“As a community, we have…forged a fragile and growing bond that could enable us to achieve the unity that we so desperately need.” – Michael Glynn
Tonight, at Sydney’s Qtopia we honoured a disruptor, a visionary and a complex figure, whose words still ring true today.
The belief in building something stronger, together – underpinned Glynn’s life work.
And this year, the organisation he created in 1981, has forged another path in its history, by building something stronger, together, and changing our name to the Pride Business Association (NSW).
When Glynn founded the Gay Business Association in 1981, homosexuality was still illegal in New South Wales. He saw the power that could be harnessed when queer people came together economically, inspired by Harvey Milk’s Castro Valley Association. A publisher, a teacher, a business founder, a leather-clad Master of Ceremonies. He challenged the stereotypes of what a gay man could be, and just as often challenged his own community in the process.
Glynn was a man of contradictions. Disruptive, uncompromising, visionary, and deeply human.
Jarrod Lomas, President of the Pride Business Association (NSW) acknowledged Glynn as a “disruptor, a visionary and a complex figure”.
And while he wasn’t always universally liked, he was undeniably influential.
Would Glynn have approved of our name change?
Look, probably not at first.
He was famously opinionated. He held strong views. He resisted change he didn’t initiate. But I think he would have come around, not because of the name itself, but because of the intent behind it. Glynn believed in forging growing bonds to achieve unity, and creating spaces to do that. The change of our name to the PBA is about exactly that: making space for more people, more stories, more futures. It isn’t just cosmetic, though we are fans of our refreshed logo.
The Pride Business Association are fans of their new PBA logo.
It is a statement of intent – to broaden our reach, deepen our impact, and ensure every LGBTQIA+ business owner and professional, no matter their identity or background, sees themselves here. It’s an evolution of and an acknowledgment that our community is broader than it was in 1981, more diverse in its identities, its intersections, and its ambitions. It’s not just about who we were, it’s about who we are now and where our future lies. Glynn was driven by a belief in the power of visibility, of enterprise, of community. He believed in the transformative potential of ‘getting your act together’. He believed in the power of showing up. And despite the controversies, and there were many, he never stopped believing in the idea of a strong, self-sustaining, defiant queer community.
In many ways, the PBA is still doing what he intended when setting up the GBA, just on different terms, with a broader lens. We are still doing what Glynn set out to do: supporting LGBTQIA+ professionals, empowering small business, and creating space where people can find purpose, visibility, and belonging.
READ MORE: The Glynn Legacy Event 2025: A Night of Honouring LGBTQIA+ Disruptors
As President of the PBA, I’m proud that we are continuing to evolve, build and grow the Association – through our name change this year, through Fruits in Sydney and a few weeks ago celebrating one-year in Parramatta, through Lemons, through the reimagined Gay Fair, Buy Rainbow, in October, through Long Table Breakfasts. And through initiatives like the PBA Education Fund’s Glynn Scholarship, which we announced last year, a $10,000 education grant for someone who, like Glynn, believes they can do more – the inaugural recipient of which, Adam, is here tonight – side note: applications are closing one week from today so be sure to check that out at pba.org.au
Tonight was about recognising that disruption takes many forms.
It can be a newspaper, a nightclub, a scholarship, or a start-up. It can be flamboyant or quiet, personal or structural. And it can come from anyone brave enough to make a different choice. That strategic, sometimes messy, community-first disruption, is our inheritance. We continue that work and honour our history by recognising new disruptors. Not because they’re repeating what Glynn did or hold his same beliefs, but because they are embodying his legacy for today, calling out exclusion in boardrooms, rewriting the rules in mental health care, elevating queer stories in national media.
Glynn would have found Hank and Patrick last year, and now David and James this year, fascinating, infuriating, and absolutely necessary.
And that’s the point.
Our community has always been a conversation across generations – between those who first marched and those who now carry on that legacy, those who made the space and those who are reshaping it.
Which is why The Glynn Legacy matters so much. It asks us to look back in order to look forward, to see where we’ve come from and how far we’ve come, but more importantly, to understand the role each of us can play in shaping what comes next.
We honour Glynn and his legacy, not because he was perfect, but because he was catalytic.
So tonight is about honouring where we’ve come from, and recommitting to where we’re going.
Michael Glynn disrupted. And so do we.
Not in the same ways, not in the same style. But in the same spirit, because today, achieving unity through fragile and growing bonds is not only critical, but is something we can all do, together.
Thank you.
Everyone is welcome at the PBA! Check out our upcoming events.
