Everywhere Is Queer is Connecting the Community
For many members of our community, it is a daily struggle to find places where they feel safe, supported, validated, and authentically seen. Removing barriers to these resources and increasing their awareness, Everywhere is Queer (EIQ) is a public resource map for LGBTQIA2S+ and ally community members to find welcoming, and inclusive queer-owned spaces to shop, connect, eat, and learn.
EIQ got its start in 2019 when founder Charlie went on a road trip over the country for one of their jobs. As a result, they were constantly seeking more inclusive places to visit as a queer person but not really finding what they were looking for.
“I was constantly seeking queer spaces, and when I would google even queer New York, I was getting gay bars, and I do drink, but I wanted spaces outside of just a gay bar, like, I’ve got to go eat a breakfast burrito somewhere… I was really struggling to find a resource that provided for that,” Charlie says. “Then, in 2021, I volunteered at Brave Trails, which is a queer youth leadership camp for 12- to 18-year-old youth, and just being in a space with 100 queer people was just so euphoric; it was so beautiful; it was when I changed my pronouns to ‘he/they’ and no one batted an eye.
“So, I was like, how can I elevate that experience at a bigger scale? I was driving back to Boulder, Colorado where I lived at the time, and I thought of EIQ and this worldwide map of queer-owned businesses because if queer people can find these places, I can’t guarantee that they’re a safe space, but I hope that they’re a safe first space for them.”
Since its start, the map has helped countless community members find resources near them, with over 5,500 different businesses ranging from tattoo and piercing parlors, to helping you connect with a trans accountant or an LGBTQ-owned herbalism collective.
Charlie shares that their favorite thing about EIQ has been the 100s if not 1000s of messages on social media platforms that reaffirm the importance of having a resource like this accessible.
“‘You’ve inspired my wife and I,'” Charlie reads from the messages, “‘We just took a road trip across the country because we were able to find safer spaces, and we were so sacred,’ and they said they would have never done this without this resource—someone said, ‘I just wanted to say how happy I am that I found this Instagram account; I’ve been wanting laser therapy for my top surgery scars, and through your Instagram, I found a super-inclusive place one mile away from my house.’ Someone said, ‘I got to help a friend find an affirming gym in their area,’ which is, like, I’m so scared to go to the gym,” Charlie shares. “I found a queer-owned gym because of my own resource and now I go to a queer-owned gym.”
Having available resources like the map featured on the EIQ website is both crucial and impactful for several reasons. For one thing, It can help members of the community discover what kind of resources they have near them, and it can additionally be used to create a deeper sense of community through various programming and different outreach organizations.
“Just about a month ago, I did a collaboration with Pattie Gonia, which was basically a call-out—Pattie’s team sponsored a category on my map for queer-serving community groups and nonprofits. Your queer chamber of commerces, your queer birding group, your queer chess club, your queer pickleball league, we want those communities’ queer spaces on the map, so if someone doesn’t want to go to the coffee shop, they can maybe find their community in an activity they like to do.”
On a recent trip back to Colorado, Charlie shares how they’ve been able to utilize the EIQ resource. “I knew that Colorado was queer-friendly and had spaces, but again, I got, like, Charlie’s and all these spaces that are queer bars, and I knew that there was more than that. I wanted to go to a queer yoga spot; I wanted a queer gym, and so I released EIQ when I wasn’t living in Colorado. so I didn’t get to really live it in Colorado, but coming back, I was able to pull up my map, and I went and got a sandwich at Lindsay’s Deli in Boulder, and I went to Town Hall Collective in Denver, and I recorded on Dyketopia’s podcast. It was really cool to use my own resource to connect with queer people and spaces.”
Anyone can access this worldwide map of queer-owned businesses by going to the EIQ website, everywhereisqueer.com, or by accessing the map on the soon-to-be-released EIQ mobile app! Until then, updates and other announcements will be made on the EIQ Instagram page
