Help Launch NYC's First Trans-Owned Sex Shop

Hi! We're Greta/g (they/them) and Artemis (she/they). We're fundraising to open NYC's first trans-owned, queer-centered sex shop. In the summer of 2023, we began dreaming of a space where people like us could come in to find new and exciting, high-quality products designed by people like us, for us. We were tired of our pleasure and needs being created ourselves in shiplapped, DIY ways, shoved into dusty corners of over-priced boutiques, or just ignored altogether. So we decided to exist as the foil for the brick and mortar sex shops that exist in the city. We decided to call this project: The Toolbox Collective.

The mission of The Toolbox is this: to address the systemic inequities in sexual health and pleasure products, apparel, and education. From large retail outlets that sell products unsafe for bodies, to small boutiques with exclusive ethos and price points, The Toolbox Collective is proud to source products made by trans and queer people, for trans and queer people from an education-first approach. Beyond the products, we have built community partnerships with organizations that provide free STI and HIV testing, Narcan training and swath of harm reduction resources. We see it as a basic right for trans and queer people to feel empowered and embodied in our sexual health, bodily pleasure, and gender expression. The Toolbox Collective aims to exist as a brick and mortar community space where anyone can drop in, find something for them, sit in on a workshop, host an event, or get a free STI or HIV test.

Our logo, the "wrenchtachi" represents the DIY nature inherent to queer sex and trans realities. We have always had to find our own paths to embodied connection and sexual deviance. We exist in that tradition: to provide the tools, resources, and imagination that enables all people to realize their erotic needs and desires. We believe, and have seen already, that by centering the most neglected members of our community, we create a liberatory sexual culture that is beneficial to all.

By contributing to our GoFundMe, you'll be part of launching us into a more permanent brick and mortar community space. The funds you contribute will go towards finding a long-term home for us, purchasing wholesale inventory, and covering the operating costs of a fledgling retail business. You can find our business plan and vision for the future here.

With your help, we can build a space that is truly the first-of-its-kind in NYC. The Toolbox will be a fully ADA-accessible store outfitted with air purification, masking practices for protecting ourselves against the continued COVID-19 pandemic, and sensory-friendly hours throughout the week. The store will also feature couches for you and your polycule to rest on, event space for kink and educational workshops, and a swath of inventory including:

This space is being built for our trans and queer community members who are too often excluded from mainstream and boutique shopping spaces. With ample room to walk, peruse and exist, we are eager to show everyone that they have a place in pleasure.

We have BIG dreams and we know that with your support, private donations, and loans, we can make them a reality. With a contribution from you, no matter how small, you'll be a part of making this community space and store a reality. The goal of $250,000 is lofty but with it we can:

Much of this money will go back into our community as well- so far, over 70% of our net sales have gone back to our collective of queer and trans artists, which amounts to over $7,500 to date. We operate our collective of consignment artists on a sliding scale model, which prioritizes financial accessibility, while still paying our vendors fairly for their work. Your financial contribution will allow us to purchase wholesale and pay our vendors up front, as well as continue to subsidize costs for harm reduction supplies and other free health and education resources.

We are so humbled by how much community support we’ve gotten already as we have given glorious, gory birth to The Toolbox. Since we launched in a dark corner at a kink party with a red toolbox and the trust of a few trans and queer artists, we have met so many beautiful and enthusiastic people who have already given so much love and support to this project. When we think about the toys we’ve already sold, the artists we’ve supported, the free safer sex and harm reduction supplies we’ve distributed, the conversations we’ve sparked, and the play and exploration we’ve encouraged, we are truly humbled… and we’re only getting started!

We’re hoping to be fully brick and mortar by Spring 2025- we can’t wait to see you in the shop!

So much love, gratitude, and transsexual rage,

Greta and Artemis