Monrovia resident Bo Ryan riffled through stacks of patterned and solid-colored pants, shirts, belts and clothing with pronouns embroidered on them, seeking clothes that affirm their nonbinary identity.

Ryan attended Underdog Bookstore’s gender-affirming care day on Sunday. Pay-what-you-can clothing, shoes, handbags, nail art and pronoun embroidery were featured among the Monrovia bookstore’s diverse shelves. For the new owner, it was another first, just months after the store almost closed amid community backlash.

“Underdog is a very special part of downtown Monrovia for me,” Ryan, 16, said. “It’s a staple of the local queer community here.”

Ryan, a regular who uses they and them pronouns, came with their father to donate clothes, look for some to take and do some Christmas shopping.

“My favorite part about Underdog is that queer people aren’t just confined to a single shelf in the back of the bookstore; it’s an entire store for us queer people,” they said.Gender-affirming health care for gender-nonconforming people, including transgender people, usually includes hormone therapy or surgery, according to the National Library of Medicine. Gender-affirming care refers to smaller, everyday actions that people, both cisgender and gender-nonconforming, may do to affirm their gender. Haircuts, nail care, clothing, shaving and facial grooming can all be examples of gender-affirming care.

“This was something that we particularly wanted to do around the holiday season, which can be a difficult time for a lot of LGBTQ+ people,” Kealie Mardell-Carrera, founder of the nonprofit Underdog now operates under, said. “We wanted to try and do something that would bring some joy and love into everyone’s life.”

Underdog, which opened in April 2023, is one of few LGBTQ+ spaces within the San Gabriel Valley. In May, Underdog’s original owners left the business after receiving in-store visits from irate opponents of the store, who took issue with Underdog’s book selection, including the amount of authors of color the bookstore highlighted; its rainbow pride flag on display; and a handful of drag story-hour events.

Mardell-Carrera, along with a board of directors, took over the store under a new nonprofit model right after the owners officially left. Ever since, Underdog has regularly held LGBTQ+ artist markets, child-friendly activities and a diverse stock of books and events that prioritize the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities and authors of color — “underdogs” in the publishing industry.

While Underdog didn’t face any issues ahead of the event, the board of directors came prepared, with extra volunteers around for safety, just in case.

“If anything does happen, we really just want the message to be that those of us that are here at Underdog, our voices of support are louder than any voices of hate that might appear,” Mardell-Carrera said ahead of the event.

Eileen Sanchez, a queer person who lives in the San Gabriel Valley, also came to donate clothes and support the bookstore.

“I think we need more events in places like this, so I want to be as supportive as possible,” Sanchez, 30, said. “Especially in times like this, sometimes it’s hard to see trans-friendly events out in this area.”

Sanchez was a regular before the bookstore became a nonprofit and is happy to see it continuing through community support.

“It’s really cool, especially, being an adult doing this,” Sanchez said. “I’ve known I was queer since I was really young, preteen, at least. If you had told me then that there would be places like this that our community would be trying to keep open and alive, then that would have meant the whole world to me back then. It’s cool to be able to participate in events like this now.”

Moriah Conant, a vendor at Underdog who embroidered pronouns onto clothes that people had bought at the event or brought with them, said accessible gender-affirming clothing is something they are very passionate about. For sustainability reasons and to keep their art accessible, Conant, an Ontario resident, uses thrifted clothes, onto which they embroider designs such as pronouns, rainbows and affirming phrases like “I’m here” to help LGBTQ+ people feel seen and supported.

“Using someone’s correct pronouns can be really affirming to hear, because to have a microaggression of someone repeatedly using the wrong pronouns can wear you down,” Conant, 28, said. “It can really impacts yourself and your connection with people.”