June is Pride Month - a time to remember, celebrate, and reaffirm commitment to LGBTQIA+ communities across the country and around the world. If you run a small business and would like to show your support, this guide will go over the history of Pride and offer ideas on how you can continue to show up for LGBTQIA+ communities and all year long.
The History of Pride Month
American historians point to a singular moment that sparked the beginning of Pride - the Stonewall Uprising.
On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City —a favorite spot for Greenwich Village’s drag queens and gay men of color. On that particular night, the patrons of Stonewall Inn defended themselves, sparking several nights of rioting and police resistance.
That became the catalyst for a wildfire of activism, inspiring the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights across the nation.
How Businesses Can Support The LGBTQ Community During Pride (And All Year Round)
As a small business owner, showing meaningful support for Pride and what it stands for starts with creating a culture of inclusion. Yes, you can add a Pride flag to your store’s window but beyond that, there are so many ways you can make your business a beacon of LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
Read on for ways you can show support.
Make Donations
Pledge a percentage of your proceeds in the month of June to a local or national LGBTQIA+ organization. Then, you can use a platform like Nextdoor to share your initiative so that your neighbors can support the cause as well.
Here are just a few organizations to look into:
- The Human Rights Campaign, a national organization that seeks to establish legislative equality for the LGBTQIA+ community
- The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is a free law collective founded by trans rights activist Dean Spade. It works to ensure the trans community has access to legal services and benefits regardless of their socio-economic status.
- SNaPCo, an organization that seeks to break the systems that support the school-to-prison pipeline of Black trans and queer people.
- The Trevor Project, the first national crisis and suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults.
- GLSEN, a non-profit focused on eliminating LGBTQIA+ discrimination within schools and legislation.
- The Matthew Shepard Foundation, which was named for Matthew Shepard, a gay student who was brutally murdered in 1998 for who he was. Started by Matthew’s parents, the organization focuses on LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education.
Promote Local LGBTQIA+ Businesses in Your Neighborhood
As a small business owner, you know the value of recommendations, networking, and building strong bonds with other small business owners. Let Pride inspire you to make those connections with LGBTQIA+ business owners.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- During Pride month, offer discounts when presented with a receipt from LGBTQIA+ owned small businesses in your area.
- Use your social media presence to share information about other LGBTQIA+ businesses.
- Promote LGBTQIA+ businesses on your Nextdoor Business Posts and encourage neighbors to support and leave them a recommendation.
Note: Listening to your neighbors before taking action is one of the most important parts of being an ally. So before advertising a business, be sure to speak with that business owner directly and get permission to promote them on their terms.
Champion LGBTQ Rights
Your small business network can act as a powerful advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights. Form a coalition with other small businesses and advocates in your neighborhood to support essential causes in your community. Here’s how other businesses stepped up to be true allies to their communities:
- In 2015, Indiana passed legislation allowing businesses to turn away LGBTQ customers and employees. In protest, 12 businesses pulled out of upcoming conventions, resulting in a loss of $60 million and forcing the state to amend the legislation.
- Similarly, in 2016, legislation in North Carolina restricted public access to bathrooms for transgender people. 140 influential CEOs signed an open letter to the governor. North Carolina lost $630 million from canceled events, which encouraged lawmakers to eventually repeal the law.
Contribute With A Pride Event
The beauty of Pride isn’t just in its storied past—it’s in seizing the present moment to celebrate, connect, and create a new future for our communities.
- Work with other event organizers to see what you can do – First and foremost, check with your local Pride organization leaders. While they may already have a month full of Pride events planned, they may need help rounding up more clean-up volunteers, finding lighting equipment for a spoken word event, or even just another set of hands to post-event flyers.
By listening and deferring to LGBTQIA+ organizations and community leaders, you’ll help provide support in the ways your community needs. - Book a speaker – The most important thing an ally can do is amplify the voices of LGBTQ community members. Hosting a speaker at your place of business (or working with another business to host an event) will allow you to amplify those voices. Reach out to your local LGBTQIA+ community hubs to book local musicians, artists, authors, or advocates to speak about the LGBTQIA+ experience and inspire your community.
- Sponsor a phone bank – As mentioned above, there’s still plenty of work to be done to support our LGBTQIA+ community. Hosting a phone bank invites allies and LGBTQIA+ neighbors to come together to support a greater cause.
- Screen films by LGBTQIA+ filmmakers – There are few things more powerful than a story, whether that’s a story told in a book or on the screen. Work with local venues to screen LGBTQIA+ films that inspire, educate, and make an impact. Don’t feel like you have to stick to documentaries—you can celebrate LGBTQIA+ joy with romances and comedies, too.
Boost Employee Benefits
Lead by example and make your small business an LGBTQIA+ friendly workplace. Consider adding:
- Parental Leave – Accommodate same-sex partners by offering both maternity and paternity leave for new parents.
- Gender-Neutral Bathrooms – Whenever possible, utilize gender-neutral bathrooms so LGBTQ employees and customers always feel safe and comfortable.
- Gender-Affirming Healthcare – Offer paid time off for LGBTQIA+ employees who might be considering gender-affirming surgeries, and set up a flexible spending account (FSA) as an employee benefit so employees can put money aside for gender-affirming surgeries.
Take Time To Educate Yourself
Investing your time to educate yourself will help your business be a better ally for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Brush up on the basics with educational resources like:
- The Center, a community hub for LGBTQIA+ individuals and allies
- The Safe Zone Project, a digital resource HQ to help inform allies about creating a safe space for their LGBTQIA+ community members.
- GLAAD, an LGBTQIA+ news site specifically geared toward the entertainment world
- PFLAG, a nationwide network that provides confidential peer support, education, and advocacy to LGBTQIA+ people, their parents and families, and allies.
Beyond the resources above, there are plenty of books, documentaries, movies, and podcasts available. Read on to see our list.
Show Your Neighborhood Pride
At its core, Pride Month is about community. As a small business owner, connecting with your community is what you do best. Whether you dive into a crash course on LGBTQIA+ or organize a phone bank, there are a multitude of ways to create a more inclusive community for all your neighbors during the month of June and beyond.
Educational Resources:
Read books to help contextualize the history and lives of the LGBTQ community:
- Pride by Matthew Todd
- Trans Like Me: A Journey for All of Us by CN Lester
- Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen
- How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones
- Purple Prose by Kate Harrad
- Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities edited by Jos Twist, Ben Vincent, Meg-John Barker, and Kat Gupta
- The Deviants War: The Homosexual v. The United States
Watch educational documentaries about the LGBTQIA+ experience such as:
- Disclosure
- The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
- State of Pride
- L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin
- How to Survive a Plague
- Before Stonewall
- And the Band Played on
You can also explore the cinematic world of LGBTQIA+ storytelling in movies like:
- The Half of It
- Moonlight
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Blue is the Warmest Color
- Milk
- Pariah
- Beautiful Thing
Listen to podcasts run by LGBTQIA+ creators such as:
- #QueerAF
- Busy Being Black
- Queer as Fact
- What the Trans
Sources:
The Independent. Pride Month: How was the annual LGBT+ celebration founded and when and where are events taking place? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pride-month-2021-founded-history-b1859815.html
USA Today. What are the origins of Pride Month? And who should we thank for the LGBTQ celebration? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2021/06/03/what-pride-month-means-look-history-lgbtq-celebration/7504029002/
NPR. Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal In All 50 States. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/26/417717613/supreme-court-rules-all-states-must-allow-same-sex-marriages
The Guardian. US elects first trans state senator and first black gay congressman. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/04/us-elects-first-trans-state-senator-and-first-black-gay-congressman
USA Today. New research reveals ‘shocking’ rates of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/15/lgbtq-discrimination-rise-according-new-research/5952976002/
Refinery29. What We Mean When We Talk About Coming Out (Of The Closet). https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/10/213732/coming-out-meaning-history-origin
Los Angeles Times. For Pride Month, here are 22 L.A.-centric ways to show support for the LGBTQ community. https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2021-06-01/20-la-centric-ways-support-lgbtq-community
Glamour. 19 LGBTQ+ Brands to Shop During Pride Month and Beyond. https://www.glamour.com/story/lgbtq-owned-brands
Bustle. 15 Black LGBTQ Small Businesses To Support Right Now. https://www.bustle.com/wellness/15-black-lgbtq-small-businesses-to-support-right-now-22949372
Harvard Business Review. Why Many Businesses Are Becoming More Vocal In Support of LGBTQ Rights. https://hbr.org/2019/03/why-many-businesses-are-becoming-more-vocal-in-support-of-lgbtq-rights
Vox. How LGBTQ Pride Month became a branded holiday. https://www.vox.com/2018/6/25/17476850/pride-month-lgbtq-corporate-explained
McKinsey & Company. How Gen Z and millennials are shaping the future of US retail. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/how-gen-z-and-millennials-are-shaping-the-future-of-us-retail#
Forbes. Indiana's Religious Freedom Act Cost Indianapolis $60 Million In Lost Revenue. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2016/01/31/indianas-religious-freedom-act-cost-indianapolis-60-million-in-lost-revenue/?sh=50fee1bd2e2a
Forbes. North Carolina's Bathroom Bill Flushes Away $630 Million In Lost Business. https://www.forbes.com/sites/corinnejurney/2016/11/03/north-carolinas-bathroom-bill-flushes-away-750-million-in-lost-business/?sh=63646b1f4b59
Shondaland. 24 LGBTQ+ Organizations You Can Support Right Now. https://www.shondaland.com/act/a27789423/24-lgbtq-organizations-support-right-now/
Time. 8 Best LGBTQ Documentaries. https://time.com/5589725/best-lgbtq-documentaries/
