You can support LGBTQ+ business leaders by showing public support, creating safer and more inclusive workplaces, choosing to buy from and partner with queer-owned businesses, and taking real action that goes beyond Pride Month. Showing your support year-round is important – and when it is visible, genuine, and practical, it helps create more space for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and leaders to thrive.
Why Supporting LGBTQ+ Business Leaders Is Important
Support for LGBTQ+ business leaders is still important because queer entrepreneurs remain underrepresented in leadership spaces. The original source for this article notes that, according to the 2024 LGBTQ+ Board Monitor Report, LGBTQ+ directors held just 0.9% of Fortune 500 board seats and 1.3% of NASDAQ board seats. That gap shows why visibility, support, and action are still needed. Considering that around 10% percent of the population identifies as queer, that’s a huge underrepresentation of queer business leaders.
Tangible Words is a proud queer-owned business and this Pride month we want to talk about what Pride Month means to us, and what you can expect if you’re a LGBTQ+entrepreneur looking to run your own business or an ally who is curious to learn about the experiences of the queer co-founders of a successful business. Tangible Words is based in Ottawa, Canada (yes, one of the settings of Heated Rivalry!) and has been a queer-owned business since the beginning. When it comes to days of awareness in Canada, Pride is extremely important to us.
Let’s find queer business leaders and and support them so that we can reach equality in all areas of life!
Here’s what you can do to support the LGBTQ+ community in the business world during Pride:
1. Show Your Support for Pride Month Publicly
One of the simplest ways to support LGBTQ+ business leaders is to be public about your support. Pride is a protest but it’s also a celebration! Celebrating Pride Month, learning about queer culture and history, and publicly showing your support for Pride Month and the queer people in your life goes a long way. There are many ways to show your support, so you can choose the way that feels natural to you. You can:
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Attend a Pride parade or event.
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Post on social media letting your friends and followers know that you support the LGBTQ+ community and that you celebrate Pride!
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Support queer artists by purchasing their work or attending their events.
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Shop at queer-owned businesses like these or work with queer entrepreneurs.
Public support helps people feel seen. It also sends a message that LGBTQ+ people belong in every industry, including business leadership.
2. Create Space for Pride-Related Work Social Events
And Make Sure Queer Employees Feel Safe and Welcomed to Show Their Pride
A meaningful way to show support is to create work environments where queer employees and leaders feel safe, welcome, and able to show Pride if they choose to. If you are a queer business leader and feel comfortable, put your Pride on full display so that others queer folks in the business community can see themselves in you. Representation matters!
Creating space at work is not just about one event in June. It is about making inclusion part of workplace culture.
If you have a LGBTQ-related cause that you are looking for support for, check out our charitable wing, Tangible Help. Drop us a line and we may be able to work together to champion your LGBTQ+ cause! Let’s see more representation for LGBTQ+ business leaders!
Check out Tangible Help here.
3. Avoid Rainbow Washing
If your business wants to support Pride, make sure your actions are real. “Rainbow washing” is when organizations appear to show the visual markers of allyship during Pride month, but take no real, tangible actions to support Pride initiatives or the LGBTQ+ community during the rest of the year.
How do you avoid rainbow washing? Simply be honest and genuine about your support for the queer-community. If you’re not sure about the difference, when you’re considering a Pride-based offer or product, ask yourself if the action in question is meant to squeeze dollars out of queer folks, or if your company is actually doing something tangible to progress and champion the causes of the LGBTQ+ community.
Actionable Ways to Support LGBTQ+ Business Leaders
If you want to turn support into action, start here:
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Buy from queer-owned businesses during Pride Month and throughout the year.
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Promote LGBTQ+ founders and leaders on social media or within your network.
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Audit your workplace culture to make sure queer employees feel safe and included.
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Review your Pride campaigns to make sure they are backed by meaningful action.
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Partner with LGBTQ+ organizations or initiatives that create long-term impact.
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Hire queer-owned service providers and agencies when you need outside support.
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Listen to LGBTQ+ voices and let those insights shape your actions.
What We’ve Learned Running a Queer-Owned Business
Being a queer business owner means facing challenges that straight business leaders may not have to consider, but it also feels amazing to dive into a world that is not always thought of as a queer space and proving you have the grit to be successful with your entrepreneurship. As queerness fights to gain more acceptance in society, business can’t be overlooked as an area for queer representation.
It’s a rewarding struggle, and we welcome you to join us in it!
References:
https://www.taketheleadwomen.com/blog/dont-lose-pride-the-business-leadership-case-for-lgbtq-pride
https://www.reviewed.com/canada/features/15-canadian-lgbtq-businesses-support
