“LGBTQ people are defined in their families and their lives by arcane rules state by state,” he said, adding that LGBTQ businesses may be facing “anxiety and difficulty with things like credit and credit lines, lending, borrowing” due to unequal access. by the NGLCC, said federal data collection, inclusion and protection of rights for LGBTQ business owners and employees is an important issue since opportunities and inclusion may vary by state. Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications, the first certified LGBTQ business in the U.S. While there are some programs aimed to help minority- and women-owned enterprises and entrepreneurs, LGBTQ-owned businesses aren’t offered the same resources. There are an estimated 1.4 million LGBTQ-run companies in the U.S., accounting for $1.7 trillion a year in revenue, according to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). NBC OUT Queer and trans poets worth reading LGBTQ-owned businesses this year “Every June we celebrate our survival, how far we have come, while also continuing to call out inequities, discrimination, and violence targeting the LGBTQ+ community,” explained Comeforo. June commemorates the 1969 Stonewall uprising - 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of when police raided West Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, that helped ignite the modern-day LGBTQ rights movement. It exposes our community to not just new customers, but new allies.” “The focus on LBGTQ+ owned businesses and our impact is great exposure. On the other hand, the spotlight offers the potential to “reach so many new people,” explained Helen Russell, a co-founder of Equator Coffees.
And while this can “bring visibility to the queer community,” it doesn’t “translate to small queer businesses getting more sales.” But as a brand, “we don't do anything different in the month of Pride versus any other month as we are LGBTQ+ all year long and serve that community all year long,” Moffat added. “Pride Month has been commandeered by big mainstream retailers producing Pride collections,” said Laura Moffat, one of the founders of menswear-inspired clothing label Kirrin Finch. Shopping The rise of gender-fluid clothing - and its ambiguityīut for some LGBTQ-owned businesses, the attention during June doesn’t necessarily mean big business.