A Gay Time for Business

GLBT Business Association Forms in Albuquerque

By Alan Kleinfeld, 4-18-06

No one seems to know for sure what the economic impact is of the gay/lesbian spender, but we often hear that GLBT (gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender) families have lots of disposable income, that gays and lesbians spend tons of money on travel, real estate and anything hip and new. And more than once, the “gays” have been credited for taking decrepit neighborhoods in metropolitan locals and turning them into meccas.

I suppose some of that must be true, especially when companies like Subaru, Orbitz.com, and American Airlines spend millions to get the big gay dollars. Another thing GLBT folks do with their money is business. They own their own companies, hold high-ranking positions in other organizations and act as professional leaders in the business world as a whole.

That being the case, it may not surprise you to learn that New Mexico now has its own GLBT business association in SOPA, the Sandia Out Professional Alliance. I suppose some might call it a gay and lesbian chamber of commerce, which kinda makes sense seeing that SOPA plans to become an affiliate of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, an advocate group for GLBT businesses, based in Washington, DC.

Years ago (like 15 or so) I believe it was called the Duke City Business something-or-other. It was strictly a social club. Then the NGLCC wanted to make Albuquerque a pilot project for an affiliate program in the area of GLBT business advocacy and the Duke City Biz club became the Albuquerque Lesbian & Gay Chamber of Commerce, which only lasted about a year or so. But for reasons not clear to me, the group disbanded either due to lack of interest from its members or lack of leadership.

In any case, the SOPA board is made up of mostly under 40 and mostly new Albuquerqueans, with many owning their own businesses, so there’s definitely renewed interest in making SOPA fly.

Of course, it’s a global economy out there, so SOPA welcomes all gay-owned as well as gay-friendly businesses to its membership. Visitwww.sopanm.org and find out about the group’s mission (to build, promote, and support a diverse GLBT business and professional community…), vision (to establish and promote New Mexico as a premier state where members of the GLBT community are welcome and can contribute to the development of a strong economic community…) and benefits (networking events, educational opportunities and sensitivity training).

Learn more by attending the SOPA launch event on April 24 at 6 p.m. at Season’s in Old Town Albuquerque ($20 at the door or RSVP to info@sopanm.org). You won’t be alone. On a national level, the GLBT community receives collaboration from giants like IBM, Wells Fargo and Intel. Even financial expert Andrew Tobias is a “friend of Dorothy.”

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