Discover LGBTQ+ Owned & Affirming Businesses in Butte County

Start your day with a vis­it to 1078 Gallery, a grass­roots, non-prof­it space ded­i­cat­ed to con­tem­po­rary, exper­i­men­tal art. The small­er gallery hosts a rotat­ing cal­en­dar of unique exhibits and live per­for­mances where local and vis­it­ing cre­ators can take artis­tic risks.

Locat­ed right inside the gallery build­ing, you’ll find Equi­lat­er­al Cof­fee. Owned by Eileen and Rylan, this neigh­bor­hood favorite pairs incred­i­ble arti­san espres­so shots with an affirm­ing envi­ron­ment, proud­ly work­ing with local cre­ators to keep the entire com­mu­ni­ty involved.

If you are look­ing for anoth­er wel­com­ing morn­ing spot, head over to Ten­der Lov­ing Cof­fee. True to its name, this café is built on kind­ness and inclu­siv­i­ty, fea­tur­ing an entire­ly veg­an menu with oat milk as the stan­dard pour at no extra charge. Stop by to try their house-made break­fast bur­ri­tos, sand­wich­es, or fresh pastries.

If you pre­fer chai over cof­fee, check out Chico Chai. A sta­ple at local farm­ers mar­kets, they also wel­come vis­i­tors to their own warm and invit­ing Chai­house. Famous for its small-batch, crave-wor­thy masala chai, matcha, and house­made tea blends, the café offers a spot where you can always count on a wel­com­ing vibe and deli­cious drink.

For a sweet treat or a cozy place to work, vis­it Upper Crust Bak­ery & Café. This beloved com­mu­ni­ty hub serves up an abun­dance of hand­craft­ed, whole­some baked goods made from scratch dai­ly, includ­ing a ded­i­cat­ed selec­tion of fresh veg­an and gluten-free pas­tries. The café also dis­plays art­work by local cre­ators on its walls and hosts live musi­cians on the first Sat­ur­day of every month.

If you want to tap into your own cre­ative side, look up Amy Posey Studios. This vibrant art stu­dio dou­bles as an explic­it­ly des­ig­nat­ed safe space for all com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers. The stu­dio offers a wide range of engag­ing art class­es for both kids and adults, as well as pri­vate events and neigh­bor­hood birth­day parties.

Wrap up your day with a scoop from Savor Ice Cream, Chico’s only arti­sanal, 100% gluten-free shop. Savor invites every­one to feel wel­come, putting social jus­tice at the root of every­thing they do and active­ly invest­ing back into the local community.

Jump to the top

When the sun goes down, Chico fea­tures a wel­com­ing nightlife scene. Dis­cov­ery Bar & Kitchen serves up a sea­son­al menu inspired by local ingre­di­ents and glob­al com­fort food. It’s an explic­it­ly queer-friend­ly spot known for reg­u­lar events, includ­ing an 18+ Drag Bin­go night and a 21+ Queer Beer Night every Friday.

For grass­roots con­nec­tion, Queer Third Space Chico focus­es on help­ing LGBTQIA2S+ folks con­nect and cre­ate an inde­pen­dent queer com­mu­ni­ty in the greater Chico area. Their active Insta­gram account serves as a dig­i­tal bul­letin board, post­ing week­ly updates on local queer-friend­ly events and gatherings.

Jump to the top

For hand­made home goods, Ghost Pop­py offers plant-based fra­grances and eco-friend­ly prod­ucts that are safe for peo­ple and pets. Their wel­com­ing store­front pairs their own hand-poured items with a whim­si­cal selec­tion of stick­ers, cards, and gifts made by oth­er women- and LGBTQ-owned small businesses.

For local appar­el, Upper Park Cloth­ing designs fash­ion-for­ward, con­tem­po­rary cloth­ing inspired by the land­scapes of Bid­well Park. Their down­town store­front fos­ters a wel­com­ing atmos­phere for all mem­bers of the com­mu­ni­ty, fea­tur­ing styles designed to be gen­der-inclu­sive for her, him, and them.

Also in Down­town Chico, Ani­ka Burke is explic­it­ly built as a safe, com­mu­ni­ty-cen­tric space where every­one is encour­aged to be their full, authen­tic self. The bou­tique hand­picks a rotat­ing mix of every­day essen­tials, arti­san pieces, and small-run fash­ion gems, mak­ing each vis­it feel like a trea­sure hunt for unex­pect­ed, one-of-a-kind styles.

A queer-friend­ly, eco-con­scious space, 6^th St. Sec­ond­hand is known for its col­or­ful, Y2K-inspired aes­thet­ic. It’s an invit­ing, cre­ative spot that even fea­tures extend­ed hours on Fri­day nights so you can take your time browsing.

If you’re look­ing for a low-stress after­noon of brows­ing, stop by BaT Comics & Games to explore a mix of table­top games and graph­ic nov­els that active­ly high­light LGBTQ+ cre­ators and char­ac­ters on their shelves.

Jump to the top

If you’re explor­ing the local mar­kets, you’ll run into some of the coun­ty’s favorite home­grown brands.

For a sweet treat, look for Denine’s Cup­cakes, a pop­u­lar inde­pen­dent busi­ness famous for cre­ative local bakes and deli­cious veg­an options. While she is eas­i­est to find in-per­son at the sea­son­al Thurs­day Night Mar­ket, you can eas­i­ly con­nect with her online year-round to direct-order a favorite dozen for local pickup.

Choco­lates by Megan, a health-con­scious brand craft­ing rich dark choco­lates from scratch, is anoth­er mar­ket reg­u­lar. Their small-batch treats use pure, sim­ple ingre­di­ents like organ­ic, unre­fined cacao but­ter, cacao pow­der, maple syrup, and sea salt to deliv­er a deli­cious dessert that loves you back.

You can also stock up on sea­son­al, sus­tain­ably grown organ­ic pro­duce from Ned­dy and Jessie at Heart­beat Farm. While you’re pick­ing up veg­gies, you can browse co-own­er Jessie’s func­tion­al ceram­ics, which she fires under the name Wildgeese Pottery.

Jump to the top

If you need a ded­i­cat­ed space to focus on per­son­al well­ness or cre­ative self-expres­sion, the local scene has plen­ty of local and inde­pen­dent options

Tucked right between (the also wel­com­ing) Ten­der Lov­ing Cof­fee and the Pageant The­atre, you’ll find Ultra Beau­ti­cian. Owned and oper­at­ed by Deryl, this eclec­tic salon is known for its gor­geous rhine­stone sign and its rep­u­ta­tion as a judg­ment-free safe haven for get­ting the hair of your dreams.

Anoth­er spot for self-expres­sion is Sacred Roots Chico. Found­ed by styl­ist Alli­son Bow­ers, this cre­ative, queer-owned hair stu­dio spe­cial­izes in vivid col­ors, expres­sive cuts, and gen­der-affirm­ing hair ser­vices. Allison’s approach is root­ed in thought­ful con­sul­ta­tion and con­sent-based care, wel­com­ing all hair types, tex­tures, and identities.

If you need to decom­press after a long week, Mas­sage by Rain offers an intu­itive, acces­si­ble approach to body­work with a focus on tai­lored chron­ic pain man­age­ment for clients of all backgrounds.

For men­tal health and well­ness, local licensed ther­a­pist Mor­gan Szym­czak, LMFT pro­vides ded­i­cat­ed, affir­ma­tive sup­port specif­i­cal­ly tai­lored for the LGBT+ com­mu­ni­ty in Chico, offer­ing a com­pas­sion­ate space to nav­i­gate per­son­al growth.

For those look­ing to express them­selves through ink, the local com­mu­ni­ty fea­tures sev­er­al LGBT-owned tat­too shops that pri­or­i­tize safe­ty, com­fort, and top-tier artistry. Check out Pink Tat­too Studios (which is also proud­ly women-owned and oper­at­ed) or Your Mom’s Favorite Tat­too Shop for a wel­com­ing, inclu­sive stu­dio environment.

Jump to the top

The inclu­sive ener­gy extends well beyond the Chico city limits.

Up on the Ridge, look for appar­el and home goods by Par­adise Trib­ute Series. Cre­at­ed by Lucas Blair, a sur­vivor of the 2018 Camp Fire, the brand pro­duces styl­ized art­work cel­e­brat­ing Ridge resilience, which you can find online or on the shelves at Coy­ote Ridge Mer­can­tile in Paradise.

Down in the val­ley, M Cre­ations Flo­ral Design in Durham brings an artis­tic, sto­ry-dri­ven eye to cus­tom, inclu­sive flo­ral arrange­ments for mile­stone events.

Jump to the top

For year-round con­nec­tion, resources, and advo­ca­cy, the Stonewall Alliance Cen­ter of Chico serves as the beat­ing heart of the region’s LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty, host­ing vital peer sup­port groups along­side major cel­e­bra­tions like Chico Pride. 

On the Butte Col­lege cam­pus, the Queer Resource Center (QRC) pro­vides a vital safe space and resources for stu­dents nav­i­gat­ing col­lege life.

Jump to the top