Why We Built The Queer Route: The Founder's Story

I Built the App I Needed — From a 9-to-5 and a Paycheck

I'm Keith Givens, founder of The Queer Route, and this company started with a night out in 2019 that didn't go the way it should have.

Planning a night out sounds simple. In practice, it's a multi-tab project: Google this venue, cross-reference that review site, try to figure out from a four-year-old photo whether this bar is actually welcoming or just technically open to anyone. And for queer travelers and locals, there's an additional layer — will I actually be safe here? Will I feel comfortable? Is the vibe what I think it is, or am I going to walk in and immediately know I read it wrong?

That experience in 2019 crystallized something I'd felt for a long time: there was no single platform that answered all of these questions at once, especially not for the queer community. No app that gave you hyper-local, real-time guidance on venues — their character, their vibe, their safety — without requiring you to stitch together five different sources and still feel uncertain.

So I decided to build it.

I want to be honest about where I started: a 9-to-5, living paycheck to paycheck, with no tech background and no access to venture capital. I didn't have a network of investors or a previous exit to fund the runway. What I had was a clear problem, a community that deserved better, and a level of confidence in what I was building that made it possible to open doors that would otherwise have stayed shut.

The Queer Route is a hyper-local navigation platform that transforms static itineraries into interactive, revenue-driving experiences. We're launching our Austin pilot in July 2026 with secured vendor partnerships, and vendors on the platform will be QR Certified — a trust signal that means something to the community we're serving.

Recently, I was accepted to the StartOut Founders Program, which is one of the most meaningful accelerators for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in the country. I've secured two vendor partnerships for the pilot. And I'm going to be in the next edition of Who's Who in America. I say that not to boast, but to show what happens when you refuse to let the funding gap define your limits.

"Work as if there is someone out there trying to take it all away from you."

That's the quote I live by. There have been moments on this journey when I've wanted to quit, when the funding doors stayed closed, when the progress felt invisible. But what drives me is knowing that if I don't build this, some manufactured version of it will get built instead — one that wasn't designed with the queer community at the center. I can't let that happen.

My advice to any founder: whatever your idea is, make sure it's something you're willing to do whatever it takes to make real. Courage to go outside your comfort zone isn't a nice-to-have. It's the whole job.

The Queer Route is for the community. Built by the community. And we're just getting started.