Celebrating Our Roots, Shaping Our Future: Pride & the Power of the Rainbow Economy

Every June, as Sydney comes alive during Pride Month, the Festival, filled with parties, panels and important spotlights on our community is a reminder that the time is more than just a celebration.

Pride Month asks us to consider the courage of our history, the progress of our present, and the values we’re carrying into the future.

This year, Pride Month is especially meaningful for us at the Pride Business Association (NSW) because it’s the first time we’re marking it under our new name.

From the SGLBA to the Pride Business Association

For over four decades, we’ve served our community under two names, initially as the Gay Business Association (GBA) and then as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Business Association (SGLBA). That name carried deep meaning, it spoke to our roots in the early days of LGBTQIA+ activism and advocacy, where visibility in the business world was both rare and risky.

The GBA was formed in June 1981, a few years after the first Mardi Gras march in June 1978. It was a time when LGBTQIA+ people were not welcome in most corporate spaces. Professional networks were often closed to us. Discrimination was common. And being “out” at work could cost you your job, or worse.

In that context, the GBA was boundary-pushing and ground-breaking. It created space for LGBTQIA+ businesses to connect, support one another, as well as the community, and build something new: an economy of LGBTQIA+ resilience, innovation and ambition.

Fast forward to today, and we see an LGBTQIA+ business community that is bigger, more visible, more successful, and more diverse than ever before.

That’s why last year, our members voted unanimously to evolve our name to something that reflects that growth while honouring the full spectrum of communities we serve.

Our new name – the Pride Business Association (NSW) – speaks not only to who we are now, but to the inclusive, forward-looking future we’re building together.

Why Pride Still Matters in 2025

You might ask: why does Pride Month still matter, in an age of increasing acceptance and corporate rainbow logos?

Because progress isn’t permanent.

Recent research shows that LGBTQIA+ professionals are less likely to be out at work in 2025 than they were in 2022. In fact, 68% of LGBTQIA+ employees are not out to everyone at work. That’s a wake-up call.

Visibility and inclusion in the workplace are still not guaranteed. Many in our community still face barriers to opportunity, leadership, safety, and recognition.

Supporting LGBTQIA+ businesses is about more than just good commerce – it’s an investment in community resilience, inclusion, and visibility. The rainbow economy represents a rapidly growing market segment, with global LGBTQIA+ consumer spending estimated at over US$4 trillion annually. 

In Australia, LGBTQIA+ businesses contribute significantly to the economic, cultural and social fabric of our cities, particularly here in Sydney, yet many still face structural discrimination and underrepresentation in mainstream business networks. 

We all know that businesses have evolved in the past 40 years. While we still have the typical ‘brick and mortar’ enterprises, many businesses exist online. And the LGBTQIA+ community has rapidly embraced the changing landscape, with many undertaking a side hustle, generating supplementary income, becoming early adopters to new platforms, pushing trends to start new businesses and more. We’re hustling more than ever and should be celebrating and patronising all those businesses – from the local accountant to the tradie, drag queen to jewellery designer, florist to dentist to caterer to coach.

Every “pink dollar” spent at an LGBTQIA+ business creates a multiplier effect, fuelling not just individual enterprises but the broader community they support. LGBTQIA+ businesses are more likely to use LGBTQIA+ suppliers and businesses, employ LGBTQIA+ staff and reinvest in community initiative.

That’s why our work continues and why Pride Month is still a crucial moment to gather, reflect, and recommit ourselves to progress.

Carrying the legacy forward

Our name change is not just a brand refresh. It’s a statement of intent.

It says: we see you. Whether you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, non-binary or otherwise. Whether you’re a business owner, an employee, a student, an aspiring entrepreneur or ally. Whether you live in Darlinghurst, Surry Hills or Newtown, to Wollongong, Newcastle, Lismore, Penrith or Goulburn. 

This month, we are proudly launching our name into the world, and we’re saying to all those people: You belong here, and everyone’s welcome.

It’s also reflective of our current membership, from diverse backgrounds, locations and experiences.

And through that, we’re honouring the legacy that got us here.

And no one represents that legacy more than Michael Glynn.

The Glynn Legacy: Celebrating LGBTQIA+ disruptors

On Monday, 23 June, we’ll be hosting our second annual Pride Month event: The Glynn Legacy: Celebrating Australia’s LGBTQIA+ Disruptors, held at Qtopia Sydney.

Michael Glynn, founder of both the Star Observer and the PBA, was a disruptor in the truest sense. He saw the power of media and business to change lives and challenge the status quo. He created platforms where none existed. He didn’t wait for permission, he went out there and built the future.

At this event, we’ll bring together a panel of modern-day LGBTQIA+ disruptors – one in business and one in media – people who are pushing boundaries and redefining success on their own terms.

And we’ll ask: What does it mean to disrupt today? How do we build power that lifts others as we rise?

It’s a conversation we hope you’ll be part of.

Looking Ahead

As the Pride Business Association, we are:

• Supporting LGBTQIA+ adults looking to strengthen their careers through study with our Education Fund scholarships.
• Hosting networking events like Fruits in Sydney and Parramatta, Lemons and Long Table Breakfasts, which continue to connect and uplift business owners and professionals every month.
• Creating spaces to platform LGBTQIA+ businesses, through Buy Rainbow and our online business directory.
• Elevating conversations for LGBTQIA+ businesses and community through visibility, advocacy, events and growth. platforms for collaboration.

We’re continuing to evolve and grow, by ensuring we’re not just open to all, but accessible and meeting our community where they are. Together, we can show that LGBTQIA+ excellence in business is not the exception, it’s the norm.

Pride Month is a celebration. And it’s a call to action.

Let’s keep backing each other. Let’s support LGBTQIA+ businesses whenever we can. Let’s lead with pride – every month of the year.

Jarrod Lomas is the President of the Pride Business Association (NSW).