Walking into Pan Chanco Bakery and Kingston Gaming Nexus, a heart shaped pride flag greets patrons, symbolizing LGBTQ+ acceptance.
The Rainbow Registry is an accreditation program run by Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) that ensures participating businesses are following certain standards in their day-to-day procedures. The program runs year-round and is tasked with ensuring 2SLGBTQI+ customers feel safe, welcome, and accepted by advertising pride friendly businesses.
Four main criteria must be met by a business to obtain accreditation: the policies and practices of the business must be non-discriminatory, diversity and inclusion training is provided to staff, leadership in the business is committed to being inclusive, and the leadership is passed down through the business to foster a culture of inclusivity among staff.
After an interview process with CGLCC ensuring applicants are following this assessment criteria, businesses are provided with a window decal, a spot on a list of fellow Rainbow Registered businesses, as well as a pin on the Rainbow Registry guide map. These benefits are contingent on the payment of an annual fee.
Pan Chanco Bakery, a European-style bakery in downtown Kingston, is a proud Rainbow Registered business.
“You’re affirming as a business that you’re a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, and your practices and policies are keeping with being a safe, friendly, welcoming, and inclusive space,” Zoe Yanovsky, owner of Pan Chanco Bakery, in an interview with The Journal said.
Pan Chanco Bakery has always been a safe space for LGBTQ+ folks, Yanovsky explained. The practices and policies of Pan Chanco didn’t change simply because they got accredited, she added.
Michael Nexus, owner of Kingston Gaming Nexus, is a fellow Rainbow Registered business leader. His business specializes in selling role play games, trading card games, board games, and other non-electronic games.
By becoming Rainbow Registered, Nexus emphasized to all customers the safe space Kingston Gaming Nexus provides LGBTQ+ individuals.
“We have a general philosophy that people are people. The only thing we don’t tolerate is intolerance,” Nexus said in an interview with The Journal.
Every June, Kingston Gaming Nexus runs a Pride board game night. They hosted a rock concert on June 8 in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We had four heavy metal bands come down and put on a concert in our venue to raise money for pride and they managed to raise around $500,” Nexus said.
Along with the 353 other Rainbow Registered businesses across all of Canada, Yanovsky and Nexus’ registration serves as a small part of a larger effort towards spreading LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Tags
Inclusivity, Pride, small businesses
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