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 It was the 1970’s. Disco was everywhere! Donna Summer
was the new Judy Garland and a former beauty queen turned orange juice spokesperson named Anita Bryant launched a war on homosexuals with her Save Our Children campaign in Florida.
Hardly the time for a group of lesbian and gay business people to band together for a networking and social club, but in Broward County they did just that. At a time when being openly gay could easily result in being
fired or evicted, the Business Professional Group came into being. The founders formed a group dedicated to professional and personal growth by building long term relationships outside of the usual bar and club venues. The newly created
BPG met every Thursday morning at a local restaurant, Sambo's on Federal Highway, to talk business and socialize. Back then the word ‘gay’ was never mentioned in connection with the group. They were not exactly closeted, explains
one long time member, but they were decidedly low profile.
Today the original founders are no longer with the Business Professional Group, but there are members who go back several decades. Former BPG president Thom Carr met his partner, Dr. J. Heider, another former president,
through the group functions. The two men have been together now for over twenty years. Carr remembers the various restaurants that hosted the breakfast meetings since he joined in 1984: Sambo’s, Denny’s, The Riverside Hotel,
the former Anna Marie Hotel, the Doubletree Hotel, the Ireland's Inn and now Primavera Restaurant. Then, as now, the membership was a diverse group of women and men from all backgrounds and professions.
More important than the breakfasts are the relationships that have grown between the members of the organization. For over thirty years the BPG has brought together lesbian and gay business people looking to grow professionally
and personally. The organization has witnessed the evolution of South Florida from the days of Anita Bryant to the present, where multi-million dollar developments are marketed to lesbian and gay families, gay guesthouses almost outnumber
mainstream hotels and gay-owned businesses are routinely featured in local papers.
The word ‘gay’ is still not part of the group’s name. As one member says, it’s not a gay networking group. It’s a business-networking group that has gay members. The focus is on the
people and their relationships - professional and personal. And breakfast is still served every Thursday morning at eight a.m.
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