Queer Tarot: An Inclusive Deck and Guidebook - all 78 cards based on real LGBTQ+ people
Most tarot decks work with archetypal figures designed for no one in particular. Queer Tarot makes a different call: every card is based on a real person, selected and commissioned by the makers. That is not a marketing note. It is a design decision you can see on every card.
Behind the deck are Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham, the couple working together under the name Ash + Chess out of Richmond, Virginia. They are known for greeting cards and art prints in retro colour palettes, but their work runs further than stationery. They have illustrated for HarperCollins and Workman Publishing, and wrote their own book on LGBTQ+ history, The Gay Agenda: A Modern Queer History & Handbook. This tarot deck sits squarely in that same lineage.
What you see on the cards
The illustrations are risograph-style: heavy lines, saturated retro palettes, figures that hold their ground on the card. This is not soft or airy imagery. The Major and Minor Arcana are completely rethought, with figures representing a wide spectrum of gender identities, sexual orientations, skin tones, body sizes, and physical abilities. One card features a wheelchair user, which remains genuinely uncommon in tarot.
The cards measure 76 x 127 mm and come in a travel case set into a flocked tray, which sits inside a magnetic keepsake box with metallic foil accents.
What the guidebook covers
The 176-page guidebook is fully illustrated in colour. It includes a short history of tarot, an introduction to the cards, and for each card an LGBTQ+-centred description with suggested interpretations. Instructions for several spreads are also included.
The cards themselves carry no keywords or meanings in the imagery, only the card name. Anyone wanting to look up meanings uses the guidebook.
The guidebook writes its interpretations from a queer perspective, not as a supplement to classical meanings but as a full rereading of the traditional tarot system.
About Ash + Chess
Ashley Molesso (she/her) and Chess Needham (he/him) launched Ash + Chess in 2017 at the National Stationery Show. Their work is now stocked in over 150 retailers across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Collaborations include work with Forever 21 and a Japanese retail brand, alongside illustration projects for major publishers.
Their background as activist makers comes through in this deck. The decision to base every card on a real person from the LGBTQ+ community gives the project a documentary dimension alongside its function as a tarot set.
Specifications
- Number of cards: 78
- Guidebook: 176 pages, fully illustrated in colour, flexibind
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780762474882
- Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA
- Weight: 454 g
- Box dimensions: 140 x 64 x 166 mm
- Card size: 76 x 127 mm
- Creators: Ashley Molesso and Chess Needham (Ash + Chess)
- Packaging: Magnetic keepsake box with metallic foil accents, flocked interior tray, travel case for the cards
Questions we often get
Do the cards have keywords or meanings printed on them?
No. The cards show the illustration and the card name only. Meanings and interpretations are in the 176-page guidebook that comes with the set.
Is this deck usable if you have no background in tarot?
The guidebook includes an introduction to tarot and instructions for several spreads, so no prior knowledge is needed. The descriptions are written from a queer perspective and follow the classic 78-card structure.
