Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower has been consistently targeted by parents and school boards for its emotionally honest depiction of teen life, mental health, addiction, and LGBTQ themes. Recently, it has been added to several banned books lists.
For young queer folks in Pittsburgh – where the book is set – this must feel like a particularly harsh blow. Accurate queer representation is hard to come by, and particularly so when it is as specific and close as the local theater where characters in the book (not to mention its author and many other people who grew up in Pittsburgh) found joy in queer community as they gathered there for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
While Dormont’s historic Hollywood Theater was recently bought by Row House Cinema, its central role in the iconic novel points to the presence of queer culture in Dormont. Fortunately, many of the new establishments that are popping up in Dormont’s business district are embracing and expanding upon some of this legacy.
If you’ve driven through Dormont recently, you may have noticed a tangible marker of this on W Liberty Ave.: a rainbow mural painted on the side of the building that houses the new medical spa, Inclusive Aesthetics. Inclusive Aesthetics is true to its name, providing makeup, skincare, and beauty services to all folks, but especially to queer and gender-nonconforming ones. Indeed, they go out of their way to ensure that those who’ve been traditionally excluded from the beauty industry feel welcome.
Shana Lohr, make-up artist, esthetician, and owner of Inclusive Aesthetics, says that when she opened the spa, her main interest was in creating a space where queer folks could learn and access the services that would make them feel affirmed in their identities. “I’ve always had a desire to have something of my own, so I was motivated,” she tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “But what really pushed me to open Inclusive Aesthetics was the lack of access and the fact that, historically, the beauty industry hasn’t been inclusive; it hasn’t accepted everyone.”
Inclusive Aesthetic’s patient coordinator Brogan McGowan, who has worked closely with Lohr to build Inclusive Aesthetics into what it is, says, “We don’t really do anything different than any other licensed or certified med spa.There are tons of people doing what we do.”
It’s not the services they provide that make them different; it’s who they prioritize and how they talk about it. “There aren’t a lot of people saying, ‘Hey, this is a place for transgender people. This is a place for sex workers. This is a place for all body types,’” they comment. “I think what makes our team magical is that we understand how important it is to be seen and validated.”
For McGowan and Lohr, this is about doing more than just walking the walk; they also have to talk the talk. “How do you turn steaming and extraction into something gay?” McGown asks. “Well, you say it’s gay. It’s not gay until you say that it is!”
The power of their marketing, including the rainbow that decorates their building, is that it directly signals who the business is for. “We believe in the agency of the LGBTQIA people of marginalized communities. We know they’re valid, and we know that they also want to take care of themselves,” McGowan says. “How are we attracting these people? Simply by telling them we want to see them.”
One thing that Lohr didn’t expect is that many folks who are straight-identifying have chosen to take their business to Inclusive Aesthetics because of its commitment to queer folks. “I’ve had several people tell me that they have chosen to get their facials here because of queer family members. They will say, ‘I have a trans niece, and I know it's hard for her, so I wanted to support your business,’” she says. “I wouldn’t say this is surprising, but it’s refreshing.”
It was by accident that Lohr opened her business in Dormont. She was looking for something close to the city and on a main road, and the building she found on W Liberty happened to be a former doctor’s office, so it worked for her business. “When I first decided to open the shop,” she says, “I wasn’t sure how supportive Dormont would be, but it’s been overwhelmingly so. It’s been awesome!”
Certainly, queer community is always enhanced by a little woo, since it tends to attract alternative thinkers, and Dormont has that too. Down the street from Inclusive Aesthetics on Potomac is The Crow’s Nest, a metaphysical shop that offers a variety of products and services including tarot readings, reiki sessions, and glamour magic classes. T.M. Rodwell, an intersex psycho-spiritual life coach, has found a home at The Crow’s Nest and in Dormont, where they provide readings and teach classes. “First and foremost, I’m a reader,” they say. “I use Oracle cards, but those are just tools for me. I can look at a bunch of cereal boxes in your kitchen and tell you about yourself.”
They noticed early in their life that they could pick up on things in people that others didn’t notice. At first, it was overwhelming because they didn’t know what to do with the information, but now that they have come to understand their power, and have learned to use it in helpful ways. “I got into what I’m doing now because I realized that my purpose here is to guide people to a higher way of living, a better way of life,” they say. “I help them to find that within themselves.”
Rodwell believes their work makes sense in Dormont, a small corner of Pittsburgh with its own unique charm. “There’s a lot of people in Dormont that have a very special thing about them,” they say. “Dormont is beautiful. Not only visually, but also because of the people.” They recognize that Dormont may not be on most people’s radar as a queer haven, but that this is a mistake. “Dormont is not known for it, but the vibe is palpable to queer people,” they say.
Conner McGee, a current college student who grew up in Dormont and works at The Government Center (the North Side record store that recently opened a second location in Dormont on Potomac), has noticed a more explicit queer energy and vibe with a lot of the new businesses coming in. “I feel like people aren’t too mad about it,” he comments. “When I was in middle and high school, a group of my friends came into themselves here and found that they were gay or trans, and there was a lot of good community around that here.”
Josh Cozby, owner of The Government Center, comments: “Dormont really seems like it's about to have a moment. A lot of interesting small businesses have been opening up, and it seems like a lot of younger folks have been moving here.” In terms of the queer trajectory of this, he says, “What I’ve noticed is that there seems to be a new generation coming in, and it makes sense that queer businesses would be a part of that.” And, for good reason. “There are fewer hurdles to opening a business in Dormont than in the City of Pittsburgh. And it seems to be a population that is trending younger, which I’m guessing would be in line with a clientele of businesses catering to the queer community.”
Though Rodwell is not from Dormont originally, they say that it’s where they are planting themselves and their business, both with The Crow’s Nest and through private bookings. “Right now what I’m doing is setting up a safe space for people to come, a healing place, a place to relax and rejuvenate.”
And while Lohr wasn’t looking to set up her business in Dormont, she is glad she did. “Dormont found us, and it’s been overwhelmingly supportive.”
The small businesses of a town’s commercial district have the power to shape the feel of a community, and McGowan says that they are proud to be a part of this. “We are here, and we’re queering the neighborhood.”
Cozby points out that businesses, however, don’t exist without the communities that support them. He reminds everyone who is excited about this shift to support it with dollars. “I think it’s important that people support businesses they care about by spending money at those places,” he says. “I think a lot of the time people think supporting means following on social media, stopping in to say hi, or something of that nature. But if people don’t actually spend money regularly at small independent businesses, they won’t be around.”
