DENVER — As Pride celebrations continue across downtown, Denver7 is taking a closer look at the struggles some businesses may be facing due to their support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Angie Wells, owner of the Cake Bar in Denver, a plant-based bakery, said her company is still baking up success but occasionally experiences hate for being a part of and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
“Our business was recently defaced, and we've gotten our fair share of hate comments and DMS, but the voice of support in Denver is always louder than the voice of hate,” Wells said.
Additionally, she said fundraising efforts are becoming more challenging due to the current political climate.
“We're not giving up. We continue to apply for and seek funding wherever possible, utilizing all available opportunities. But within the current climate that we're in, some of those funding opportunities have definitely dried up,” Wells said.
Metropolitan State University professor Adam Melnick, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, said the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs is having an impact on some small businesses.
“You know, as a funder, the last thing that you want is to give money to an organization that gets negative publicity for one reason or another, and you want to make sure that that money is going to be used in the way that it's intended,” Melnick said.
He said that despite these issues that places like the Cake Bar are dealing with, it can be an opportunity.
That is why Wells is keeping her eyes on the prize, hoping to expand her vegan cake business.
“We'd love to open up a second location here in Denver and open up multiple locations in Colorado and eventually go nationwide,” Wells said.
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