LA Guides: Pride Month

Welcome back to Fred’s Guide to LA – showing you our team’s monthly roundup of latest discoveries around the city.

This month we celebrated Pride Month and have spotlighted four LGBTQ+ businesses around LA. Read more below —and always make time to support your local businesses.

The Queer Mercado

After creating the Goddess Mercado, a Latina-focused market, Diana Diaz, a school counselor who worked with many Queer youth, wanted to create a safe space in East LA. Alongside Gaudencio Marquez and Ryan Montez, an artist and non-profit leader and event planner, the Queer Mercado was founded as a way to create year-round representation to create visibility of the beautiful diversity and talent within the Queer community.

They love being able to create opportunities for Queer & BIPOC folks with a celebratory space every month that is welcoming and safe. LA is such a diverse place filled with many walks of life—we love to be able to create spaces that allow for folks to shine their brightest.

As members of the LGBTQ+ community, The Queer Mercado values the contributions of those that came before them and the responsibility wtheye have to continue building for future generations. They see and uphold the importance of representation that this space creates, for youth, families, schools and more

The Ripped Bodice

Bea and Leah, founders of The Ripped Bodice, grew up in Chicago, as lifelong romance readers always surrounded by books. After both making their way to LA during a time where there was no bookstore dedicated to romance novels, they felt there was a huge opportunity to create something special for romance readers.

They believe in the importance of having Queer people present and represented in all facets of society. For them, that’s being a Queer small business owner, getting to support and represent Queer authors and artists. The store’s window display this month is a celebration of Pride Month celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.

The Juicy Leaf

The Juicy Leaf, founded by Felipe and Felix, began from Felix’s passion for plants. He grew up in Texas surrounded by plants on his mother and grandmother’s land. As a gay kid growing up in Texas he had zero interest in childhood toys or playing with other kids. His only desire was to plant and grow plants with his family.

Within their business, they enjoy having the autonomy to make decisions for the store and get creative. They uphold acceptance and security, aspects they hold close as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

LA Pride / Christopher Street West

Christopher Street West is the nonprofit that organized the world’s first permitted parade advocating for gay rights on June 28, 1970 to commenorate the Stonewall Rebellion on Christopher Street in New York City. Over 50 years later, the organization has built a rich history as an active voice for the LGBTQ+ community across the Greater Los Angeles area.

They produce the LA Pride Parade & Festival which is one of the largest Pride celebrations in the country. Their mission is to create safe and inclusive spaces of self-expression, celebration and diversity/equity/inclusion for the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community,

This year, we partnered with LA PRide for exclusive merch available at Fred Segal.The 2022 LA Pride collection was designed for LA Pride by Aja Zarrehparvar and Sarah Abou, a queer best friend duo inspired by the retro California vibes that set the stage for the first LA Pride in the 70s. They wanted to capture the liveliness and joy of queerness in their designs. 100% of profits from this collection went directly to the Christopher Street West Association Inc. that produces the annual LA Pride Parade & Festival among a number of other LGBTQ+ events and community programs.