‘Finding their fire’: What it’s like to be an LGBTQ+ business owner in Sioux Falls

“I don’t want people to think of a person as only their identities.

As the number of LGBTQ-owned businesses in Sioux Falls grows, it’s integral to support those organizations, local business owners say.

“That lit a fire in me,” said Kathner-Tucker, a nonbinary lesbian.

Pins are a form of expression to be “loud and proud,” Kathner-Tucker said, who was also president of Sioux Falls Pride from 2018 to 2020.

But it’s getting better, and Kathner-Tucker hopes that they can set an example for aspiring queer business owners.

Staffed by LGBTQ+ people and led by an ally, the store speaks out in support of political topics like transgender students’ rights to participate in sports.

From burlesque, drag, live theater, erotic art and nude suspension to being an after-school coffee shop, board game and poetry slam center, there’s something for everyone at Full Circle.

“At the end of the day, do we need the support of the hate community? We do not.

Now 22 and a recent SDSU graduate, Day is a full-time illustrator and artist.

“I find that a lot of people interested in my art are part of the LGBT community because they feel a connection to it,” Day said.

Day’s work is a gothic style, and while his work is relevant to anyone, people in the LGBTQ+ community are his biggest supporters.

But that’s not representative of who he is, and not representative of the many people he’s grown to know in the LGBTQ+ community.

“Pride is a big support system for one another to reassure each other that we’re still here and won’t let anyone stop us,” Day said.

“I think it’s a little scary to be in a new situation and being out about it.

“I made my own Sgt.

Her New Orleans-inspired design is in demand, with a rotating performer list of about 50 people and an inbox of requests on Instagram, she said.

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