Gay Chamber of Commerce in the works (San Antonio, Howe: hotel, universities)

[Bo]

Originally Posted by smitty12

Are you sure about "any" group? How about white guys Chamber of Commerce, or the heterosexual Chamber of Commerce, or the Catholic Chamber of Commerce?

I suspect that many people who belong to minority chambers would tell you that each of those already exist in informal ways and that their chamber was set up in response to that.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by wehotex

If it results in supporting businesses that support us, then sure, why not? i have an example, a true story. i have a friend in orange cty, so cal who works at an auto dealership. it was a well publicized story on local newspapers, television, etc. a well off gay couple went into this dealership to buy their car. the salesmen there were laughing and cracking jokes about them. when the management got involved, they did nothing to stop it. needless to say, they messed with the wrong gay couple . it would be nice to know if you are actually giving your $$ to a business that supports your community in some way and doesn't just take your $$ and laugh at you on the way to the bank.

OK, so you are saying it is OK for gays to discriminate against non-gay owned businesses, but if the reverse happens than there should be hell to pay? It is just as wrong, but for some reason certain groups are allowed to get away with it. Where is the equity in that?

Sorry, not that I condone discrimination of any sort; but having a gay chamber of commerce is just as discriminatory as if any other group did it. If anything, it just further alienates this or any other group from the rest of society. Is that really the intended purpose?

Honestly, what I look for in a business is professionalism, where customers are treated like they are wanted, and where mutually-beneficial business practices can occur. As long as I see that, the rest is irrelevant.

Cheers! M2

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

OK, so you are saying it is OK for gays to discriminate against non-gay owned businesses, but if the reverse happens than there should be hell to pay? It is just as wrong, but for some reason certain groups are allowed to get away with it. Where is the equity in that?

Sorry, not that I condone discrimination of any sort; but having a gay chamber of commerce is just as discriminatory as if any other group did it. If anything, it just further alienates this or any other group from the rest of society. Is that really the intended purpose?

Honestly, what I look for in a business is professionalism, where customers are treated like they are wanted, and where mutually-beneficial business practices can occur. As long as I see that, the rest is irrelevant.

Cheers! M2

whoa. everybody wants what you are asking for. in the example that i stated, the business owners were obviously hostile and unprofessional with the gay customers. i would much rather not spend my $$ at a business that donates to rabidly homophobic causes. i prefer businesses that donate to ALL non-profits (regardless of sexual orient) or at least provide domestic partner health benefits to their employees. These would be cos. like HEB, Target, american airlines, all gas stations except exxon/mobil,Wells Fargo, etc.

[CelesteDF]

Originally Posted by smitty12

Are you sure about "any" group? How about white guys Chamber of Commerce, or the heterosexual Chamber of Commerce, or the Catholic Chamber of Commerce?

Christian Business Chamber of Commerce - CBCC San Antonio

Originally Posted by majormadmax

having a gay chamber of commerce is just as discriminatory as if any other group did it.

In San Antonio, we have the following (and I don't purport this to be an exhaustive listing by any stretch of the imagination):
SA Greater Chamber of Commerce
North Chamber of Commerce
West SA Chamber
South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce (broken link)
SA Hispanic CC
SA Women's Chamber
Alamo Heights Chamber of Commerce
South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce - Welcome!!!
Christian Business Chamber of Commerce - CBCC San Antonio
African American Chamber of Commerce of San Antonio
Welcome to the Alamo City Black Chamber of Commerce
Alamo Area Asian Chamber of Commerce - Home

I don't believe any of these groups choose to network and do business with other chamber members for discriminatory purposes. Rather, it is simply a means of connecting with and supporting those with whom you share similar objectives and/or needs, as well as a venue for providing learning/professional development opportunities fine-tuned for people with similar needs/objectives.

That said, I personally believe we would all be better off if we stopped focusing on differences and instead focused on what we all have in common. However, human nature does foster the "birds of a feather" instinct. And, sadly, discriminatory attitudes are still common in America. So until these two issues are wiped out, then I don't have a problem with people supporting each other's businesses for mutual success.

Oh, and by the way. You don't have to BE hispanic/black/asian/woman/gay/christian/whatever to be a MEMBER of a particular chamber of commerce... you just have to want to support that group of people and/or their business goals. In an ideal world we wouldn't need support groups for "special interests". And in an ideal world I would be Heidi Klum.

[1StarRanch]

I notice there is no "White or Caucasian Chamber of Commerce".

If there were that would be just plain wrong....hahah.

...and no, I'm not white.

Wait till we have to have a "Cloned People Chamber of Commerce"

[BigDogsTX]

Example why groups like this are needed: (purely fictional but entirely possible)

The gay volleyball league is having a tournament in town, the organizer is looking for a hotel to host the team where they know they will be welcomed. The only point of contact he knows in town is the owner of a the gay oriented coffee house. The organizer asks if he knows where a good place to stay would be. The coffee house owner says, "As a matter of fact i do, i met the manager of (name of hotel) at the gay chamber of commerce mixer last week".

Its about networking, not discrimination...

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by BigDogsTX

Example why groups like this are needed: (purely fictional but entirely possible)

The gay volleyball league is having a tournament in town, the organizer is looking for a hotel to host the team where they know they will be welcomed. The only point of contact he knows in town is the owner of a the gay oriented coffee house. The organizer asks if he knows where a good place to stay would be. The coffee house owner says, "As a matter of fact i do, i met the manager of (name of hotel) at the gay chamber of commerce mixer last week".

Its about networking, not discrimination...

I could understand having a list of non-friendly establishments, and there are legal avenues that can be pursued when anyone is discriminated against by a business; but given this scenario you are again picking one business over another simply based on the sexual preference of the ownership. What about all the other non-gay-owned hotels that have never been prejudice towards their customers? Don't they have an equal right to the business that the volleyball team brings? You are picking a business based on something that should not be a consideration; as if it was the way around, the business not serving the customer because he/she was gay, it would be illegal.

Once again, you've proved that it is discrimination, no matter what you call it.

Cheers! M2

[SilverCreek78250]

I don't see anything wrong with people establishing whatever groups they like to try to meet and work with one another to improve business. It only makes sense for a business owner to get into as many of these organizations as possible - to increase his or her exposure to potential customers, suppliers, and services.

This can work as a double edged sword though. For the same reasons Gay or Black or Hispanic or Women customers may wish to consider businesses that belong to a particular Chamber, many potential customers may exclude a business purely based on the Chamber they identify with. If you think I'm wrong, consider the number of people in the mainstream who would avoid businesses simply because they are thought to be closely tied to a particular religious community.

For me the bottom-line has a lot to do with the bottom-line. If a business owner wants to identify his/her business as "Gay Friendly", why not have an organization made up of like-minded business owners to interact with and potentially increase profitability? There is nothing discriminatory about capitalism.

[ryneone]

^Good post.

I just think that having all these different chambers highlights our differences at a time we are suppose to be uniting. The geographical chambers make more sense to me then Black, Gay, Hispanic, Arabic, Disabled, etc. (oh add chamber to all those)

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

I could understand having a list of non-friendly establishments, and there are legal avenues that can be pursued when anyone is discriminated against by a business; but given this scenario you are again picking one business over another simply based on the sexual preference of the ownership. What about all the other non-gay-owned hotels that have never been prejudice towards their customers? Don't they have an equal right to the business that the volleyball team brings? You are picking a business based on something that should not be a consideration; as if it was the way around, the business not serving the customer because he/she was gay, it would be illegal.

Once again, you've proved that it is discrimination, no matter what you call it.

Cheers! M2

major,

the business that would be picked would not necessarily be "gay owned". there are plenty of "straight owned" businesses that also want gay business. as the article stated, many if not most of the businesses are straight owned.