ABSTRACT
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) consumers constitute one of the most interesting and challenging consumer subcultures in multicultural America. Unlike race, age, or even ethnic origin, sexual orientation is not a characteristic easily observed by other people. Sexual orientation is such a personal topic that only in the past thirty years have more than a few individuals publicly identified themselves or others as “gay.” Persons of alternative sexual orientations share “outsider” status and experience discrimination, even persecution, by other Americans. This has provided the catalyst for organizing LGBT communities.
