At first glance, the following local businesses might not have a lot in common. What’s the link between a car repair garage, a gift store, and a tattoo parlor? Well, my friend, they’re all LGBTQ+-owned! So get familiar with these top-tier local businesses and make a plan to support them this month (and year-round!).

💎 Lux Forge (Five Points)

Lux Forge has been handcrafting fine and custom jewelry in Denver for more than a decade. They focus on creating inclusive, gender neutral pieces, like this garnet sunburst signet ring in recycled sterling silver. Lux Forge also has a rainbow Pride collection featuring colorful natural gemstones adorning necklaces, rings, bracelets, and beyond.

Know before you go: One of Lux Forge’s unique offerings is custom jewelry design, which allows you to bring a personalized piece to life.

🧩 Revolte Goods (City Park West)

Kitschy. Kooky. Campy. These are just a few words that Revolte Goods uses to describe itself, but to really understand this shop, you have to see it for yourself. Look for the plush blind boxes (mystery boxes with a cute stuffy inside), cult-movie-themed prayer candles, and punk-themed puzzles that fill this store to the brim.

Know before you go: Revolte is open from 12 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

🔧 Good Judy Garage (Sheridan)

This car repair shop takes its name from Judy Garland, the Hollywood star and longtime advocate of the LGBTQ+ community. Embodying Garland’s spirit, Good Judy Garage offers a transparent pricing list and affordable services, like a $35 oil change and a free 30-minute inspection. If getting your car fixed feels overwhelming in more ways than one (hi!🙋), Good Judy has your back.

Know before you go: Services are by appointment only — book on Good Judy’s website.

🖋️ Mashroom Studios (Baker)

There are plenty of tattoo shops around Denver, but few are women and LGBTQ+-owned. Mashroom Studios is both of those things, and their team of artists specializes in everything from pet portraits to trippy surrealism. Mashroom’s website helps explain the different styles they offer, such as Trash Polka Tattoos, a black and red design featuring blackwork, realism, and “trash."

Know before you go: To make an appointment, begin by filling out their tattoo request form.

🎨 Chroma Denver (Speer)

Chroma Denver is a collective of around 10 different businesses that was started by The Witch Apothecary, a non-binary and disabled creator in Denver. Fresh flower arrangements, bolo ties, crystals, and handmade pottery trinkets are among the many things for sale at this plant and gift shop. There’s also a $5 plant section and Big Gay Pants, a plus-sized vintage and secondhand shop selling curated, gender affirming pieces.

Know before you go: Chroma has a fun Instagram with shop updates (a few videos have even gone viral).

What are your favorite LGBTQ+ shops in Denver? Send me your recs, and I’ll keep sharing them throughout June!

Decades before the 3600 block of Navajo Street was lined with modern apartment buildings and trendy pilates studios, it was filled with galleries. The Navajo Street Art District thrived in the 1990s, but rising rents, taxes, and gentrification pushed the galleries elsewhere, all but erasing this cultural hub from the map.

Dot Williams and her partner, Jamie Richards, are determined to bring it back to life. The pair purchased a coffee shop on the corner of the block that was closing down, reopening as Art Club Coffee.

Their mission: To create a queer-owned space where people feel safe and welcome. That goes for patrons, but also for artists who want to display their work along the gallery-inspired walls. “It is completely free to submit your work,” Williams told me in a recent conversation. “You are welcome to sell it and we don't take any commission — we just want people to show their art.”

Williams and Richards also wanted the coffee shop to function as an inclusive third space for their neighbors. They do so by hosting free events, such as a creative and coffee night every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. In true Navajo Street Art District fashion, their space attracts creatives of every kind.

“We've had coders coding games, or DJs building set lists. We've had oil painters, crocheters, knitters, collage artists, illustrators, kind of all walks of creativity,” Williams says. “You're also invited to just come and see — you don't even have to craft or buy anything.”

Art Club Coffee is currently hosting a curated gallery show featuring queer artists, which visitors can view throughout June.

Another way Art Club Coffee helps people feel comfortable is their atmosphere of old-school items that brings people back to a simpler time.

“It's a bit of a time warp here. It's got a lot of analog TVs and nostalgic touches throughout the space,” Williams said.

And they are also, at all times, very proudly queer. “We're here to celebrate each other and create a safe space where people can be themselves.”