Transgender rights group aims to expand activist-founded database of LGBTQ-friendly businesses

Sioux Falls Arts Council members march in the Sioux Falls Pride parade on June 7, 2025. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

By:John Hult-June 25, 2025, South Dakota Searchlight

A South Dakota nonprofit focused on transgender rights will curate and maintain what’s been a volunteer-run, searchable database of businesses friendly to LGBTQ+ patrons.

The Transformation Project and the database, known as Dorothy’s List, announced the merger this week in a press release meant to dovetail with the end of Pride Month.

Adam Jorgensen founded Dorothy’s List in 2023, using a $1,000 grant from the Sutton Leadership Institute, a nonprofit that trains aspiring young professionals in business, nonprofit and political spheres. 

Jorgensen applied for and received the grant from the institute after graduating from its yearlong development program. The Sioux Falls man pulled information from a few different – but largely dormant – regional lists of businesses to launch the statewide list.

Similar lists exist nationwide, such as The Pink Pages, and others focus on medical providers. Jorgensen’s goal was to offer a state-specific list for South Dakota.

The grant money allowed Jorgensen to pay for a logo design and produce stickers and other promotional merchandise, as well as to set up the website, which launched in 2023.

The site lists around 150 businesses, and Jorgensen told South Dakota Searchlight that about 80 of them have taken its inclusion pledge. That pledge asks businesses to take steps like placing rainbow flags in business windows, using provided materials for employee training and committing to speak against legislative proposals that might harm LGBTQ+ people.

With a full-time job and other commitments, Jorgensen said he’d grown concerned that he couldn’t offer enough attention to the project to properly maintain the list, named for Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s a nod to the question “are you a friend of Dorothy,” asked in decades past by people looking for safe spaces in the era of criminalized homosexuality.

Jorgensen said he was thrilled when the Transformation Project agreed to fold the curation of Dorothy’s List into its project list.

“It’s fantastic to see the Transformation Project take over as lead of this project,” Jorgensen said in the announcement. “Dorothy’s List addresses a real need for South Dakotans, LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit or otherwise, that want to spend their time and dollars wisely.”

“Two Spirit” is a word used by Indigenous people to refer to those who do not identify as male or female.

The Transformation Project’s status a nonprofit with a full-time staff should allow Dorothy’s List to “expand its reach,” the press release says, and to serve as a tool for “communities to unite over a common cause.”

“We must continue to hold the corporations and individuals accountable that actively harm our community by rallying behind those that don’t,” Susan Williams, executive director of the Transformation Project, said in the release.

This article originally appeared in South Dakota Searchlight. Go support their work, today!

How Dorothy's List shines a light on inclusive businesses

A new organization is working to not only help people support businesses who are allies to the LGBTQ+ community, but also to provide resources for those businesses to show that support year-round – not just during Pride Month.

Simplified: A new organization is working to not only help people support businesses who are allies to the LGBTQ+ community, but also to provide resources for those businesses to show that support year-round – not just during Pride Month.

Meet Dorothy's List.

Why it matters

• Founder Adam Jorgensen first started thinking about Dorothy's List in 2016 when South Dakota was making national headlines for a so-called "bathroom bill" that would've barred transgender students from using bathroom and locker room facilities that match their gender identity.

  • That bill was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. Dennis Daugaard. But what really stood out to Jorgensen at the time was the number of people from the business and tourism community who spoke out against the bill.

• Meanwhile, Jorgensen also noted it can be difficult for LGBTQ+ people in the state to identify local businesses that are 'open and affirming' – and it can be equally challenging for businesses to communicate those ideals.

"The point is for businesses to be open, vocal and a genuine ally," Jorgensen said. "Businesses don't know when to show up or what to do, and then they just show up during Pride Month."

How does Dorothy's List work?

For people looking to connect with businesses, Dorothy's List has – as one might imagine – a list.

• Since its launch last fall, there are more than 100 businesses from across the state that are listed, though many are concentrated in Sioux Falls at this point.

Local businesses on the list include:

• Restaurants like Bread & Circus, Parker's Bistro, and M.B. Haskett's,

• Shops and boutiques like InFlower, Game Chest, Total Drag and Sweetgrass Soapery,

• Professional services like Lloyd Companies and At Ease Cleaning,

• and a variety of health care providers.

Side note: Dorothy's List will also soon include a list of media outlets that offer reliable, thoughtful news on LGBTQ+ issues, and Sioux Falls Simplified will be on that list. Get a sneak peek here!

For businesses, Dorothy's List offers resources to help them show up as an ally.

• It can be as simple as hanging a pride flag or as involved as driving to Pierre to testify before the legislature.

How do I get on the list?

Businesses can fill out this form to be considered for the list.

If you want to support Dorothy's List, you can learn more here or follow them on Instagram to stay in-the-know.

This article originally appeared in Sioux Falls Simplified. Go support their work, today!

Dorothy’s List: Making a safer state for LGBTQ+ people.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) –  A Sioux Falls man is working to make South Dakota a safer place for the LGBTQ community through his statewide resource of queer-friendly businesses called “Dorothy’s List.”

Over 100 businesses, including retail stores, restaurants and health care services, have made the pledge to support, advocate for and not discriminate against queer people in South Dakota.

“The struggle to find businesses or organizations that are openly LGBTQ friendly, that’s a big concern for people, especially in the queer community,” Adam Jorgensen, the creator of Dorothy’s List, said. “They want to be able to go somewhere, go to a doctor, go to a therapist or just go to a store and be able to be free whoever they are.”

Jorgensen’s idea for creating a list for queer-friendly businesses has been years in the making, but the project really started taking shape in March 2023 after Jorgensen became a Billie Sutton Leadership Initiative fellow and secured a grant for the project. 

The list officially launched in October, and since then, more businesses have reached out to Jorgensen so they can get on the list too. 

One of those businesses was The Bean, a coffeehouse in Vermillion. Co-owner Leslie Gerrish said she heard about the project in an article and knew The Bean needed to be on the list.

“Our business has always been pretty vocal about the importance of being an ally and we feel that we’re a place where all people are welcome,” Gerrish said. “If we’re already doing this stuff, if we’re already making ourselves an ally, then adding ourselves to this list is kind of a no-brainer.”

Gerrish said Vermillion has a lot of queer people and allies who hold Pride events and attend marches and protests. With the city’s LGBTQ-friendly community, Gerrish said she knew Vermillion should be represented on the list in some way. 

“I’m hoping we can get more of the businesses who are already doing the work to register,” she said. “It’s a combination of making sure there’s representation around the whole state, not just in Rapid City or Sioux Falls. I know there are a lot of places around the state that are doing a lot of great things and getting us on this list is just another way to get our name out there.”

Jorgensen said it was important to him that the businesses on the list understand they might catch flack for being openly supportive of LGBTQ people and made sure the businesses on the list were prepared to handle any backlash. 

“I want the businesses and organizations on this list to really stand firm in their belief and understand that some people might disagree with them, but they’re not going to waver in their beliefs,” he said. 

April Bolton, owner of Inspiring Hope Counseling, said she’s committed to offering a safe space and helping queer people with their mental health. 

“By being on the list, you kind of make a commitment that this is a welcoming space for individuals who identify as LGBTQ, so it’s important for me that people know that about my business,” Bolton said. 

According to Jorgensen, mental health professionals were an important industry to include on the list. Lauren Glazier, owner of Cultivate Counseling, said individuals who identify as LGBTQ have a higher risk of mental health issues and suicidal ideation. Cultivate Counseling is on the health care services on Dorothy’s List. 

“It’s really important for me as a counselor to openly express that I’m an affirming, inclusive, safe space for people in that community to come and work on those issues and just to feel safe and accepted and validated in their experience,” Glazier said. 

The name, Dorothy’s List, comes from the mid-twentieth-century phrase “Friend of Dorothy’s.” The coded phrase was used by gay men when they wanted to know if someone else was queer without explicitly asking. They would drop the question, “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” and if the other person knew what that meant, they were safe to come out themselves. Dorothy comes from Judy Garland’s character in “The Wizard of Oz.” Garland was known for supporting the LGBTQ community and considered a gay icon. 

Jorgensen said the long-term goal for Dorothy’s List is to highlight the businesses listed throughout the year and work with owners to strengthen their positions as allies and give them resources to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation and discrimination. 

“There’s no place like South Dakota to me,” Jorgensen said. “I live here for a reason, I stayed here for a reason and I think everyone should feel at home in South Dakota regardless of who they are.”

This article originally appeared on KELOLAND.com