Massachusetts is the third-friendliest state in the US for LGBTQ-owned businesses, according to Out Leadership’s latest “State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index.” Connecticut came in as the second-friendliest, just behind New York.
The three leading states’ scores were actually very close: Massachusetts earning 91.67 out of 100 in the study, Connecticut earning 92.87 and New York 93.67.
Reports Boston Business Journal:
“Compared to other states, Massachusetts has always led in the area of LGBTQ issues,” Grace Moreno, executive director of the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, told the BBJ.
Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. In addition, Moreno pointed directly to executive order 565 signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in 2015 that allowed LGBTQ-owned businesses be a part of the state supplier diversity program. The state-level recognition was the first of its kind nationwide.
In 2021, former Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janeysigned an executive order putting businesses owned by LGBTQ entrepreneurs into Boston’s supplier diversity program as well.
“For the first time, in history, there was an advantage to saying you were gay or coming out, because that gave you an advantage of being able to apply for contracts. Before, and still today, businesses see it as a disadvantage to come out as LGBTQ-owned, because of the retaliation they may get,” Moreno said.
While Mass. gained the bronze medal in the report, Moreno said the state still has “a long way to go.”
Moreno said that the state should start quantifying and have targets for how many LGBTQ businesses the state is supporting through the supplier diversity program to gauge the initiative’s impact.
“If you’re not measuring it, how do you know if you’re doing it?” she said.
There are about 22,000 LGBTQ-owned businesses in the state, Moreno estimated.
Read the complete Boston Business Journal article here.
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