Part community organization, part social enterprise, and truly a cannabis retail dispensary at our core. We seek to be a chain of dispensaries of the future, doing it in a way that’s more connected to the community than a lot of other dispensaries have been. We’re really proud of that and instead of just saying we want to be that, we’ve put in tangible operating procedures that ensure it happens.
Inspired by the first legal medical dispensaries in the Castro which provided cannabis to those suffering from HIV/AIDS, we will reclaim, honor, and sustain queer history in cannabis legalization by incubating LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, Women-owned, and marginalized brands and donate a percentage of profits to build and fund the DTLA Proud (501c3) LGBTQ+ Community Center which will consist of LGBTQ+ programming around housing, employment, health, and legal services, as well as a non-profit incubator establishing itself as a hub for LGBTQIA+ support and development in the region.
Furthermore, we have partnered with Chrysalis, creating with them a first-of-its-kind program to employ their homeless and low-income clients with jobs in the cannabis industry. The city requires a good faith effort to try to hire equitably but without real requirements or employment support, that just doesn’t happen, so, we went and found the employment support, and signed a contract to model to other dispensaries and show the City Council that this is something they should demand from operators as a minimum.
Sadly there is not a lot of authentic LGBTQIA+ representation within the cannabis industry. It’s important that we continue paving the way for other individuals to follow and use our space for marginalized brands to enter an industry that’s almost impossible to break into. We had to fight tooth-and-nail to get where we are today. We hope that we are paving what was a rocky, hard path with a smoother road for others to follow and also laying the bricks of the first gayborhood in cannabis.
We want to make sure that everything Green Qween does is elevating for our community and that there are creative foundational ways to give back. If we are going to create a cannabis dispensary for the community, by the community, then it has to be LGBTQIA+-forward. Especially since the movement to legalize cannabis and the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights are intrinsically intertwined since the first medical cannabis dispensary in California was founded by the LGBTQIA+ community by medical marijuana advocates Dennis Peron and Mary Jane Rathbun who championed its use as a way to alleviate suffering incurred both by the disease and the harmful side effects of the drugs prescribed to fight the disease.
In cannabis (and beyond), brands should think about how can they support the queer community all year long, not just during Pride Month. It’s important to us that we have actionable things that help: funding a community center, brand representation, and helping brands get a foothold into a space in cannabis that barely exists. Since day 1, we have been creating that space ourselves – by running through walls where there are no doors.
