A University Student’s Guide to a Queer Halifax: Post-Pandemic lockdown
Written by Lainee Leblanc-Smith (they/them)
@__laineesmithh on IG
Thumbnail Photo by GeoJango Maps on Unsplash
Are you looking for queer-friendly local businesses? We’ve got your back.
Attending post-secondary school and moving away is often a pivotal point in many queer youth's lives; it allows us to engage with like-minded people in a larger city and have the chance to explore our own identities. It's freeing, terrifying, and relieving all at once. It allows us to dip our toes into entirely new cultures and experiences and to open our minds past the binaries and norms we once knew.
Over the past two years, the pandemic and lockdowns have been challenging and critical to small businesses. With limited interactions, people opting for ordering in, and restricted numbers to social gatherings, you may have felt exceptionally closed off from your local queer community. Without inclusive events like mixers, parties, and more being held, many queer youths feel robbed of having safe, accessible places to meet each other. Well, look no further. I present my queer curated list of LGBTQ+ friendly services and small businesses in Halifax and surrounding areas.
Please note, This list includes businesses run by BIPOC, queer folk and places with LGBTQ+ workers openly and working to support and accept the lgbtq+ community. These places may not entirely be LGBTQ+ specific. However, they're still plenty worth checking out. In addition, we recognize the pandemic is far from over, and with the reopening of public spaces, we encourage mask usage and social distancing when applicable.
The Pride Beauty Lounge
281 Sackville Drive, Lower Sackville, NS
The Pride Beauty Lounge is a welcoming, diversified, and community-oriented establishment. They aim to provide excellent spa services in a soothing and motivating setting for everyone while providing a safe and welcoming environment for the LGBTQ community, BIPOC folks, and people with disabilities.
They include manicures and pedicures, gel enhancements, lash extensions, lash Lifts & brow laminations, hydro-peptide facials & chemical peels, waxing, and seasonal services. These services are available to all genders without judgment, a groundbreaking step in encouraging everyone to practice self-care.
They provide inclusive services to ensure minorities, particularly people of colour and those with disabilities, are always welcome and comfortable. These services include but are not limited to, service animal accommodations, after-hours appointments with reduced lighting and noise for people with sensory impairments, a ramp upon entry, and powerful anti-racist and discrimination rules and policies applied to staff and clients.
Venus Envy
1727 Barrington Street, Halifax, NS
Since 1998, Venus Envy has thrived as an education-based sex shop. Venus Envy strives to create a safe place for sex-positive folk while emphasising equality, reproductive rights, accessibility, and social justice movements. They achieve this by providing sex education free from shame and recognizing the enormous variety of sexual experiences. Venus Envy delivers various educational, non-judgemental and inclusive workshops on topics such as consent, pleasure-focused sex, navigating queer relationships, and more!
Venus Envy also supplies trans-affirming gear, such as binders, breast inserts, packers, gaffs, and pride apparel. Venus Envy also provides queer literature, zines (created by local Halifax folk!), informative guides to feminism, and judgement-free advice regarding sex toys and safety. Each employee is trained to know proper anatomy terms and can recommend the best fit for you, answer any questions and offer genuine advice! The goal of Venus Envy is to encourage people to discover their pleasure and get to know themselves better. Venus Envy also offers delivery and roadside pickup services. They even offer free shipping on orders above $99 CAD!
Glitter Bean Cafe
5896 Spring Garden Rd, Halifax, NS
Feel good about having an afternoon snack or coffee with this proudly queer-centric unionised and worker-owned cafe. Glitter Bean Cafe emerged as an alternative to working in an unjust workplace. A group of displaced workers came together to start a worker-owned co-op.
In addition to offering delectable homemade drinks, desserts, and sandwiches, they feature highlighted menu items displaying other locally grown/baked foods. The Glitter Bean Cafe aims to develop a community centre that will provide a safer environment for queer, two-spirit, and trans people in K'jipuktuk (Halifax)! Even dairy-free, vegan, and gluten-free options are available on their menu. Recently, the glitter bean cafe has worked to include liquor on its menu, giving a chance to shine the light onto some incredible locally-owned craft drinks and more!
Photo by Shingi Rice on Unsplash
The Board Room Game Cafe
1256 Barrington St, Halifax, NS
Nerdy and geeky, queer folk unite!
The Board Room Game Cafe is the Maritimes' first of its type! Grab your favourite dice and your D&D campaigners because this cafe offers a lot. It has a huge gaming space with 600+ games, an espresso bar, local craft beer and sodas, a bite to eat, and queer-inclusive trivia and board game nights!
Not a fan of board games? The board room game cafe also offers vast merchandise and retail space full of comic books, board games, miniatures, apparel, puzzles, and more.
Cape And Cowl Comics
622 Sackville Drive, Lower Sackville, NS
Another win for nerds and geeks alike, this comic book store has a heartwarming story behind it. Cape and Cowl sell comic books, Funko Pops, pride merchandise, and vintage collectables and host several by-donation gender-affirming package programs!
The owner of Cape & Cowl, Jay Roy, established the "Leighann Wichman Safe Space" shortly after the comic shop opened in September 2014.
Of course, the "Leighann Wichman Safe Space" is in honour of Leighann Wichman. Leighann was a very beloved figure in the community and the most welcoming soul. She was always assisting young people in discovering their "geek pride," exploring gender identities and ways of expressing themselves and helping youth find a place where they felt welcome. Leighann passed away, but her legacy lives on through this store and its values. In addition, Jay Roy also contributes to several other charities for queer youth and the community. Learn more about how to get involved here!
DeeDee's Ice Cream
5668 Cornwallis Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
DeeDee’s Ice Cream has been a family-owned ice cream and burrito store since 2004! Enjoy amazing handcrafted ice cream, sorbet, coffee, and more from local providers!
What makes Dee-Dees special? They actively engage in difficult discussions about social equality and environmental sustainability, care about our community and support other local businesses. They openly support BLM (ALWAYS a win in our book) and actively strive to provide tasty and fun foods while promoting sustainable and ethical practices that promote a healthy, inclusive world for everybody. Their ice cream and sorbet flavours are adventurous and gourmet, including Banana cardamom, Mexican chocolate, Orange Star Anise, and of course, all of the beloved, classic ice cream flavours too! Their tastes change daily, so check their website for more information!
Dee-Dees also makes custom cakes for events and provides a 35-cent discount for those who bring their cup to reduce single-use cup waste.
Springhouse Market
2290 Gottingen Street, Halifax, NS
Want to broaden your plant-based food horizons and explore reducing meat and animal products from your diet? Look no further than Halifax's first-ever plant-based grocery store! The Springhouse market began as a restaurant, but during the Covid outbreak, it shifted its purpose towards being a market and a restaurant. The Springhouse market prides itself on being an inclusive and queer-friendly space. All your favourite plant-based comfort foods, nutritional supplements, clothing, hygiene products, and more are available here!
In addition, they also offer a weekly meal subscription service, with three plant-based meals delivered straight to your door. Forget the prepping, planning, and cooking that comes with making your meals. Take the time to relax, catch up on studying, and write that paper you’ve been putting off for the last few weeks (you know what we’re talking about.)
So, again, we hope you’ve enjoyed this list of queer-inclusive places in Halifax! Having safe places free of judgement is crucial to your well-being, especially the chance to speak to like-minded and different people who’ve lived through similar experiences to you! I hope you can find the time to visit at least a few of these places and take the time to relax amidst the chaos. The pandemic may have changed a lot of things, but LGBTQ+ folk are still here. We need to take solace in the things that make us happy and use our safe spaces to flourish.