In June 2006 a specialized marketing conference called the Pink Pound Conference was held in London and a similar conference was held in November 2006 by the Market Research Society. A range of large corporations have recently realised the power of the Pink Pound and have begun to directly market their products towards the gay community through advertising in the gay press. The Pink Pound is often considered to be responsible for the high sales of specific products seen to be favored by a large number of gay people, most noticeably music sales of records by gay icons such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue and Cher. Known as the pink pound in the United Kingdom, the British gay market is estimated to be worth up to £6 billion a year. LGBT-pride symbols on a double decker bus and a police officer in London, UK It's been considered more often than not a market exclusive for the US, UK and some places in Europe, but its extension covers a large amount of Latin America and part of Asia, making its actual earns larger by year and giving marketing options some impulse and variety. However, criticism has been leveled at businesses which target pink money from gay groups, arguing that this segregates the gay and lesbian community from society, and holds back gay rights.
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Indeed, upwards of 90% of gay people support businesses which target pink money, while actively boycotting anti-gay companies. The economic power of pink money has been seen as a positive force for the gay community, creating a kind of "financial self-identification" which helps gay and lesbian individuals feel like part of a community which values them. In 2019, LGBT adults globally held a combined buying power of approximately $3.7 trillion. Many businesses now specifically cater to gay customers, including nightclubs, shops, restaurants, and even taxicabs the demand for these services stems from common discrimination by traditional businesses. With the rise of the gay rights movement, pink money has gone from being a fringe or marginalized market to a thriving industry in many parts of the Western world such as the United States and United Kingdom.
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Pink money describes the purchasing power of the LGBT community, often especially with respect to political donations. An LGBT-friendly shop in Amsterdam, Netherlands