With the emergence of a more forceful LGBTQ+ community, coupled with efforts to expand and secure the equal rights members of this community are entitled to, there continues to be a focus on ensuring the LGTQ+ individuals are not excluded from securing the services they want or need due to discrimination.  Vendors and the LGBTQ+ Community need to be supportive and respective of each other in the natural course of engaging in business interactions.

Who could forget one of the more publicized events of a few years ago when a county clerk took it upon herself to deny issuing a gay couple a marriage license.  This of course was wrong on multiple levels – morally as well as legally.  The clerk took it upon herself to impose her own personal views within the realms of a public office position she was employed in.  She exerted a form of discrimination which has no place in regular day-to-day activities, and absolutely no place in a municipal environment which is in place and entrusted to service the constituents of the city, state, or federal jurisdiction they have been put in place to serve.

Fortunately, this person was was not supported in her efforts, and proved to be very hypocritical when portions of her personal life came into play.  The courts supported the legal standing and legitimacy of the rights of the member of the LGBTQ+ community and they were able to secure the marriage license they were entitled. to. The clerk was later justifiably fired from her role for exerting restrictions she had no right or power to implement in her role as a public servant.

This of course was not the only example of vendors and the LGBTQ+ community not interacting within the normal confines of doing business.

There were a number of bakeries that refused to create wedding cakes for gay couples.  What was supposed to be a simple part of the planning process for what was intended to be a joyous celebration of a couples journey in life together now became a sour note as the result of nothing more than discrimination.  Unfortunately, these situations are more complicated and often such businesses can skirt around the laws that are in place since, as a private business, they can in some cases be able to exclude certain individuals they choose to and restrict their services as they deem appropriate.

These are examples of just a small portion of services that the LGBTQ+ community looks to enlist, mostly tied to major celebrations of life such as engagements and weddings. However, vendors are not only limited to these type of services.  This stretches much further into other things – goods and services – that are not tied to a special event particularly, but part of everyday life. This includes the basics – food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, insurance, you name it!  Basic needs that should be easy enough to secure as part of pursuing daily life.

So how do members of the LGBTQ+ community search out vendors and businesses that provide the goods and services they need without imposing the weight of discrimination and hypocrisy in the process?  Fortunately, through the ongoing efforts of leaders and advocates of the LGBTQ+ community more and more vendors and businesses are making a point of publicizing their support of LGBTQ+ members and are actively welcoming and pursuing their business.

As a side note, the LGBTQ+ community has a very large scale of purchasing power that some companies continue to ignore.  It is estimated as reported by Forbes Magazine that there is approximately $1 Trillion dollars of buying power that are an untapped source of revenue for a multitude of businesses. $1 Trillion!  New research from Hornet.com and Kantar Consulting, shows that this market is currently the fastest-growing market right now, and is on target to grow by millions in the US in the next few years.

In 2016, the LGBT community’s buying power was estimated to be$917 billion. Much of that represented older Millennials, GenXers and Baby Boomers. According to the Hornet’s survey of over 11,500 Americans age 18 and up, the LGBTQ+ community with its new grouping is exploding.

The Hornet’s data shows that 8% of Baby Boomers, 13% of GenXers, 20% of Millennials and a staggering 31% of Centennials (GenZ born after 1997) identify as LGBTQ+ . This represents an estimated 32 million Americans or 13% of the total population. In addition, as Millennials move into their prime earning years and Centennials start entering the workforce, the $917 billion purchasing power of the LGBTQ+ community will mushroom.

With a surprising 66% of LGBTQ+ individuals saying “I don’t see my lifestyle represented in advertising” and 51% saying, “I wish I could see more advertising with families like mine,” one would think this is a marketer’s paradise. It’s a large and funded demographic who wants to be represented and that wants to do business with companies that authentically engage with it.

So what are some of the suggestions to vendors and businesses to secure the business of members of the LGBTQ+ community?  In the Forbes article, some of the suggestions are:

1. Connect with LGBTQ+ bloggers

LGBTQ+ bloggers attract targeted eyeballs of the LGBTQ+ audience. LGBTQ+ bloggers target a niche demographic, so don’t expect millions of page views a month like you would from general sites. A few blogs to consider include, NomadicBoys.com, OutSports.com, GayGirlNet.com and, yours truly, DebtFreeGuys.com.

2. Use targeted Facebook and Instagram ads

Despite Facebook’s recent problems, there are still over two-billion Facebook users worldwide and the 25-34 represents 25% of Facebook users in the U.S. Also, don’t forget that Facebook owns Instagram, and Instagram is the fastest growing social platform today.

If you’re a smaller company and unfamiliar with LGBTQ+ ads on Facebook, learn how niche marketers are flourishing with Facebook ads.

3. Connect on social platforms like Hornet and Moovz

One of the catalysts for the growth of the LGBTQ+ community is the community. We sought each other starting in the 50s and 60s and it’s continued ever since. For this reason, LGBTQ+-focused social networks and websites are exploding with growth. A case in point is Hornet. Hornet.com is among the top 9,000 sites worldwide according to Alexa, and between Hornet.com and the Hornet App, it has over 25 million regular users.  Hornet’s users skew younger, so marketers leveraging Hornet would be reaching Millennials and younger.

Moovz, another social networking app and site created for the LGBTQ+ community, claims 28 million active users. In addition, Moovz has a large Spanish speaking demographic, the fastest growing demographic in the U.S.

Finally, the question of “what’s in it for me” may be asked by vendors and businesses. According to the Hornet/Kantar study, 43% of LGBTQ+ respondents say they like to purchase from brands that show people who appear successful. Brands that portray the success are typically able to price higher than their competition. Brands such as Louis Vuitton, Mercedes and Apple, all successfully reached the LGBTQ+ market with images that meet the desire of the 51% who want to see families that look like theirs as mentioned above.

For example, an early adopter of LGBTQ+ advertising is the travel industry. There are cruises, hotels and even citywide campaigns in Philadelphia and Baltimore that encourage the LGBTQ+ community to visit and spend money there. Consequently, according to a recent Grindr study, the LGBTQ+ community spends nearly $100 billion dollars on travel, a leading spend in the LGBTQ+ community.

You would think that at the worst case greed alone would entice some businesses and vendors to overcome their prejudices and do their best to tap into this revenue stream.  But rather than focus on these less than supportive businesses, let’s concentrate on some of them that should be singled out and proudly support the LGBTQ+ community.  A recent review of businesses during Pride Month of 2021 highlighted the following companies:

A Tribe Called Queer/Addidas/Apple/Banana Republic/Bath & Body Works/Bliss/Bombas/Bobo’s/The Body Shop/Boy Smells/Choose Love/Converse/Disney/Doc Martens/EyeBuyDirect/Fossil/Gap/gc2b/GDY/GenderBender Apparel/ The Glow Co./Happy Socks/Harry’s Razors/JOANN/Kate Spade/Lego/Levi’s/Mac Cosmentics/Madwell x Lisa Congdon/MeUndies/Native/Noble Objects/Olay/Outplay/Parade/Petsmart/PopSockets/QVC/Ralph Lauren/Reebock/Skagen/Skittles/Suay Sew Shop/Tangle Teezer x Ultra Beauty/Target/Teva/Tomboy X/Toms/Ugg/Vans/Vistaprint/Welly/Wildfang/Zenni/1-800 Flowers

Quite an impressive list wouldn’t you say?!!  In addition, there are approximately 1.4 million LGBTQ-owned businesses in the United States, and these companies bring in an estimated $1.7 trillion in revenue.

While this is not a complete list of all vendors and businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community, it provides enough insight as to how such establishments have decided to pursue this abundant market of individuals to the benefit of both.  In turn, it is important for members of the LGBTQ+ community to search these businesses out, both large and small, to ensure their voices are heard and their retail buying power encourages more vendors and businesses to enter this market and openly solicit their business.

In the realm of photography, a great vendor supporter of the LGBT+ community is John Ryan of J&J Studios of Philadelphia.

John is an award winning photographer who has captured the hopes and dreams of many LGBTQ+ couples on film for such special occasions, but not limited to, engagements and weddings.  His beautiful art is briefly captured here in just a small example of his work –

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My name is Raymond Dobrovolsky. I am equally proud to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as a blogger and associate of John Ryan and the work of the J&J Studios.  If you are interested in John’s work or securing his services for your special event as well as to support a vendor of the LGBTQ+ community, please go to the J&J Studios website.