gender or being or culture. Color is not something that can be right or wrong, or better or worse.
Inspired by schoolyard experiences of the author’s own children, this melodic, rhythmic text provides the words and the confidence readers may need if someone says that their color — be it skin, shirt, shoes, or simply the crayon they love most — is wrong.
- Available at The Collective Book Studio
The Body in the Back Garden
In this queer cozy series debut perfect for fans of Ellen Byron and Ellery Adams, Luke Tremblay is about to discover that Crescent Cove has more than its fair share of secrets…and some might be deadlier than others.Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt’s sudden death, he’s inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can…but Crescent Cove isn’t done with him just yet.
There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever.
- Available on Amazon
Aphrodite’s Sister: Goddess of Emotion
Petra Ambrosi is a Goddess with empathic abilities, though she is emotionless herself. She is overconfident and stubborn until she is sent down to Earth to live with mortals. Everything she believed she knew about the world turns upside down when she meets a young woman who unleashes emotions that have remained dormant in her for a century. Petra must now cope with a new vulnerability, as well as learn the hard way that the path to true love isn’t always easy. She is challenged at every turn as she discovers her true self and feelings towards a mortal girl.
- Available at Bookshop.org
365 Gays of the Year (Plus 1 for a Leap Year): Discover LGBTQ+ History One Day at a Time
365 Gays of the Year is a celebration of Queer history told through one LGBTQ+ figure for each day of the year. This witty, unique celebration of queer history promises to inspire and empower readers with its wealth of bright stars. It’s a beautiful, bold, and empowering celebration of Queer history, wittily told through the lives of 365 of the brightest stars of the LGBTQ+ world.
- Available at Bookshop.org
We have MORE great gifts for Pride Month coming soon. If you would like to learn more about what you can do to support the LGBTQ+ community, check out my Primer to Celebrating Pride.
What are YOU doing for Pride Month?
