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# LGBTQ+ Pride Month

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## Content

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## SBA celebrates Pride Month

LGBTQ+ businesses in the United States contribute an estimated $1.7 trillion to America's economy, creating thousands of new jobs each year. Every June, SBA celebrates the LGBTQ+ innovators and entrepreneurs who provide essential services and diversify our communities.

### Pride timeline

                  - Chicago, 1924. The Society for Human Rights opens in Chicago, the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in the country.
                  - New York City, 1930. The Stonewall Inn opens its doors in the heart of Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan.
                  - San Francisco, 1956. The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian publication, begins in San Francisco.
                  - New York City, 1967. The Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors, opens in New York City.
                  - San Francisco, 1972. Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in the history of California, opens Castro Camera.
                  - Nationwide, 2004. The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce creates best-in-class diversity certification program for LGBTQ+ businesses.
                  - Nationwide, 2014. SBA hosts the Many Faces. One Dream. tour to empower LGBTQ+ communities of color.
                  - San Rafael, 2016. SBA names Equator Coffee as the Small Business of the Year, the first LGBTQ+ owned business to win the honor.
                  - Nationwide, 2020. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from discrimination based on sex.

## Start or grow your business

SBA helps entrepreneurs with access to capital, mentorship, and business opportunities. The following resources will help you get started:
                  - Resources for LGBTQ+ business owners from SBA
                  - Certify your business with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce
                  - Community Navigator Pilot Program outreach to the LGBTQ+ community

## Events

Explore upcoming events of interest to LGBTQ+ small business owners.

## More resources

                  - LGBTQ+ Resources in Business and the Workplace from the Library of Congress
                  - Resources on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Workplace Rights from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
                  - Protecting the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Individuals from the Department of Justice