From survival to growth

JUST before Pride Month started, the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce (PLCC) celebrated its 10^th anniversary through a dinner at Manila House on May 18. On the sidelines of the event, Ronn Astillas, the chamber’s chair, laid out why having a collective of LGBTQI+ businesses is integral not only for the community, but for the country.

“It connects you to fellow entrepreneurs who have probably gone through the same entrepreneurial journey, but in a more challenging (way) because of their gender identity,” he said in an interview with BusinessWorld. “It’s really that — finding your community. You can be who you are express yourself, whatever expression; identity you have, and at the same time, flourish as an entrepreneur.”

In his speech before the dinner, he said the chamber has grown from four members at their founding in 2016, to more than a hundred members today. Which sounds good, but according to their internal research based on records they gathered across all regions in the Philippines, there might be around 55,000 queer-owned businesses in the country. “We have our internal research on this. We believe that the contribution of LGBT businesses in the economy is roughly around 2% of the GDP,” he said. “That’s around $9 billion.” The number sounds large, but in different countries like the US, queer-owned businesses can contribute up to 4% to 5% to the GDP, amounting to trillions.

Asked about the gap between their estimate (55,000 queer-owned businesses) to their actual number of members, he said that due to conservatism and the culture in the provinces, businesses sometimes cannot openly address and express their queer advocacies.

For example, some of these queer-owned provincial businesses (which are not PLCC members) do not fly a pride flag outside their establishments even though it is Pride Month. “We tell them that having a pride flag is not really for you (the business). It’s really for the people outside… to show them that they’re safe there.”

Mr. Astillas talked of the stereotype that queer businesses are limited to entertainment outfits or hair salons. He cited an accounting firm among their members, among other industries. “You can also see us in F&B, logistics, marketing, even human resource management,” he said. “What we want to highlight is that even if you’re queer, you can do business in other industries.”

Among the PLCC’s programs are mentorship and entrepreneurial education services. “There’s so much out there that we haven’t tapped. Imagine if the government implements policies supportive of our growth.”

To this, Mr. Astillas cites the lack of a Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression (SOGIE) Law that would help prevent discrimination in the workplace and other spaces. “But for us businesses, our interest, in addition to the equality bill, is really to have an enabling environment where we can grow without discrimination and without violence against us.” — Joseph L. Garcia