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What does it mean to be a gay-friendly business?
What does it mean to be gay-friendly and why is it important to your business? Like any other minority, the GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender) community is often subjected to treatment that others might never experience. It is this reason that some members of the GLBT community may be extremely sensitive to how they are treated when doing business with you. In addition, you may not know when you are dealing with an GLBT person. We come in all shapes, sizes, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and while you may think you can tell who is gay, you may be mistaken. A comment made by you or a member of your staff, even certain words or phrases, may upset or offend someone, losing you potential business.
Here are key things to teach your employees on how to be gay friendly:
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Make everyone feel welcome
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Do not ask a lot of personal questions (i.e. is that for your wife, girlfriend, husband, boyfriend)
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Treat everyone with common courtesy
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Never assume anyone’s sexual orientation
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Helping people feel safe, secure, and unthreatened
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Openly willing to be supportive to the gay community