Tentatively, gay businesses launch effort to form gay (or not) business guild

By the time Eureka Springs Mayor Dani Wilson arrived, a few minutes into the first meeting of what may turn out to be an association of gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses, the only seat remaining for Her Honor was a commodious windowsill.

Wednesday night's inaugural meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd of more than 30 individuals representing at least 20 of the city's approximately 50 gay-owned businesses--and at least one gay-friendly enterprise.

«I think what you're doing is wonderful and it's long overdue,» said Wilson. «So, get out there and show them you're a force to be recognized.»

Though substantially larger than anticipated by organizers Harold Ellis and Rob Wagner, the group will need all the encouragement it can get considering the task it has set for itself--joining forces to attract to Eureka Springs more gay (and gay-friendly and straight) tourists.

Advertising, marketing, public relations, networking--mainstream chambers of commerce and gay equivalents wrote the how-to book decades ago. So, the mechanics are less critical than the economic motivation and intellectual muscle.

But, as evinced by Wednesday's historic first get together, a key hurdle for the group may be deciding on just how «out there» (to use the mayor's words) it wants or needs to be. That is, how visible, how public, how GAY? Among those in attendance, there was a notable consensus for caution mixed with tentative willingness to see how things go.

These are not issues fledgling straight business groups have to grapple with. But gay (and other minority) groups almost always do. It is one of the lasting effects of cultural oppression, persecution and discrimination. The lesson learned: Exercise restraint; proceed with caution; be diplomatic. And choose your words (and your names) very carefully.

Several speakers, anticipating opposition from either within or without the gay community, preemptively stressed the new organization would NOT be «political» and would, in fact, studiously avoid controversial issues. Of course, the very act of going public with a gay association of any kind--even in (mostly) gay-friendly Eureka Springs--is, inevitably, both political and controversial.

«We're not a radical group,» said one participant. It was a statement designed to calm the concerns of others in the room--and the public. Clearly, there is at this early stage a good deal of concern about public perception. «We do not want the idea to get out there,» said another, «that we want to separate ourselves from the rest of the community.»

It was as if, by addressing such charges before they were even made, they could be warded off. To reduce the potential for «backlash,» there was talk of «flying under the radar» by advertising exclusively with gay media, so as not to risk offending the sensibilities of straight customers.

The flip side of risk is sounding defensive and spending an inordinate time telling people what you are NOT rather than what you ARE (a legitimate business collective working for the common good of the entire community by investing, working hard and generating tax revenue).

Yet, caution is an entirely valid concern--for emotional, social and economic reasons. Of necessity, gay folk have had to learn to anticipate the response of the dominant culture. Backlash is often a real possibility, even in a town as enlightened and progressive as Eureka Springs. And, while the gay tourist market is a lucrative one--from $55 to $64 billion annually--gay-owned businesses recognize the fact that most of their customers are and will always be non-gay.

The same thing is true in Key West, Provincetown and Palm Springs--all of which have thriving gay business associations. Ditto for Dallas, Philadelphia, San Diego, Tucson, Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Chicago and dozens of other gay tourist destinations.

The impulse toward caution was expressed again when the group delved briefly into what to call itself: Gay Guild? Or Something-not-gay Guild? Again, there was a detectable wariness about use of the G word, even though the target market is likely to Google that key-word combo «Gay-Eureka-Springs» as a matter of routine.

Once again, it was a matter of conflicting emotions. Do you call yourselves a «gay» group to get the attention of gay travelers? Or to qualify as an «affinity» group on the Mayor's Tourism Advisory Council? Or do you settle for «business» group so as not to:

1. arouse the villagers with pitchforks and torches.
2. stave off accusations of exclusivity.
3. jeopardize support from gay-friendly businesses.
4. assure hyper-sensitive prospective members (not to mention the public) that you are not, not, not political/radical/militant--even though it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that you are not, not, not any of those things just because you use the word «gay» in the name of your gay organization.

(So now you know how we will vote--with, we're wagering, the minority.)

Nationally, there are precedents for both. Tres gay Key West and Provincetown, among others, have «business guilds.» In Palm Springs, it's the Desert Business Association. Even the Gay National Capitol, San Francisco, sidesteps the issue with a Golden Gate Business Association.

On the other hand, Delaware has a Gay Business Association of Rehoboth. Phoenix, Miami, Chicago and Houston have Gay and Lesbian Chambers of Commerce. Covering all bases, there is the «Greater San Diego Business Association AND Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.»

No matter. Even it calls itself the «Benevolent Society for the Advancement of Diverse and Really, Really Nice Commerce,» there will be backlash.

Al Pryor, Vernon Payne and that tireless promoter of gay causes, Philip Wilson, will inevitably use the formation the gay (or un-gay) business guild as evidence that Eureka Springs is going to hell in a gay handbag. Forces within the Greater Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce will continue to resist changing the mildly-offensive and entirely-meaningless classification of gay-related events and businesses to anything other than «Alternative.» The whisper campaign inside the Travel Co-op that asserts anything gay is driving away tourists will intensify.

At this point, prospective members of the new group have their work cut out for them. They can wrangle endlessly over a name for the organization or fret over how not to step on toes.

Or, they can claim the clout that is rightfully theirs by virtue of owning and running vital enterprises that have already contributed to the economic well being of Eureka Springs, ignore the bigotry-based noisemakers and, by getting quickly down to business, keep their eye on the prize: A slice of that $55 to $64 billion national gay travel market.

Whether a core group of git 'er done types will emerge to pull the bandwagon that many seem more than ready to jump on remains to be seen. Wednesday's meeting was an auspicious start. Stay tuned. The next meeting has yet to be announced.

Popularity: 3% [?]