Life
7 LGBTQ-Inclusive Sex Companies That Are Celebrating Pride
June is Pride month, which means that cities across the world are throwing Pride parades, queer people are shouting loud and proud on social media and IRL, and companies big and small are pushing rainbow-themed merchandise. But not everyone is happy about what some people call the “corporatization” of Pride.
"The issue I have with corporate Pride merch is that so much of it profits off a community that doesn’t see support from these same companies in a meaningful way," Liz Margaux, a non-binary bisexual person, tells Bustle. "I want to support queer makers and artists when I buy Pride gear because these are my people... but I want to see these brands actually ally themselves."
But not all companies are selling rainbow clothes — or rainbow dildos — just to take advantage of the LGBTQ market now that the LGBTQ market is accepted enough to be marketed to. Some companies are actually committed to making sex more accessible, inclusive, and fun for people of all genders and sexualities. And those companies are celebrating Pride fully — and most are offering excellent deals. So get your dildos, vibrators, and porn from one of these inclusive sex companies this June. Whether or not they include any rainbows is up to you.
1Unbound
Unbound is a woman-run, all inclusive sex toy and sexual wellness online store. They offer everything from sex toys to lingerie to their own line of sex toys that double as jewelry! For Pride, they’ve put together a Pride Guide for events around the country and they’re also offering free shipping on orders in the U.S. over $50 with code PRIDEVIBES2018.
2Dame
Dame Products was founded by two badass women, one with a Master in Psychology from Colunbia and the other with a mechanical engineering degree from MIT. Their goal is to use science and research to design toys that close the orgasm gap and help people with vulvas have more orgasms.
For Pride, Dame will be pairing up with Fluide for a social giveaway. Fluide will be giving away two of their Blue Trio Sets and Dame will be giving away two of their brand new Navy Fins to the winners. It'll be live on Instagram on June 18.
3Crave
Crave designs beautiful, thoughtful toys for people with vulvas. West Coasters can find them with their Build-A-Vibe Airstream trailer at San Francisco Pride this year, which takes place on Saturday, June 24. Stop by, say high, and build your own vibrator.
4ManShop
ManShop is a sex toy shop specifically for men and other people with penises. Their goal is destigmatize male masturbation; to get people to treat it like an important part of sexuality, instead of a joke. For Pride, they’re offering a “Pump Up Your Pride!” special, which includes 15 percent off on all toys, with particular attention to pumps, extensions, and cock rings.
5MysteryVibe
MysteryVibe is an innovative sex tech company that has created two app-controlled toys with multiple motors, memory functions and the ability to create your own vibes. One — the Tenuto — is for men and other people with penises, while the other — the Crescendo — is for women and other people with vulvas.
For Pride month (and until the end of August), MysteryVibe is offering a discount of 10 percent off Crescendo with the code “loveislove18”.
6MakeLoveNotPorn
MakeLoveNotPorn is a social sex website that only shows user-submitted real sex by real people. It was started when founder Cindy Gallop noticed a trend in her young male lovers imitating what they’d seen in porn — to less than pleasurable results. The goal of the site is bring hot, hot — and real — videos to the world, changing the way we think about sex.
MakeLoveNotPorn had a booth at Brooklyn Pride on June 9, where people could take fun pictures and win some MakeLoveNotPorn merchandise. They’re also running an event with Babeland called BabelandMakesLove, on July 1. The event will feature a 30 minute reel of people using sex toys in their everyday sex lives. Then, they’ll give tips on how to shoot your own #realworldsex video, followed by a Q&A with two members of the MakeLoveNotPorn team and a NYC-based MLNPstar. They’re also having a sex toy raffle and there will be cocktails and cupcakes!
7b-vibe
b-vibe is a high-tech line of anal toys founded by sex positive sex educator Alicia Sinclair. In honor of Pride month, from June 8 to June 22, anyone who makes a purchase on bvibe.com and uses the code “CSPH” will receive a 10% discount on their order. b-vibe will then donate an additional 10 percent to The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health (The CSPH), a non-profit that works to advance culturally inclusive, medically accurate, and pleasure informed sexuality education, therapy, and professional training.
So when you're shopping for Pride stuff this year, maybe skip the rainbow crop top altogether and splurge on a new sex toy that supports the LGBTQ community. Sounds like way more fun to me.
