“The popularity of LGBTQ social movement to some extent has given rise to the prevalence of pink capitalism, a form of capitalism combined with LGBTQ populations. The essay begins with a informative presentation of pink capitalism and several relevant business models: LGBTQ marketing; bars, nightclubs and hospitality; digitalization and applications. Throughout the second part, considering its interdisciplinarity and complexity, three different theoretical perspectives and a critical perspective from queer theory are discussed to better understand the phenomenon. Implications for cultural management serve as a continuous critical reflection on pink capitalism and the previous perspectives. The core topics in this section revolve around the possibility and resulting business models of connecting the LGBTQ public to the arts, and the visibility of queer creative professionals. Illustrative case studies with cross-cultural perspectives are presented: La federica, a queer bar for queer art in Barcelona; Q-Space, a queer community-maker space in Beijing.

The essay explores the flexible boundaries among economics, business models, societies, gender and cultural management, with the aim to better understand the phenomenon of pink capitalism, LGBTQ culture, and in turn get to know ourselves better as cultural managers, who work with people and identities, crossing the borders beyond different cultures with insight, foresight, humanity and tolerance.”

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