Chicago gay-centric greeting card company finds boom with marriage equality

Thu. August 29, 2013 10:26 AM by Anthony Morgano

emily with boyfriend ryan (left) and gay best friend lucas

Chicago, IL - If necessity is the mother of invention, it also follows that fabulous necessity (and what could be more fabulous than an influx of same-sex weddings) will lead to an equally fabulous invention. Such is the case with Happy Happy Gay Gay, a recently-launched online greeting card company founded by Chicago writer Emily Belden.

"I came up with the idea after DOMA was shot down. My gay friend got married on live TV in California that same day and I figured "legally wed" warranted some kind of 'Holy Sh*t! Congrats!' card," Belden told ChicagoPride.com. "Problem was, I couldn't find one that fit their personalities: sassy, sexy, sarcastic. So, I decided to make my own. One card turned into 10. Ten turned into an online store that launched in August."

Belden, who signed a book deal for a memoir about her early 20s titled 86'd earlier this year, spent most of her adult life working in creative departments and now writes and art directs each card herself from her condo in the South Loop. Self-described as "a straight girl with no filter," 27-year-old Belden didn't set out to create a line of Hallmark knockoffs with pastel rainbows and demure messages of congratulations.

The cards listed on HHGG are colorful, cheeky and modern. Among 13 currently available cards, a pair of red stilettos declare "Go home DOMA, you're drunk," a la a popular internet meme, another reads "first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a Donna Summer mega-mix at the reception" and still another declares that "the only thing gay marriage threatens is how good a straight person looks in Vera Wang."

"It's hard to play favorites and all of them sell equally, but one of the first I came up with was 'Marriage? That's so gay,'" Belden says of a card imprinted with a smirking unicorn complete with pink mane and tale. "I love that one because when you break it down, that's the very point of it all - marriage is gay. It's happy. It's fabulous. It's all-in. And it's for everyone."

"But, I have to say, I have new cards launching this week and one is celebrating 'coming out," she added. "I think it may steal the show."

Belden's cards are not only fabulous and unique, but charitable as well, which she says has been the most impactful aspect of her new business so far. A portion of all proceeds go to an LGBT charity, which Belden imagines she will rotate every six months or so.

The first, and current, benefiting organization is the Trevor Project, a 15 year-old-charity devoted to LGBT youth and especially to suicide prevention with their 24-hour toll-free hotline. Belden says she has known too many "Trevors" in her life, telling a story about riding her bike home in Junior High with her gay neighbor Lucas (see picture) and being both confused and bothered by other kids taunting him with gay epithets. Now, she says, Lucas lives a bully-free life in L.A. where he is a very successful businessman and "can marry whoever the f"ck he wants."

Belden has been overwhelmed with the amazing show of support she's received since launching the site earlier this month. While already accustomed to some level of fame after appearing on both The Today Show and The Dr. Oz Show for a project in her popular blog Total E-Bag that involved gluing 60,000 pennies to her floor, Belden did not foresee the worldwide recognition she's received for Happy Happy Gay Gay.

"Launching HHGG has surpassed my greatest expectations of starting a business at 27 years old," Belden said. "My first sale was from a man in Mexico just minutes after we went live. This morning I woke up to an email from a customer in Italy thanking me that this exists and asking to be part of the 'official fan club.' It's gone world-wide in a matter of days and I feel like I'm filling a void and giving back. It's amazing."

So how does it work? Just log on to https://gopride.com/Z8xz to browse Belden's designs and purchase any one of her fabulous $5 greeting cards (remember, with virtually no overhead necessary to create them, a large portion purchase goes directly to benefit the LGBT community). After purchasing, you receive both a high-resolution version that can be printed out and a low-resolution version that can be emailed -- the latter of which came about after Belden's realization of what she called "the global printer famine" in an article on Chicagoist last weekend.

After several inquiries asking Belden if she plans to expand her greeting card company to cover other occasions, she'd like to answer "yes!" In addition to a new card stating "because two parents who know how to decorate a nursery are better than one" and the upcoming coming out card she teased, Belden invites customers to hit her up on the site and make suggestions for occasions or cards they'd like to see.

"Customers can also place custom orders - think: invites to weddings, thank-you cards, etc. - if they like the HHGG style and wordplay," Belden said. "There's really no limit on where this can (and will) go!"
 

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