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About us
Queer Market started with one simple idea: queer makers deserve a place where they can be seen, sell their work and be completely themselves.
What began as a market with 30 stalls has grown into events attracting thousands of visitors, a store in the heart of Amsterdam and an online platform filled with products from queer makers around the world.
And we’re only getting started.
“Queer makers deserve to be celebrated. Born from activism, queer entrepreneurship has become a jewel in every city.
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“Queer Market has been supporting and selling my art for years. It’s a place where my work is truly seen.
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“Use this text to showcase a review from one of your customers. A great review is honest and speaks to the concerns of your customers.
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Introducing
Our own store in Amsterdam
Queer Market started with a simple mission: to make queer entrepreneurs visible and give their work the stage it deserves. What began with a handful of market stalls grew into the largest curated queer market in the Netherlands.
But we didn’t want the journey to end there. Why should queer makers only have a platform for a few days a year? We saw that queer entrepreneurs often face fewer opportunities than others, especially when their products, stories or appearance are considered “too explicit” or “too queer” for traditional retail spaces.
That is why we created a permanent home: a place where queer makers don’t have to tone themselves down to fit in. Our store celebrates their creativity, supports their businesses and brings queer entrepreneurship to the heart of Amsterdam, all year round.
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About Queer Market
Queer Market is a platform built to do one thing exceptionally well: give queer makers real space to be seen, to sell, and to build sustainable businesses on their own terms. What began as a single Christmas market in Amsterdam has grown into a series of recurring markets, a permanent store in the city centre, and the first online marketplace dedicated entirely to queer makers.
Where it started
Queer Market started as a small Christmas market at NDSM in Amsterdam. One edition, a carefully curated group of makers, and around 750 visitors. What stood out wasn't the scale. It was the commitment. People travelled from across the Netherlands, makers sold far beyond expectation, and the atmosphere was noticeably safe, open and unforced.
That first market made something clear. There are very few spaces where queer makers are not only visible, but genuinely supported as entrepreneurs. Spaces where no one has to explain themselves, dilute their work, or justify their existence in order to sell. After that first edition, one maker told us: "Because of you, I can pay my rent for the next three months." That sentence became the reason to keep going.
We now host three to four editions of Queer Market in Amsterdam every year, a spring, a Pride and a Christmas edition, from Pride celebrations to a full Christmas market complete with drag bingo and a fundraiser for Don't Go, We Will Fund Them.
Why this needs to exist
The idea for Queer Market grew out of a hard lesson. While building the craft beer brand Queer Beer, we watched queer entrepreneurs get turned away, sometimes because their product didn't "look queer enough," sometimes simply because of who they were. Rejection after rejection made the pattern impossible to ignore: queer makers are consistently offered fewer opportunities than their non-queer peers, with less access to sales channels, safe commercial spaces, and the infrastructure needed to grow.
Making queer entrepreneurship visible matters. Real representation matters. And behind both sits something practical and urgent: economic opportunity for makers, and a safe community where people can actually meet one another.
From market to permanent space
After four successful markets, it was time for a community space that wouldn't pack up and disappear. That's how the Queer Market store was born, a permanent shop in the heart of Amsterdam that operates as an extension of the market. It's a physical place where queer makers are given ongoing space, where products are presented with their stories and context, and where community and commerce reinforce each other.
The response has been telling. Customers have said everything from "we don't even have this in Paris" to "this is exactly what we need right now, with so many small shops closing." For us, it's proof that a space built around makers, unique products and honest storytelling has a place at the centre of the city.
Taking it global
To open this opportunity up to more makers, we launched the first online queer marketplace, a platform where queer makers can sell across the world. A maker in New York can sell a print to someone in Belgium; a seller in Australia can reach a buyer in Thailand. Across the world, queer entrepreneurs face the same barriers, and a connected international network is how we start to dismantle them: local markets rooted in their own communities, linked through a shared global platform.
Who we build this for
Queer Market exists for queer entrepreneurs in the broadest sense. We are intentional about making space for those who face even greater barriers to visibility and income, including BIPOC, trans and non-binary makers, disabled entrepreneurs, and others who are structurally underrepresented in retail and cultural spaces.
Access is not evenly distributed, even within queer communities. That's why Queer Market actively works to lower thresholds, create safer working environments, and ensure that participation isn't reserved for those with existing privilege, capital, or networks. Our goal is not token representation, but real opportunity: space to sell, to grow, and to build sustainable businesses.
More than visibility
Queer markets do more than create visibility. They generate direct income for makers, strengthen local queer ecosystems, and prove that queer culture carries real economic value, without needing to be diluted, exploited, or turned into a gimmick.
What we're building
Queer Market is not a one-off event, and not a trend. It's a platform focused on creating long-term space for queer makers, both offline and online, through markets, a store, and collaborations designed around continuity, fairness and independence.
What began as a single market with 750 visitors is now the starting point of a growing global network.