SAMPLE ARTICLE expand a collection of books by LGBT authors, giving them shelf space they might not get anywhere else. It brings LGBT authors to Atlanta for in-store appearances. It also allows them to hire more LGBT employees from around Atlanta. “It’s about supporting your own,” says AGLCC board member Glen Paul Freedman. “We have a choice.” Shopping For EQUALITY Groups like the AGLCC and Out & Equal Atlanta help generate support for LGBT businesses and non-profits as well as work with corporations to help them adopt a more LGBT-inclusive employment policy. Organizations like these work to make positive changes within the businesses in our community. But not all businesses have a rainbow flag hanging outside their door, so how do we make sure our money is not going to those who discriminate against us? A recent AGLCC project involves assisting and encouraging corporations in completing the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index, which provides yearly ratings of businesses based on their policies relating to LGBT employees. T By Patrick Saunders he charming guy behind the register greets you before the door has even closed behind you, making the traffic noise from 10th and Piedmont all but disappear. As you walk past the lounge and photography books, the owner Philip Rafshoon buzzes by with a smile and a hello. The smell of various sweets and brewing coffee tantalizes your senses as you walk past two gals exchanging digits. You’re in Outwrite Bookstore, and by picking a gay-owned business over a national chain, you’re not just making a simple purchase, you’re answering a call to action. In its eighth year, the Equality Index includes nearly 600 corporations and has a “Buying for Equality” iPhone app so LGBT consumers will know which brands to put their money behind. (Hint: stopping by Chevron in your VW Jetta is better for our community than gassing up your Altima at Exxon.) It’s an ongoing process that helps our community become better informed about where our money is going, - and how we spend it in the future. It’s about supporting your own... We have a choice. The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce states this is “Advocacy through Economics”. Their mission statement emphasizes the importance of supporting LGBT-owned and LGBT-friendly businesses. While the purchase at a national chain sustains profitable business, the money from the Outwrite purchase does much more. It will help to “The success of one of us is the success of all of us,” says AGLCC Immediate Past President Sheila Merritt. “Not just for our LGBT constituency but certainly for our allies.” Merritt looks at supporting LGBTowned and LGBT-friendly businesses as a group mission, one that none of us can afford to miss out on. “If our family and our friends and supporters are successful, they will in turn be able to support us as well,” she says. “The power of speaking with your purse strings is really important.”