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Since its inception as the VBA, the organization made substantial donations to various worthwhile community organizations. The fund-raising vehicle was the annual Pioneer Days, a two-day country fair which put VBA on the map. When AIDS began to devastate our community in the mid-80's, the VBA was there to support our AIDS organizations; helping Homestead Hospice and Shelter open Pioneer Home, the first AIDS hospice in the Valley.
In 1998 the organization, its membership having spread widely throughout the Los Angeles basin, changed its name to the Business Alliance of Los Angeles. But its purpose remained the same: to serve as a place where entrepreneurs and small businesses with GLBT ownership and/or non-gays who openly seek patronage from and fellowship with our community could come together in a spirit of friendship, networking, community service, adventure and fun.
Over the years VBA, BALA, and now the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (LGLCC) has honored leaders and members of our community, brought together hundreds of businesses, business professionals, those aspiring to be business professionals and raised tens of thousands of dollars for worthwhile causes. What was once an organization of monthly dinner speakers now offers a cast and varied calendar of dinners, mixers (many are joint events with other GLBT organizations), educational seminars, Toastmasters Groups, a Young Business Professional Group and more. While decades have changed the face of the gay and lesbian community, some things do not need to change: our commitment to unite gay and lesbian business and professional people with their allies in the straight business community for their mutual benefit; to provide a network and open forum for the free exchange of ideas; to foster fellowship and professional personal enrichment; and to disseminate information. The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce re-commits itself to these tenets.
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The year was 1979 - only 11 years after the Stonewall Riots ignited the Gay Liberation Movement. Jimmy Carter was promoting human rights and America had yet to hear of AIDS or the HIV virus. In California we had just fought -- and won -- the biggest battle of our political/activist lives: the anti-gay Briggs Initiative, better known then as Proposition 6. It was then, that in the San Fernando Valley, a dedicated group of gay men, lesbians, and their friends came together to form the Valley Business Alliance to provide a supportive environment for their nascent businesses and "out" entrepreneurs.
