LGBTQIA+ Showing our Pride 2021, Love is Love

Showing Our Pride, A Message From Our Founder

ZAMARTZ is a proud LGBTQIA+ owned business, and we believe in further supporting our community in its ongoing efforts to promote equality and acceptance— we are showing our Pride, Love Is Love. I encourage our team and our clients to speak out loud, showing their support to those who do not have a voice. Throughout the year, I personally volunteer my time at Eileen Fisher’s Out In Tech, and have donated thousands of dollars to local charities. I founded ZAMARTZ to be a value-based organization. To talk the talk, I believe you have to walk the walk—and that example starts with myself. In the coming year, I hope we can further support the community and those we love.

Live Out Loud, Be Proud,

Zachary A. Martz

June Pride Month

In June we celebrate “Pride Month” in commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. This important historical event, which has come to be known as the “stonewall riots,” is considered the “spark” of the modern gay-rights movement. Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama declared June as a month of national observance of LGBTQIA+ Americans, celebrating their contributions to the continued ideals of a free, inclusive society and country. 

Facts & Stats (2020):

(All sources can be found in supplemental links below.) 

1. More than 1 in 3 LGBTQ Americans faced discrimination of some kind in the past year, including more than 3 in 5 transgender Americans. 
2. Transgender individuals faced unique obstacles to accessing health care, including 1 in 3 who had to teach their doctor about transgender individuals in order to receive appropriate care. 
3. Approximately one-third of LGBTQ people say they have “moved away from family,” and just more than one-fifth have “moved away from a rural area” to avoid discrimination. In terms of demographic differences, black and transgender respondents were more likely than others to have moved away from family to avoid discrimination, while those living in non-metro areas were more likely than those living in metro areas to have changed their dress or mannerisms to avoid discrimination. 
4. 48% of LGBTQ youth reported engaging in self-harm in the past twelve months, including over 60% of transgender and nonbinary youth. 
5. LGBT people of color face higher rates of unemployment: 15 percent of African American LGBT adults are unemployed, as are 14 percent of Latinx LGBT adults and 11 percent of API LGBT adults—compared to 8 percent unemployment for the general population. 
6. What does LGBTQIA+ Stand for? = Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual or Ally 
7. What is the “Progressive Pride Flag” = The further enhancement of the “Rainbow Pride Flag” and representation matters—especially for the most marginalized communities. The flag design reboot is meant to be inclusive of queer people of color and trans people. 

Supplemental Reading / Websites: 

1. History of Pride = https://www.them.us/story/the-complete-history-of-pride  
2. NYC Pride = https://www.nycpride.org/  
3. LA Pride = https://lapride.org/  
4. The State of the LGBTQIA+ Community in 2020 = https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/reports/2020/10/06/491052/state-lgbtq-community-2020/  
5. Nation Survey of LGBTQ Youth https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2020/  
6. Black Queer Voices = https://www.glaad.org/tags/neon  
7. Pride Flags = https://www.pride.com/pride/2018/6/13/complete-guide-queer-pride-flags-0  & https://www.them.us/story/pride-flag-redesign  
8. LGBTQIA+ = https://bestlifeonline.com/what-lgbtqia-means/

Charities: 

1. Stonewall Community Foundation https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/  
2. We strengthen the LGBTQ Movement by making smart, value-driven investments in dynamic organizations, projects, and leaders. And as a public foundation, we do so in close partnership with donors and the very people working on the front lines of progress. We fund over 100 nonprofits a year, in more than 30 issue areas. We also house five scholarship programs, including the largest in the country created to support LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers. 
3. The Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org/  
4. Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25. 
5. Human Rights Center https://www.hrc.org/  
6. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation envisions an America where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons are ensured of their basic equal rights—and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work, and in the community. 
7. Point Foundation http://www.pointfoundation.org/  
8. Point Foundation (Point) is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit. 
9. GLADD = https://www.glaad.org/  
10. News Network GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. 

BucksMount Pride 2021

We are a proud sponsor of our local pride event! Take a look at our cute baby Dyson in his rainbow costume.

Event Website