It’s a mystery as old as time: Is that person at the park a gay dad or a hipster?
For David Morgenstern, all the wondering had become too much to bear. So the Ohio gay dad and entrepreneur decided to come up with an alternative.
“What if we had a different way to signal to each other, find one another and build community?” Morgenstern thought.
Over the course of a few months in 2024, the Shaker Heights native networked with around 200 other gay dads and discovered a simple, but universal thread: Gay dads wanted to interact with other gay dads about the unique experience of being a gay dad.
“The first question everyone gets asked is, ‘How did you become a dad?” Morgenstern said. “Those are very important stories to tell, but there’s so much to share and we don’t always need to start there.”
He then made a happy discovery: the word “gaddies” – an amalgam of gay and daddies – was available for licensing.
With a background working in the apparel industry, Morgenstern was able to emblazon his newly trademarked word on a hat, and the Gaddies brand was born.
Behind the word Gaddies is a queer legacy that Morgenstern does not take lightly.
“Gaddies exist and have always been here,” he said. “Parenting by itself is very isolating, and parenting as a queer person is even more isolating. These things combined really made me want to shine a spotlight and say, ‘We’re here.’”
Morgenstern has introduced over a hundred products in the first year of the brand, from“Love is Gay” T-shirts, to “I Love My Gaddy” onesies, to “Caught in a Dad Romance” totes.
He said the past year has been full of challenges (“I’m just a gay dad of a 5-year-old putting something together in my basement!”) but he also has heard countless stories of individuals who were able to find a sense of community through the apparel.
In one instance, a couple wearing a “Gaddies” shirt were approached at an airport by an elder who asked if the word stood for “Gay Daddies.” When the couple said yes, the elder shyly shared that he shared the Gaddies identity.
“It’s exciting to think that [without the shirt], they would’ve just been passing one another with no way to connect,” Morgenstern said.
Looking ahead, Morgenstern is excited to partner with the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland to host networking and educational events for Gaddies and to keep evolving the brand.
Not all the products have sold as he thought he would (“I thought the ‘Dads of Dorothy’ line would hit bigger than it did.”), but Morgenstern said the key is to keep innovating and keep being authentic.
“Gay dads have a special layer of strength,” he said. “I want to focus on this notion of Pride starting from within us and celebrating the strength of all the Gaddies out there.” 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- Check out all things Gaddies by heading to their website here and purchasing ALL the things.
- Learn more about Plexus, the LGBT and Allied Chamber of Commerce, by visiting their website here.
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