Most Large Gay Businesses Absent from Pride Parade (Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors: insurance, crimes)

[HotandHumid]

As is usually the case at the Wilton Manors Gay Pride Parade, the majority of large Gay businesses that rake in the most money off of the members of the Gay community couldn't be bothered to put a float in the parade, which makes the parade a very short one and not really worthy of Wilton Manors and the Fort Lauderdale when one takes into consideration how large the Gay community is in this area, along with the thousands of Gay tourists who stay in the area on vacation.

The organizers of the parade and street fair went all out with advertising to attract thousands of people to the street fair and parade in the area Gay publications, publications that take in advertising revenue from Gay businesses but which were also couldn't be bothered to put a float in the parade.

Many of those thousands of people who attended the street fair and parade also ate and drank at the Gay businesses that were absent from the parade along the street fair and parade route, thus increasing the revenue of the businesses that didn't make any visible contribution to the event to make them worthy of the increase in business they received from the street fair and parade.

It's rather sad to see Gay owners of large established businesses not put out any funding to celebrate and commemorate the Stonewall riots by being represented in our area parade when one takes into consideration that the Stonewall riots brought the Gay rights movement into the national spotlight and made it possible for Gay business owners like themselves to openly operate Gay businesses without having to engage in regularly paying off members of city police departments and buy protection from members of organized crimes so that they could stay in business.

[JohnD_fla]

Hot,

Some people in the gay community think of themselves as being different from people in the straight world, but they aren't....not really. Here's another perspective: maybe gay businesspeople aren't any different from straight businesspeople when it comes to streamlining their businesses to maximize profitability. The main goal of any business is to turnover a profit so that the business can keep operating and so that the risktakers who own the business can reap the rewards for their efforts, right? Sponsoring a float in a parade costs a lot of money. Maybe they did the math and figured that they just couldn't afford it. Just because they are running a business and seem to be making a lot of money doesn't necessarily mean that they are actually swimming in cash. It takes money to make money. Many business owners these days don't have tons of liquidity. Its costs a lot to pay rent, to buy supplies, pay utility costs, pay staff, etc. Most of these gay businesses in the Manors are retail or service-oriented. Some days they make money, some days they lose money. To run a successful small business the owners need the support of a bank that will float them the credit they need when their cash intake isn't so good. And although they aren't going to divulge their financial vulnerabilities to the world, they like any other business owners, are not unaffected by the straits of this economy we're in. Also consider that some of these business owners are paying mortgages, car notes, kids' tuition fees, etc. Its VERY expensive to live in this town---even for rich people.

Think about it, what is the purpose of a float in a parade...to generate publicity, right? Why would they not sponsor a float if they know that the publicity might pull more people into their bar, restaurant, nightclub, insurance company, whatever...afterwards? Well, maybe its because they know the gay community in the Manors...Its a very small area. Its the same bars, the same restaurants, the same nightclubs, the same insurance companies, and whatever...and mostly the same clients. They know that these people will patronize their businesses whether they spend thousands of dollars to sponsor a float in the pride parade or not.

I don't know any gay entrepreneurs who own businesses in the Manors, but my thinking is that some of them just didn't want to spend the money on the parade this time perhaps because they couldn't afford it. Doesn't mean that they won't sponsor a float next year if the economy improves and they make more money.