These are the best LGBTQ+ greeting cards

The Greeting Card Association (GCA) awarded their prestigious Annual Louie Awards this week, and the three finalists in the LGBTQ+ category are worlds beyond your typical Hallmark drugstore purchase.

GCA also introduced the new Maker of Note awards. These awards honor and elevate the rich diversity of the makers and publishers within the greeting card community, highlighting the makers themselves. The awards symbolize excellence in the greeting card industry and are highly coveted by publishers and designers alike.

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A panel of judges — consisting of 78 card publishers, retailers, sales representatives, and stationery industry leaders from across the country — carefully reviewed the entries to determine the finalists.

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Kate Murray from Quick Brown Fox Letterpress won the LGBTQIA+ Maker of Note Award and was a finalist for the Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Culture award. The “Yay for Gay!” card celebrates coming out.

“Coming out can be a hard process,” Murray said. “I love the idea of celebrating such a big moment in someone’s life with a bright, cheery card. It’s a great, small way to let someone know you support them.”

While Murray’s queer card didn’t win the category, they scored so well across several categories that they took home the Maker of Note prize.

That Queer Card Co. won the prize for best greeting card. The quirky “Glad You Got That Off Your Chest” card is a way to show support for a trans person’s gender confirmation top surgery.

“This card was designed with my trans masculine partner in mind as mainstream greeting card companies are very much lacking in the gender-affirming surgery card department,” the French company’s owner, Shauna, said. “It was, ultimately, the first greeting card I ever sold in my business.”

Good JuJu Ink‘s “Yay For They” pronouns card was also a finalist. Its cheerful rabbit drawing would be the perfect pick-me-up for anyone embracing their true nonbinary selves.

“I think the card speaks for itself in this category, but I’ll share that we’ve had several customers who have written us the most wonderful messages when they found this card on our website,” the company’s Head of Business Development, Ryan Kissik, said. “For those who receive it, this card is a beautiful gift, and we could not be more proud of this design!”