Founding of GGLBC German LGBTIQ* Business Chamber
On July 6, 2019, the GGLBC German LGBTIQ* Business Chamber was founded as part of a ceremony in the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Keynote speaker – Minister of State for Europe in the Foreign Office Michael Roth – spoke passionately about the importance of recognising LGBTIQ* rights as human rights and the role the GGLBC would play in recognising and promoting these rights. The GGLBC takes seriously this responsibility and commits to working actively within the world of business and commerce to realise our aims.
The German LGBTIQ* Business Chamber sees itself as a strategic partner not only for LGBTIQ* -owned companies, but for the entire German economy. The goal is to strengthen the financial, intellectual and social capital of the LGBTIQ* business world through support and promotion, while providing the German economy with a platform for networking with the LGBTIQ* business community.
The reduction of discrimination in the world of work is not just a political statement but is now also recognized as a determining economic factor. On the stock exchanges, the 275 companies, which reach all points in the Solactive Global Gender Diversity Index in the period 2011-2016, outperformed the global stock index MSCI. In addition, scientific studies show that increasing the involvement of individual LGBTIQ* people and their perspectives in the enterprise, by creating a non-discriminatory environment, not only leads to greater identification of employees and suppliers of business enterprises, but also to a higher standard of innovation and productivity within the company itself. Thus, the organization “Open for Business” (www.open-for-business.org) comes to the conclusion that the question of a corporate culture that is open to minorities in any form, is not only a political, cultural or ideological decision, but rather a matter of economic rationality.
Key Aims:
- Promotion of a non-discriminatory environment in the world of work
- Promoting educational work in the field of diversity and LGBTIQ* in the world of work
- Certification of companies
- Policy and Advocacy
- Networking of LGBTIQ* companies with LGBTIQ* inclusive companies
- Fifty years after Stonewall, there are over 65 national LGBTIQ* Business Chambers worldwide.
In mid-June 2018, the founding of the EGLCC of the European LGBTI Chamber of Commerce was announced at an international conference in Vienna. In addition to the Scandinavian and Italian representatives, the German LGBTIQ* Business Chamber belongs to the European network.
