Charlie Sprinkman didn’t wait for permission to map belongings. They went ahead and did it—with intention, with integrity, and with a sharp digital instinct that turned a gap into a global movement.
As the founder of Everywhere Is Queer (EIQ), Charlie (he/they) is helping queer people around the world locate each other—literally. With a live, interactive map of queer-owned businesses and queer-affirming spaces, their work is both cartographic and cultural. It’s the radical act of refusing invisibility and instead declaring, in pixel and print: we are here.
“Hope will never be silent.” — Harvey Milk (Charlie’s favorite quote)
The map is intuitive: pins represent safe spaces, businesses, affirming services, and community hubs. But the movement goes deeper. Through EIQ’s rapidly growing social presence—especially on Instagram (@everywhereisqueer, with over 164K followers)—Charlie has built something rare: a digital sanctuary rooted in geography and joy.
It started with a road trip. A few years back, Charlie hit the road across the U.S. and found themselves constantly Googling: “Where are the queer-owned businesses here?” Frustrated with the scattered answers and lack of centralized info, they took matters into their own hands. That initial spark became the now-thriving EIQ app, available on both iOS and Android.
But the app is just the beginning. EIQ isn’t about corporate allyship or rainbow capitalism. It’s about queer economic empowerment, survival, and visibility in a world where safety still can’t be taken for granted.
Charlie is soft-spoken but serious about impact. They regularly partner with small businesses, host virtual spotlights, and engage with the community in ways that center joy and justice equally. When asked what keeps them going, Charlie returns to Milk’s mantra—hope as a political act. In every pin dropped, in every DM from someone who finally found a place to breathe, that hope lives on.
As Pride 2025 unfolds in a climate of corporate retreat and global uncertainty, EIQ’s presence feels even more urgent. It reminds us that while logos fade, the community builds its own infrastructure. Maps, after all, don’t just show where we are—they shape where we believe we can go.
