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LGBTQ Advocacy with Tim Gill
Should you focus on business or LGBTQ advocacy? Should you “make it” first in your career so you can give back later? Or is it best to pursue LGBTQ activism today? Make these decisions easier by paying off all of your credit card debt, starting with the no-cost credit card 7-Step Credit Card Debt Reduction Here.
Hear Tim’s experiences in entrepreneurship and LGBTQ advocacy:
Tim Gill on career and LGBTQ advocacy
Tim Gill is a software entrepreneur and philanthropist based in Denver. He founded the Gill Foundation in 1994 to advance equality and support nonprofit organizations serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Since its inception, the foundation has invested more than $335 million in programs across the country. Tim is also the founder and former chairman of Quark, Inc., a company that revolutionized desktop publishing with innovative page layout software. He now works in the field of artificial intelligence and co-founded the smart home technology startup JStar in 2015.
Tim tells the story of Quark and talks about the challenges he faced in the early years – packing boxes and answering tech support calls from bed at 2am! He explains why he never felt his homosexuality hindered him as an entrepreneur and how he developed the confidence to go public. Tim speaks of Colorado’s Amendment 2 in 1992 as the impetus for his LGBTQ advocacy and offers insight into the Gill Foundation’s work supporting anti-discrimination legislation and his approach to “smart philanthropy.”
Covered career and LGBTQ advocacy topics
The origin of quark
- Laid off from his previous job at the startup
- Borrowed $2,000 from my parents for a printer
- The local Apple III dealer requested a word processor
- Developed complete desktop publishing program for printing
Tim’s advice on customer feedback
- Listen to users and understand what’s important
- Customers become advocates for your product
The challenges Tim faced in Quark’s early years
- Limited experience with external vendors, accounting
- Do everything (e.g. technical support, packing boxes)
Tim’s take on limiting beliefs in the LGBTQ community
- I never felt like the fact that he was gay held him back
- An incident involving a retailer who no longer sold their product
Tim’s approach to coming out after Amendment 2
- The law repealed Colorado’s statewide anti-discrimination ordinance
- I realized that 80% of people didn’t know a gay person
- Started mentioning “boyfriend” in public appearances
Tim’s LGBTQ advocacy through the Gill Foundation
- Encouraged to contribute $1 million to anti-discrimination efforts
- $400 million was donated through his foundation as political donations
How Tim developed confidence in his orientation
- A community of like-minded people in the LGBT organization at his college
- The advocacy resulted in there being comfort in talking about being gay
Tim’s insight into a multi-faceted approach to LGBTQ advocacy
- Must develop the ability to raise money, door knock and lobby
- Deploy resources depending on the situation
- Start with a goal in mind and adjust financing based on results
Tim’s approach to business
- Work tirelessly to achieve your goals
- Ready to go to the “edge of burnout.”
- Pay attention to customer needs
Tim’s take on the current state of LGBTQ rights
- Marriage equality successful so far
- Opponents undermine gay rights more broadly
- Can still be fired in 31 states for being LGBTQ
- Must work with companies that have influence over politicians
- It is unlikely that all rights will be obtained at once; it must be done gradually
Tim’s new business venture – JStar LLC
Career and LGBTQ Advocacy Resources
Get more help to become a better LGBTQ philanthropist
We are David and John Auten-Schneider, the Debt Free Guys and host of the Queer money® Podcast. We help queer people (and allies) live fabulous and non-fabulous broke lives by helping them 1) pay off credit card debt, 2) become part- or full-time entrepreneurs, and 3) save and invest for retirement.