BUSINESS
New City Policy Boosts LGBTQ-Owned Businesses
City agency takes action after City Council fails to advance Ritchie Torres’ bill
BY MATT TRACY
It looks like LGBTQ-owned
small businesses will get a
seat at the table in New York
City.
The Department of Small Business
Services (SBS) will start giving
queer-owned small enterprises
access to city contracts, educational
programs, and other benefi ts,
according to the National LGBT
Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).
The move comes nearly two years
after then-City Councilmember
Ritchie Torres stood at the steps
of City Hall on a freezing February
day and fi rst introduced a bill
requiring the agency to certify LGBTQ
owned businesses.
While that bill never moved forward,
SBS is nonetheless moving
ahead on its own.
The agency and the National
LGBT Chamber of Commerce
(NGLCC) reached an agreement
that laid the groundwork for the
new policy, which intends to bring
LGBTQ-driven enterprises in line
with the city’s program for minority
owned and women-owned business
enterprises (MWBE).
Queer-owned small businesses
will also be able to receive business
mentorships, training, business
matchmaker meetings, and access
to capital, according to the NGLCC,
which spent years advocating
for certifi cation of LGBTQ-owned
businesses in the city. In total, billions
of dollars in city contracts
are opening up for queer business
owners, NGLCC noted.
The city is joining a growing list
of cities and states that have moved
to incorporate LGBTQ-owned businesses
in city contracts, including
Hoboken, New Jersey; Baltimore,
Maryland; and Orlando, Florida.
It is not immediately clear
whether the new policy is fully
aligned with the legislation that
stalled in the City Council, though
it appears to be similar in scope
and an NGLCC spokesperson told
Gay City News that legislation is
now “moot.” Under that legislation,
SBS would have been required to
publish a directory of certifi ed LGBTQ
Then-Councilmember Ritchie Torres speaking in 2019 about his proposed bill to bolster LGBTQ-owned
businesses in New York City.
owned businesses and provide
business owners with education
and resources.
When that bill was proposed in
2019, out gay City Council Speaker
Corey Johnson raised concerns
about whether the city even had the
authority to assist such businesses
outside of just certifying them.
Johnson told Gay City News at the
time that while LGBTQ-owned
business owners could “celebrate
and advertise their LGBTQ-ownership
status,” state law “currently
does not authorize the city to give
any preferential contracting services
to these businesses, so it is
unclear what benefi t certifi cation
would have.”
The bill would not have offered
advantages for scoring city contracts,
but it could have led to disparity
studies, which are typically
carried out to justify the need for
MBWE programs. Out gay City
Councilmember Daniel Dromm of
Queens had proposed a related bill
calling for such a disparity study.
An SBS spokesperson told
Gay City News that the partnership
with NGLCC is intended “to
connect LGBTEs with existing
NYC certifi cation programs” and
stressed that “this is an effi cient
MATT TRACY
route to increasing participation of
these fi rms in city contracting and
refl ects the intersectionality of the
LGBTE & M/WBE communities,
in particular.”
In a separate written statement,
the head of SBS celebrated the new
policy change.
“Equity of access and inclusion
are at the core of the work we do at
SBS,” SBS Commissioner Jonnel
Doris said in a written statement.
“A diverse vendor pool makes a
stronger New York City, and we are
excited to maximize the inclusion
of LGBTQ certifi ed fi rms into the
City’s certifi cation process. We look
forward to our continued partnership
with the NGLCC.”
Dromm, a key backer of the effort
to bolster queer-owned businesses,
also praised the new policy
and hailed it as an “historic agreement.”
“When it comes to establishing
and growing businesses, LGBTQ
entrepreneurs face many signifi -
cant and manifold challenges,”
Dromm added. “I am pleased that
these business owners who were
once excluded from sorely-needed
contracting and procurement opportunities
will be able to participate.
I have worked alongside Congressmember
Ritchie Torres and
the NGLCC to sound the alarm
and raise awareness of this effort,
which is ultimately about fairness
and equity.”
He added, “Thank you to SBS
for stepping up and agreeing to
this partnership. It will impact
the lives of thousands of New
Yorkers in a meaningful and lasting
way.”
NGLCC co-founder and president
Justin Nelson thanked Mayor
Bill de Blasio and SBS for giving
queer entrepreneurs a boost.
“New York City has a legacy of
leadership in promoting inclusivity
at every level of public life,” Nelson
said in a written statement.
“Now, history has been made here
in New York City, and this victory
for inclusivity has once again
proved our core values that ‘diversity
is good for business’ and
that ‘if you can buy it, a certifi ed
LGBT-owned business can supply
it.’ We are excited to see LGBTBEs
in every fi eld, from construction
to catering and everything in between,
help grow the economy of
New York City and beyond as M/
WBEs and EBEs.”
Because queer people of color
and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
women are able to utilize
existing programs, the LGBTQspecifi
c certifi cation would likely
be more benefi cial for white gay
men, non-binary individuals, and
transgender men.
Speaking to Gay City News in
2019, Torres, who has since been
elected to Congress, dismissed any
concerns that LGBTQ business
owners would interfere with existing
contracts for women-owned
and minority-owned businesses.
“We’re in a business where people
are conditioned to have a fear
about everything,” Torres said.
“Ultimately this is a fear that is unfounded.
There is not a single example
of LGBT certifi cation eroding
a traditional MWBE program.
Not a single one.”
According to NGLCC, application
information for the new program
will be forthcoming in “early
2021.”
JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 10, 2 14 021 | GayCityNews.com
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