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).
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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.
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“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.