June is Pride Month, a celebration of the queer community, and a common time for businesses to ‘rainbow wash.’ As a business journalist it is inevitable that an LGBTQ+ story will be a part of your beat not only this month but at any time throughout the year. So, here are some LGBTQ+ business resources to be knowledgeable of all year round.
National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
The NGLCC is a certification entity that verifies eligible businesses are majority-owned by LGBT individuals. Their website states they represent an estimated 1.4 million LGBT business owners and over 200 corporate partners, including Intel, American Express, Apple, and Google.
Through their Supplier Diversity Initiative they are able to match corporate partners with certified LGBT business owners, which plays an important role in connecting corporations interested in working with minority suppliers. As a reporter, you can reach out to one of the many affiliate chambers, which are located in most states and several other countries to see what local companies they work with.
NGLCC also works collaboratively with the Human Rights Campaign as supplier diversity is one of the independently scored criteria on the Corporate Equality Index.
Corporate Equality Index
The Human Rights Campaign has recently released its 20th report on businesses that contribute to the LGBTQ community in their Corporate Equality Index, originally started in 2002. Their latest report noted that 91% of the Fortune 500 companies have gender identity protections within their nondiscrimination policies, up from 3% in 2002. Additionally, 258 of these companies received a 100% rating on the index earning them a designation as the ‘best places to work for LGBTQ+ equality,’ and each year more and more companies are offering transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage.
Check to see if some of the companies you regularly cover are included on the index and what their score is, as well as, how their score has changed over the past two decades.
Open for Business
Launched in 2015 to advance LGBT+ rights globally through promoting research, developing networks, and creating a collective voice of business leaders supporting an inclusive society and workplace. This organization has brought together the business and economic case through research that shows that inclusive and diverse societies are better for economic growth, stronger financial performance flows from increased ability to attract and retain talent, and individuals working in an inclusive environment perform better.
Be sure to read through some of the latest research so you can have more insightful questioning in your next interview.
Out Professionals
Originally started in 1983 as the New York Advertising Communications Network, this network was predominantly word-of-mouth referrals that helped LGBTQ professionals in this industry advance their careers. They changed their name in 1999 and currently run a plethora of networking opportunities. They are predominantly in New York City, but have been expanding to other large cities in the past few years. Their virtual events during the pandemic have helped them broaden their footprint for LGBTQ professionals across the nation and in a variety of industries.
This organization can be a good resource for journalists to connect with LGBTQ professionals that are in their area and beat coverage.
