The Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet: November 30, 2023

Enjoy this week's roundup of LGBTQ+ business news!

Leo Aquino

— 7 min read
The Balance Sheet: November 30, 2023

Happy LGBTQ+ Business Week, Queerency fam! Before diving into your weekly dose of the best business news of the week, Trav and I want to invite you to the inaugural LGBTQ+ Business Week Summit on Friday, December 1.

The summit kicks off at 12 noon EST / 9 am PST with a fireside chat with venture capitalist, Arlan Hamilton. There are also panels about being queer in the tech industry, pursuing body and sex positivity as a career, and the queer economy.

  • Today marks 60 days since student loan payments returned on October 1 from a 3-year pandemic pause, and we wrote a guide summarizing everything you need to know.
  • We spoke with the founders of Famm, an LGBTQ+ brand discovery platform
  • In New Hampshire, transgender woman Lillian Bernier is suing her employer, Turbocam, Inc., and its healthcare providers for their denial of gender-affirming healthcare. The results of this lawsuit could set a precedent for transgender workers all over the country who are facing discrimination from their employers.
  • And in the spirit of Giving Tuesday, writer Emma Koenig makes her Queerency contributor debut with two articles examining the state of LGBTQ+ nonprofit funding.

Finally, if you find value in our work, we would really appreciate your financial support to sustain and grow Queerency.

SUPPORT OUR WORK

Enjoy this week's roundup of LGBTQ+ business news!

Until next week,

Your editor-in-chief, Leo 💜

Top Line

Stories With Main Character Energy

These folks will be speaking at the inaugural LGBTQ+ Business Week Virtual Summit

Join us on Friday, December 1 for the first-ever LGBTQ+ Business Week Virtual Summit, a full day of inspired and thought-provoking conversation with business leaders, content creators, artists, and world changers from across multiple industries, including a keynote Fireside Chat with venture catalyst Arlan Hamilton!

Learn more at Queerency.

Famm makes it easy to discover LGBTQ-owned brands

Founded by queer married couple Cat Perez and Marianna Di Regolo, the website takes a curated approach to finding queer products and gifts.

Read the full story at Queerency.

Nonprofit funding is skewed toward the top 10 LGBTQ+ organizations, leaving smaller, newer organizations to fight for scraps

The top 10 LGBTQ+ nonprofits received a total of $216 million in funding in 2019, while almost 3,000 other LGBTQ+ nonprofits were left with an average yearly revenue of $124,502.

Read the full story at Queerency.

60-day outlook: Everything that has happened since student loan payments returned on October 1

After a 3-year pandemic pause, student loan payments returned on October 1, 2023. Today marks 60 days since student loan payments have returned. Here’s everything that’s happened since then.

Read the full story at Queerency.

Transgender woman Lillian Bernier sues a Christian company for denying access to gender-affirming healthcare

In Barrington, New Hampshire, transgender worker Lillian Bernier filed a federal lawsuit against her employer, Turbocam Inc., for denying access to gender-affirming healthcare. Health plan administrators Health Plans, Inc. and Harvard Pilgrim Health Club of New England, Inc. are also named as plaintiffs in the suit. Bernier is represented by GLBTQ+ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD).

Read the full story by Queerency.

Equity

Queer-Owned and -Allied Businesses In the News

Meet the venture capitalists investing in the LGBTQ+ community
“Money is a beautiful by-product of doing something impactful…
LGBTQ NationBil Browning
Grindr Secures New $350 Million Credit Facility
Grindr Inc. (NYSE:GRND), the world’s largest social network for the LGBTQ community, today announced that it completed a refinancing via a new $300 mi
Business Wire
The Beautiful Idea: a warm and welcoming new home for LGBTQ+ Charlottesville
The Beautiful Idea is a condensed indoor art market in the front, selling everything from political zines and fruit-themed embroidery hoops to beadwork earrings and pronoun button pins. Behind the shelves of artwork lies a bookstore with memoirs, LGBTQ+ history books, antifascist literature and radi…
The Beautiful Idea: a warm and welcoming new home for LGBTQ+ Charlottesville - The Cavalier Daily - University of Virginia's Student NewspaperAbigail Milne

In partnership with Sonara.ai

Sonara is a new tool that uses AI to automate your job search and take the work out of finding a position. Job hunting is a numbers game, so the more applications you submit, the more interviews you’ll get.

All you have to do is upload your resume and it applies to hundreds of relevant job openings for you. This gives you your time back and allows you to be more selective about which interviews you take.

There’s a free trial to start using Sonara, and then it switches to a monthly subscription. But as a member of the Queerency community, you can save 20% off your first month using this link: bit.ly/46vDsNm

Assets

Good News in Queer Business, Politics, and More

Salt Lake LGBTQ bar serves free community Thanksgiving dinner
A downtown Salt Lake City bar hosted a unique Thanksgiving dinner for people who may not otherwise have had a place to go to this year. Club Verse served up more than just a holiday dinner to members of the LGBTQ community.
KSLTV.comLauren Steinbrecher
Ozark Beer Company hosts third annual Big Holigay Market - NewsBreak
The market, put together…
NewsBreakNewsBreak
The Soul Train Awards Renamed a Gendered Award to Honor Janelle Monáe
“I’m not a woman. I’m not a man. I am something that you’ll never understand,” Monáe said in their acceptance speech, quoting Prince.
Them.Condé Nast
Dylan Mulvaney listed in Forbes 30 Under 30
Dylan Mulvaney has been named in Forbes’s 30 Under 30 Social Media list as one of the most influential social media figures in the world
PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ newsAli Condon

Liabilities

Challenges to Overcome

Gay Flight Attendant Kicked Out of Qatar Amid Anti-LGBTQ+ Crackdown
Ahead of last year’s World Cup, the Qatari government had promised a more accepting atmosphere, but deportee Gilbert Ignatius and others say the situation has actually worsened.
Yahoo NewsTrudy Ring
Berlin Nightclub Closes After 40 Years In Chicago: ‘There’s A Lot Of Pain In The Community Right Now’
The iconic nightclub, a home to Chicago’s queer community for four decades, closed Sunday amid a boycott over stalled contract negotiations with its staff.
Block Club ChicagoJake Wittich, Amber Stoutenborough
As the homelessness crisis worsens, Gay Villages are caught at a crossroads of identity | Xtra Magazine
ANALYSIS: Unhoused people are a part of our communities, so what can we do?
Xtra MagazineNour Abi-Nakhoul

Future Outlook

Opportunities & Events to Know About

Nominate a youth leader in California to win up to $10,000

The California Endowment and Youth Leadership Institute teamed up to grant a total of $62,000 to youth leaders and nonprofit awards cultivating pathways for youth power in California.

Nominate a youth leader (ages 16-26) in California and they can win one of the following awards:

  • Voices for Change Award, 4 winners will receive $3,000 each
  • Brandon Harrison Youth Visionary Award, 1 winner will receive $10,000

A Youth Power Partner Award that grant 4 nonprofits $10,000 each for creating a platform for youth to become leaders.

Nominate youth leaders on The California Endowment website by December 22.

Read more