Building a Thriving LGBT Business Community with the MidSouth LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Dear Friends,
We have survived worse. It might not seem like it right now, but we have. We did it by investing in and fortifying our communities with whatever resources we had available. In this age of rugged individualism and political pressure, community may seem like a foreign concept. Here are a few ways for members to tangibly build community using the Mid-South LGBT Chamber’s resources.
Corporate allies, now is the time for you to stand up for us and stand with us. A few ways to do that are to offer vendor contracts to our LGBT small businesses, jobs to our LGBT professionals, opportunities to our LGBT students, and volunteer along with corporate giving to our LGBT nonprofits. If you want to save your DEI departments and subsequent budgets, proving local impact is a way to substantiate your existence to the C-suite. Thanks to the Education Committee’s partnership with the Tennessee Nonprofit Network, we will provide speakers for your employees and resources to assist you with this task. The Mid-South LGBT Chamber is here to help you navigate these tumultuous waters.
Nonprofits that rely on government funding, consider corporate giving from businesses that align with your vision and the demographics you serve. The Mid-South LGBT Chamber has members who write grants, help with branding, and have access to potential volunteers to assist when you need manpower. Reach out to us and see what we can do for you.
To the individuals, small business owners, and students, thank you for all your work to build the Mid-South LGBT Chamber into what it is today. Our networking, advocacy, communications, and membership committees are working diligently to compile resources to assist you in this political climate.
To our beloved seniors who paved the way for us, our generals who survived the AIDS epidemic, and for our fallen who did not, I ask you to remember your strength. There is still fight in you yet, and your guidance—your voices—are needed now more than ever. Network with us on every third Thursday, share your stories, and make new friends.
To our youth, we see you, we hear you, we love you. You are the legacy of a resilient people, one that has faced insurmountable odds before. You are not alone—far from it. You are loved, and you have unique gifts that only you can give to the world. Stay with us and help us build this future that you will get to enjoy. Just like an arrow must be pulled back to be fired, sometimes progress is resisted by regression. Time only moves forward, and when the yoke is released, we will soar to distances beyond what we can imagine is possible.
To our trans brothers and sisters, we want you in the room when decisions are made, and we need your voices to be heard. Too long have you been an afterthought in the struggle for LGBTQ rights, and as we are learning, we are much stronger together than we could ever be apart. You are heroes, living an experience that some refuse to understand. Your strength, your courage, and your lives are a daily inspiration to live authentically and unapologetically. Thank you.
To our LGBTQ family of color, we know more than most the importance of community. It is how we have survived in this country for as long as we have. When many of our biological families turned away, we made new ones—permanent homes in the hearts of our friends. Remember those bonds now and strengthen them. Help us build this network and join with us in our efforts to make the Mid-South one of the safest places for us to thrive.
To the community as a whole, thank you for the opportunity to serve you. We will not be shocked into apathy and immobility. Whether it be Harvey Milk’s rousing speeches, Bayard Rustin’s strategic plans, or Marsha P. Johnson’s brick, the beloved rainbow community has always found a way to fight back and win the day. The baton is now passed to us. Let us rest, regroup, strategize, prepare, and implement our plans. There is an African proverb that says, if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together. Victory is on the horizon, but to get to it, we must be united.
You are seen, you are heard, you are valued, and I am proud to march beside you in this fight.
Sincerely,
Erin Swinney, President
Mid-South LGBT Chamber of Commerce
