not my business

I joined the GSBA in 2022, the year I started my business. The GSBA is Washington state's LGBTQ+ business association. They formed to fight workplace discrimination of LGBTQ+ community members in Seattle. More than 40 years later, their work has grown to support LGBTQ+ business owners across the state. I later learned about LGBTBE certification, a business certification for queer-owned companies.

Businesses like mine rely on support to compete with well-established businesses. My business classifies as an MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) because I'm brown. It's also a DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) because I'm not a millionaire. An LGBTBE certification indicates that I'm an LGBTQ+ business owner. I had to sit for an interview to get it! They also asked for three references who could vouch for me being queer. Joining the GSBA meant this certification was free, saving me $900 every other year to maintain it.

These certifications matter to many of my potential clients, especially public agencies. Similar designations exist for businesses run by veterans and by women. They're required by law to give preference to these minority-owned businesses. In most cases, at least 10% of their contracts should go to businesses like mine.

After I joined the GSBA, I soon noticed the gaps between my priorities and those of other members. I thought I was joining a network of queer business owners. I did, of course, that's what they are. But it wasn't quite the community of entrepreneurs I wanted. Instead, it felt more like a chamber of commerce for businesses run by people who happened to be queer. It may seem like a fine distinction to some people. It had me thinking hard about what it meant to be among them.

minding the gaps

The GSBA shares that its policy work centers "around two main areas: Civil Rights and Economic Prosperity.” But over the past three years, their positions gave me clues to which of those values came first.

On the civil rights of people harmed by police: I wrote about the GSBA's love for pro-police public safety discussions. They honored a police officer at their annual gala in 2023. This was three years after cops teargassed residents of Seattle's historic gay neighborhood.

On the civil rights of queer people who live homeless. On the rights of queer and trans people engaged in sex work: I wrote about Seattle's SOAP and SODA zones before they became law. The GSBA came out in support of the zones that banned people from their communities.

On the rights of LGBTQ+ residents who work for sub-minimum wages at Seattle bars and restaurants: The city passed a law that gave these businesses 10 years to adjust for fair wages. They set that exemption to expire in 2025. The GSBA said it sent a "harrowing message" that the city could not overturn those plans. Plans were in the works, but the council sponsor withdrew the bill after facing pushback.

The GSBA has taken positions I agree with. They advocated for changes to the laws around raiding queer-centric bars in Washington. They wouldn't describe these as "raids," calling them "recent activities," but it's fine. I'm not trying to make enemies here.

don't you know your (business) queen?

With apologies to Perfume Genius.

What does it mean to hold an identity, or several, while working for a living? My identity as a queer brown man is a part of who I am. I am indivisible. My identity is why and how I navigate the world in the way that I do. My identity, and the values they shaped, inform everything around me. They're a part of where and how I choose to live, the work I choose to do, and the people I have in my life.

I run my business according to my values. I have the safety and privilege to do so. I choose to use it. But there are people who share aspects of my identity who choose their business first. They have more or less privilege than me and certainly different priorities. They're members of the GSBA too, and the institution reinforces their preferences.

NGLCC is the only entity that can award LGBTE certification for businesses. They offer this certification through a membership with any one of their affiliates. The GSBA is the largest affiliate in the country. Certification is not cheap, especially for a very small business like mine. It's not clear to me if my certifications stack, each one adding an unknown number of points to my proposals. Or a single certification might check the box that won't change with more certificates. Would I win more business if I'm an official MBE/DBE/LGBTBE? I won't know.

In 2024, I decided not to renew my membership to the GSBA. In September, NGLCC revoked my LGBTBE certification. I can choose to self-certify but not all clients will consider that in their decision. Losing the certification, which took several months to get, did bother me. But I couldn't accept what the GSBA was doing with my dues. I don't think their positions will lead to a safe and welcoming society for all LGBTQ+ people. It feels to me like they've aligned with business interests over queer people, especially those of us who aren't millionaires.

are we in this together?

Some people in the united states are still reeling from election results they didn't believe could happen. But I find the results to be another example of how people seem to vote or act against their own interests. I sometimes encounter white-affirming, status-quo-loving, Black and brown people. I know of gays and lesbian folks who try to peel off the T in the doomed hopes they'll appear "normal" to their enemies. For me, that can make it hard to know who to trust. Our many identities, not all visible, make up at least part of the understanding we have of the world. How we respond to that understanding is left to each of us to decide.

This week, civil rights lawyers argued to overturn Tenessee's ban on healthcare for trans children. Most of the justices' questions were ignorant and dismissive of trans people, much less kids. People are already bracing for their likely decision next June. We're not even 10 pride months since my own marriage became even legal in every state. Who wonders, as our rights chip away, "is my business paying our employees too much?" Or, "how do I get rid of these people outside who have nowhere else to go?"

I read an essay about being homeless in america in 2024. It's written by Patrick Fealey, a writer and journalist who has been living in his car since fall 2023. One sudden medical diagnosis was enough to change his once-ambitious life. Now he spends his days supporting himself, writing in his car, and facing police harassment. His story is well worth reading. This passage, like many in the essay, rattles in my brain days later.

I know that every person living on the street right now has their own story, just as complicated as Patrick's. My queerness isn't the reason my heart goes out to them. Even though 17% of the LGBTQ community has been homeless at one point in their lives. Even though "up to 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ." Trans people are among the most vulnerable in the world, not because of who they are, but because of who we are.

My heart goes out to all of them, LGBTQ+ or not, because I'm human. I wish every human could at least have the rights and protections we give corporations. That's why I'm willing to put my own business—my own livelihood—second.