June is LGBT Pride Month, and one Black gay couple is on a mission to add a little color to LGBT representation in print magazines.
Lawrence and Michael Broughton were tired of not seeing couples like them on the covers of magazines, so they created BGW Elevate Magazine. The couple launched the wedding magazine in 2022, according to ABC 7.
The endeavor is one of a kind, and Lawrence told ABC 7, “We’ve never ever had a magazine like BGW Elevate that actually features minority couples, minority LGBTQIA couples—never gotten their own day on the bookshelves.”
The print magazine has sold 178 copies, according to ABC 7, but it needs to sell 1,000 to print its next issue. So far, two issues of BGW Elevate Magazine have been released. Even though sales are slow, Michael said the magazine is “a testament that we [LGBTQ+] exist.” He said, “This is validation.”
This year, LGBT Pride Month has seen several new ventures pop up beyond print media. BLACK ENTERPRISE reported GLAAD announced its inaugural Black Queer Creative Summit. The summit, a first of its kind, aims to “educate, empower, and train emerging Black LGBTQ+ creatives across five sectors of the entertainment industry.” Director Kelley Kali put interracial LGBTQ+ romance on the screen with her film, Jagged Mind. Kali told BLACK ENTERPRISE, “As for the LGBTQ+ community, the team had already planned on casting authentically as well. I never had to even bring it up, which made me so happy and proud to be part of a team that had already given thought to the issues of lack of inclusion in our film industry.”
LGBTQ+ supporters took pride in standing up for the community in other ways this month. According to BLACK ENTERPRISE, more than 3,500 Starbucks employees in the U.S. went on strike after the company banned pride decor.