Prices are up, LGBTQ+ workplace protections are down, and Carolyn went home on The Traitors last week, so it’s been a shitty start to the year. But a recent report offers a glimmer of good news — and a glimpse into the kind of economic power queer people might have in the future.
In Gallup’s latest LGBTQ+ identification poll, 9.3 percent of Americans now identify as part of the community, up from 3.5 percent in 2012. The surge comes mainly from Gen Z, the segment of the population born between 1996 and 2010; over 23 percent said they were LGBTQ+ in Gallup’s latest data set. Millennials came in second at about 14 percent queer, and Gen X is a distant third at 5.1 percent. For all age demographics, more people are acknowledging they’re bisexual, which has also contributed to the spike.
As Gen Z enters the workforce and realizes their earning potential, the overall purchasing power of the LGBTQ+ community, sometimes referred to as “pink money,” is set to increase rapidly. A 2023 report from LGBT Capital pegged pink money around $4.7 trillion in purchasing power globally, with $1.4 trillion alone coming from the United States.
Alongside these rosy numbers are increased efforts to fight late-stage capitalism through how we spend our hard-earned coins. A recent grassroots effort on social media called Economic Blackout Day (and I do mean recent – it’s taking place, uh, today) encouraged users to avoid spending money at major retailers, fast food chains, and gas stations in an effort to boycott corporations. If participants do have to spend money today, buying from locally owned businesses is encouraged.
My hot take is that queer people from all generations should aspire to this degree of intentional spending throughout the year. We should be shopping local and shopping queer, because when we do so, our dollars go towards supporting queer entrepreneurs and the overall economic health of our community, rather than profit-guzzling corporations that are price-gouging us into oblivion.
We should also choose the brand that has more queer-friendly values whenever we can. And I think a lot of us are already doing this to some degree. Example: My lived experience is that, although some of my queer friends aren’t deterred enough by Chick-fil-A’s track record to stop buying waffle fries, enough are that when there are multiple chicken sandwich options (and y’all, everyone has a chicken sandwich these days), they’ll go with the one whose leadership and donations aren’t trying to undermine our rights, even if it means the dipping sauces won’t be as tangy.
And if you’re a brand that plans to stick around for a while, here’s some free business advice: Don’t get on Gen Z’s bad side, because they’ll hold it against you – forever. A report from Edelman last year found that 84 percent of consumers needed to share values with a brand in order to justify purchasing from it, but for Gen Z, it was especially personal. Nearly 6 in 10 Gen Z respondents said they “feel a connection with people who use the same brands that they do,” and nearly half said they judge people based on the brands they purchase from.
Pair this choosiness with Gen Z also being really queer, and it all bodes quite well for the future of pink money. As young queer people steadily gain more professional experience and make more disposable income, they’ll spend it with brands that actually give a shit. We could learn a thing or two from their intentional spending, and together this collective commitment to shop queer could help us assert influence on brands to be more out and proud about their solidarity. When queer people are thoughtful about where they spend their money, we can sustain the types of economic blackout efforts that buck runaway capitalism and keep our dignity in play.
Nick Wolny is Out magazine’s finance columnist. He writes Financialicious, a personal finance newsletter tailored toward queer readers, and is working on his first book, Money Proud, which releases later this year. NickWolny.com @nickwolny
