By Spencer Lombardo
California’s regulators try to prioritize LGBT-owned utility contractors for lucrative state contracts and contracts with state-regulated utilities.
But how does a business prove it is LGBT-owned?
Businesses can get certified as LGBT-owned by LGBT organizations to receive “supplier-diversity benefits” from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), City Journal reported Tuesday. Would you meet the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)’s qualifications?
You can qualify as LGBT various ways, with the NGLCC. They include, but aren’t limited to, submitting letters from three people outside the business attesting to the LGBT status of the applicant(s), or a letter from a physician or therapist confirming their transgender status. Or they can submit evidence of adverse action or discrimination based on their LGBT status. That evidence could include an HR report, police report, or court records.
Applicants can also be qualified by presenting evidence of “completed or attempted parenting and family-building efforts” made by themselves and a same-sex partner. This could include adoption records, proof of an in-vitro fertilization procedure, or surrogate mother arrangements.
The CPUC regulates privately owned utility businesses. Its “Supplier Diversity Program” began in the late 1980s to set contracting goals promoting minority-owned and women-owned businesses, but gradually grew to include LGBT-owned businesses too, according to City Journal. Supplier Clearinghouse, which certifies businesses for the program, accepts letters from organizations like the NGLCC to certify if a business is LGBT-owned.
The Supplier Diversity Program aimed to send approximately $633 million to LBGT-owned businesses in 2024, the CPUC reported last October. 451 businesses in the program were LGBT-certified that year, which is a 5% drop from the previous year.
CUPC’s implementation of the gay expansion was not without controversy.
One LGBT building-industry organization sent a letter arguing that “homophobia” existed within “the ranks of the utility companies.” The state’s legislative LGBTQ caucus suggested that even considering… pic.twitter.com/B2KAMKQ3RO
— City Journal (@CityJournal) June 16, 2026
Neither the CPUC nor the NGLCC responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
