Chosen Love
A queer-led community organization in Frederick, Maryland — fostering connection, creativity, and care through music, gardening, and mutual aid.
Explore Our GatheringsScroll
A queer-led community organization in Frederick, Maryland — fostering connection, creativity, and care through music, gardening, and mutual aid.
Explore Our GatheringsOur Mission
Chosen Love is a queer-led community organization and creative collective based in Frederick, Maryland, offering year-round gatherings that centers underserved communities — particularly LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals — while welcoming allies.
Through inclusive gatherings rooted in music, art, gardening, and mutual aid, we create spaces where people can reduce isolation and support one another as artists and community members.
Across all of our gatherings, Chosen Love prioritizes accessibility, consent-centered spaces, and community care. Whether someone joins us through a microphone, a garden bed, or a shared fundraiser, our goal is to create welcoming environments where people can connect, collaborate, and build lasting relationships.
What We Do
Our gardening collective brings LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC community members together through shared gardening work. Meeting twice or more each month, members visit each other's garden spaces to help with planting, maintenance, and skill sharing. Open to all experience levels.
An extension of the gardening collective, the archery group offers participants an opportunity to learn and practice archery in a group setting. Sessions focus on safety, basic technique, and comfort with equipment while building confidence and connection.
Our newest program brings together queer musicians, vocalists, and creatives to play music in a collaborative, low-pressure environment. Open to a range of skill levels, the focus is on shared participation rather than performance — gathering to jam, experiment, and support one another musically.
Fundraiser
Queeraoke is our karaoke-based fundraiser that generates funds to directly support artists in the community while sustaining Chosen Love's gatherings and operations.
Part performance showcase, part community gathering — Queeraoke creates a space where audience members become participants, celebrating artistry and mutual support through the joy of music.
Founder
Kyrese Gesualdo
they/them · also known as Black-Eyed Suzy
Kyrese is a Maryland-based community organizer and performer who founded Chosen Love to create in-person gatherings for underserved communities, particularly LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals.
They organize and host a gardening collective that meets multiple times each month, with members visiting and working in one another's garden spaces, as well as an archery group that extends this land-based work into a shared skills practice. They also facilitate Fruit Jam Sessions and Queeraoke events that support artist performance opportunities.
A graduate of UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures, Kyrese has worked internationally across circus and theatrical productions, live bands, and community-based performance spaces. As Black-Eyed Suzy, they perform original music and host interactive events that prioritize participation, accessibility, and audience engagement.
Kyrese lives on a recreational homestead in Maryland with their spouse, two kids, dogs, cats, and chickens. Their day-to-day work includes gardening, land care, and building shared infrastructure — directly informing their approach to organizing and community support.
Support Our Work
Your contributions go directly toward sustaining Chosen Love's gatherings and supporting artists in our community. Every gift — large or small — makes a difference.
Get Involved
Whether through a microphone, a garden bed, or a shared fundraiser — there's a place for you at Chosen Love. Reach out to learn about upcoming gatherings and how to get involved.
Get in Touch