Brian Lucas is a regular contributor to and board member of the Hill & Lake Press. He lives in Kenwood.
In normal times, seeing crowds of people lined up outside a retailer would signal that business is booming. For the Uptown retailer Smitten Kitten, these are not normal times.
Over the last month, the self-described progressive, education-based sex toy store has been transformed into a hub of mutual aid supporting local families affected by ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency of the federal government.
“We have always at Smitten Kitten been really passionate about taking care of our community, giving people accurate information about how to make choices for their own lives, in their own bodies,” said Anne Lehman (they/them), the store’s social media coordinator. “So we’re just extending that even further to the most basic human needs, which are food and safety.”
The scene outside the store near Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue South is a mix of communal joy and high alert.
Volunteers with whistles around their necks stand watch for ICE agents while a steady stream of visitors drop off food, toiletries and other essentials.
Employees and volunteers sort donations before loading them into cars for distribution. A small table with snacks and hot drinks offers supporters a place to rest.
For Lehman, the level of community support has been inspiring, but not surprising.
“Honestly, this neighborhood has always been an awesome place for the arts, for musicians, for immigrant businesses and small businesses,” they said. “Immigrants make this community what it is. And it’s our responsibility to use our platform to take care of them the way they have supported us for the last 22 years as a business.”
Lehman said they were moved to act after Smitten Kitten’s neighbor, Wrecktangle Pizza, had to shut down one day because workers were afraid to come in. Volunteers helped the restaurant reopen, and the owners launched a “Buy a Pizza, Give a Pizza” effort to donate a frozen pizza to a family in need for every pizza sold.
“I thought, well, if you need food, you probably also need diapers, home goods, all of those things,” Lehman said. “So I did a Costco run and put up my Venmo. I think I made $500 in like 10 minutes.
We bought two cartloads and that stuff went out the next day. My boss was out of town, so I said, ‘Well, I’m sorry, but I just turned your business into a hub of mutual aid.’ And they were like, ‘Okay, cool. I’ll see you when I get back.'"
Lehman admits it has been nerve-racking at times to be so publicly visible in resisting ICE.
“When we first started, ICE kind of caught on to what we were doing and would come around the block spitting at us, pointing at us, trying to intimidate us,” they said.
“And while it was scary at first, it only made me want to do more, because I know if we’re a target, that means I’m doing something right. Those guys have no soul. So we’re just gonna blow them away with our amount of soul.”
Smitten Kitten is no stranger to progressive activism.
As a trans-owned business committed to being a safe space for marginalized communities, it has a long record of community involvement.
Staff distributed personal protective equipment during the COVID pandemic, supported activists after the murder of George Floyd and maintain training in Narcan overdose rescue. Last year, employees used that training to save a woman’s life outside the store.
“It is super inconvenient to open up your business to this type of thing, but you know what else is inconvenient? A military occupation outside,” they said. “We can sell sex toys all day long, but we’ll do that another time. The world is watching, and it is all hands on deck.”
Still, Lehman said something feels different in this moment.
“We need to set an example for other people that it’s go time,” they said. “They’ve been targeting our Black and brown neighbors for f—ing ever. And a lot of people have been talking about how Renee Good lost her proximity to whiteness by putting her life and her body on the line, which is what everyone else needs to do.”
While turning Smitten Kitten into a mutual aid headquarters has been disruptive, Lehman says it is the right thing to do, and they hope more businesses will join the effort.
“It is super inconvenient to open up your business to this type of thing, but you know what else is inconvenient? A military occupation outside,” they said. “We can sell sex toys all day long, but we’ll do that another time. The world is watching, and it is all hands on deck.”
Lehman said they hear from many people who feel uneasy about confrontation.
“People are saying, ‘I don’t want to start a civil uprising or a civil war,’ but I would love to beg the question, ‘What are we doing right now?’” Lehman said. “We have all these goons pulling up on us all day long, not only here, but in the suburbs.”
This is their training ground to see what they can do in other places. So they might not be where you are now, but they’re coming.”
Smitten Kitten plans to help families as long as ICE remains active in the community. In addition to food and essential items, the store is accepting cash donations.
“We realized, what good is a roll of toilet paper if you’re evicted from your home and don’t have anyplace to keep it anymore,” Lehman said.
They hope more people and businesses join the effort to help neighbors feel safe.
“The amount of people that come in every day, every hour that are like, ‘My family has been separated. My dad is detained, my mom is detained,’” they said. “We need to continue to stand up and stand together.”
Lehman said while they are frustrated by politicians and the courts, the people on the ground give them hope.
“We’re the real people, the real community that is holding this s— down, and that is our responsibility,” they said. “This isn’t going to be solved by paperwork and lawsuits.
“You can make a difference with 15 minutes, a carload of groceries and an address. Period.”
With no sign of an end to ICE’s presence, Lehman said they are confident Minneapolis will continue to rise up and serve as an example for the nation.
