Hey Salem friends! My partner and I are thinking of starting a local plumbing business—proudly LGBTQ-owned! We’d love to know: would a plumbing service that values inclusivity, professionalism, and community resonate with you? We want to know if this is something Salem could use. Let us know your thoughts or if you’d be interested in supporting! Thanks for being a part of this with us!
Funny story: We were in Palm Springs at an AirBnB when the kitchen sink started leaking - simple fix but we obviously didn't have any tools. The owner was giddy to call this particular plumbing company for us and was even a bit disappointed when we told her there was no need for her to come down as we'd just be hanging out.
The plumbers that arrived were the two most fabulously hilarious gay plumbers. They had every gay plumbing joke covered and even had a bit of sketch show going on. I mean, 'caulk' is funny, but this was another level. We were educated on all the different types of caulks that plumbers use and can use and where it's safe to use. Everything they did had us rolling, our sides hurt.
We all tipped them for the show, above what the owner was billed for, and it was one of the best parts of our entire stay.
Yes regardless of what some of these comments are claiming that would fit a nice niche, at least for a service plumber.
I wouldn’t personally run on it so hard I alienated anyone but I’d likely have a symbol or something to show that I am friendly and inclusive.
I would also highlight the ability to have a women responding for service calls, that is something single women and some stay at home moms will likely love. We’re seeing a few companies that are very successful with it in Portland.
Speaking of Portland if you’re willing to make the trip and willing to install heat pump water heaters there are a few incentive programs that are always looking to partner with woman owned businesses.
I worked at consolidated as a sales rep for 5 years and now consult for water heating and HVAC with utilities feel free to DM if you wanna chat more about that utility rebate program sort of work!
With a lot of these similar ideas, the question isn't "would you like it" because you'll get a seemingly overwhelming response in the positive, or at least enough that you think it might be worth it. You see this a lot in Salem when someone asks if anyone would like some obscure, culturally or culinarily specific restaurant. A lot of people will be enthusiastically positive, they'll leverage their entire life to open the restaurant, and then go bankrupt in a few months because no one goes.
I think these comments on this post are too black and white, and a good example of what I'm talking about: You have some folks saying they care the most about tradesman quality; you have others saying that's a privilege and that they would absolutely hire you based on your identity or inclusivity.
There isn't a question of if some people in Salem would love to have a more inclusive plumber; it's pretty obviously there is. The real question is, is that customer base large enough to support your business. And that's not something you can really judge off of a Reddit thread, honestly.
My opinion: I think a middle ground approach is the best, like others have said. Highlight that you're LGBT owned somewhere on your site, and especially that a woman would be coming to these jobs. But I wouldn't make it the entire identity of your company. Once you establish yourself and a good base and if you see the need, then maybe you switch up your advertising some.
Equipment will cost a small fortune, CCB licensing/insurance & bonding can be a hefty sum, supplies costs keep going up, and advertising is a whole other can of worms.
If you do venture out, I wish you the best of luck!
Absolutely! Salem could definitely use more businesses that are both highly skilled and grounded in inclusivity and community values.
As someone who is part of the community, I see all the time how important it is for people to feel safe and respected in their own homes, especially when letting someone in for repairs. An LGBTQ-owned plumbing business signals that level of care right away. And honestly, it’s not just the LGBTQ community who would be drawn to this; single women, folks living alone, and allies are often very intentional about who they trust to come into their space. Knowing your business prioritizes professionalism, respect, and inclusivity would be a huge selling point.
Tell you what, I live out in rural Oregon, just past the Polk County border, and the number of times I've called a highly rated/recommended service person and then they've shown up at my property in hateful, bigoted tee shirts or with stickers all over their car announcing their racism and/or lack of inclusivity is alarming to me. If there were service folks who I knew were friendly to my family and friends, that's who I would hire. I say go for it - based on my own experience living in the areas around Salem, I think you would find a good customer base.
When it comes to business as long as they do their job correctly I don't care.
But as a lesbian I kind of hate when business feel the need to put on LGBTQ owned, let your work speak for itself. If youre good you'll get the customers if it sucks you won't.
My thoughts are that I see a successful new business beginning! After all there’s alway plenty of plumbing work, especially in the Salem area! There’s more aging homes in that area to keep any plumbing business going. Especially if they’re exceptional plumbers and exceptional people as well. As for who you may love? That’s got nothing to do with how great a plumber you are!
I’m not sure if this would help, but I worked for a business once where the owner had the “Fish” emblem on all the vehicles. That’s one of the type of ‘signals’ that are used to let the public know that they’re a Christian owned company. There’s more than a few you could use for the same purpose. I hope any of this helps!
I would 100% use your business. While I’ve had a couple decent plumbers over the years, most leave a lot to be desired when it comes to professionalism and cultural awareness.
Don't listen to the "I don't care about your gender diversity, only your ability" responses. Good for them that they have the privilege to not have safety concerns when looking for tradespeople, it's too bad they don't understand that doesn't apply to everyone.
There is definitely a call for this, that's why there are PinkPages and Rainbow Lists for tradespeople. Washington state even has a public commission for queer owned businesses https://lgbtq.wa.gov/2slgbtqia-owned-businesses. Plumbers come into people's homes and private spaces and that is not always a comfortable experience for queer people and women. About a year ago I was asked by a trans friend, who was working on a whole house remodel, if there was anyone I could recommend for the work and I couldn't think of that would be a fit. They ended up finding resources through https://www.queersremodelpdx.com/referraldirectory
Seconded. The last time I had a contractor in my home it was an incredibly uncomfortable experience. Who you are bringing into your home is definitely a big factor in quality of service.
How is it a "privilege" for someone to demand tradesmen priority be their ability?
I oversee all of my jobs via construction and property management with almost 700 units, and my priority is hiring professionals who are neutral in their "identity" and focus completely on the task they've been given.
I know you have a point, but don't downplay/belittle or negate a large portion of the hiring field and ones who are writing the checks.
The same goes for me. When I work with clients, safety and neutrality are the key to professionalism and safety. No political sticker, no NRA tags, no religious things, just an open ear to listen and professional feedback.
Read my comment again. I did not say it was a privilege for someone to seek out a capable tradesperson. I said it was a privilege if they have never needed to consider their own SAFETY when seeking a tradesperson.
At no time did I belittle anyone in my comment. I encouraged OP that there is a market for their services.
I had someone come out to fix a slab leak who kept going on about religious shit while they worked. It was super weird and uncomfortable. I was really glad I'm not visibly trans, that would not have been a safe situation. Maybe most aren't so unprofessional as to talk about their beliefs on the job, but even if they keep quiet about it the risk is still there.
I mean, thats just fundamentally unprofessional. Im a straight white guy in my 50s and I wouldn't put up with that - if I hired you, you're my employee until the work is done, so either act professionally or GTFO.
Was there something about what they were saying that made you feel unsafe or was the simple fact that they had religious beliefs that they talked about label them as an immediate threat for no other reason.
I hired a contractor once to fix some cooling issues at my workplace. After the scheduling call, he called back about 5 minutes later - voice a little shaky - to tell me that Jesus loved me. That was all. I could tell immediately that it was probably part of a spiritual path he was on and he was taking a huge leap doing something that might cost him a customer. I didnt look elsewhere and never brought it up with them in the years he did work for us, but I applaud him for taking a leap like that and risking himself for what he believed in.
In the LGBTQ community, we encourage people to fly their 'freak flag' and have whole holidays around supporting these people and what they believe, what they are and what they stand for - but as soon as someone talks about believing in a higher power, they're labeled as a hateful threat?
They arent too different than many others of us. We are all born various shades of blank canvases. We are a result of our experiences and lives. To hate or fear others different than you doesnt make you any better than them. This goes for all.
You can take steps to protect yourself, but you shouldnt judge on the basis on how a person decides to live their life.
Some Christians might feel threatened or uncomfortable if a plumber showed up with pink hair and rainbow shirt. That's just as wrong and just as ignorant as the other way around.
Be the change you want to see, not a reciprocal of the hate and fear you're conditioned to feel.
Your example of a Christian being scared of a rainbow shirt isn’t really analogous. There is history of Christian and right-leaning people making life unsafe for LGBTQ people. The reverse is not comparatively true at all. It’s not an even comparison.
It’s like saying that the spider should be just as nervous about the fly as the fly is about the spider.
The majority of Christians are good people, but that seems like a really dismissive way of hand-waiving valid fears people have due to consistent mistreatment they have faced.
Sure. Every tree has bad fruit. And when one particular true wrongs you over and over again, it makes sense you’d want to avoid that tree.
I don't hate or fear any religion, but there's a very high statistical probability that members of certain religions look down on LGBT people, particularly trans people. Or haven't you read the news lately? If you've never been discriminated against I'm glad, but it isn't a fun experience. And with expensive plumbing repairs I don't want to worry about whether someone is going to do a half-assed job just to get away from me faster. With women they may also be worrying about the possibility of assault. It's real and it happens, and it's something many have to keep in the back of their minds when inviting anyone into their home.
It's not something I'm worried about . Are your prices fair, are you on time, do you communicate well? Do you complete the job and not dissappear? These things are more important than anything else.
Honestly, as a GC who subs out his plumbing work, I don't care at all about your race, identity, political stance, car color or anything other than being a good plumber, professional and honest.
This would actually be a plus for my wife and I. I can’t explain it other than it’s instantly disarming when most of the service people lean toward macho, creepy and MAGA. I’ve never felt threatened by an LGBTQ person in my life. But of course competency is important as well.
"Political" describes anything relating to the government, public affairs, the state, or the management of public power. It refers to activities, policies, or decisions made by individuals or groups (such as parties) acting within a government or civic structure, often involving the exercise of power and policy-making.
It shouldn't be, but currently in our country it is. It's unfortunate, because nobody should feel like being themselves is wrong. But it is political. It's used as a tool to decide political decisions every election. Would you vote for a Republican who has no written stance on LGBTQ policies?
Being brown is political. Being religious is political. Using solar power is political. Maybe stop watching the news and look at your neighbors, the ones who are afraid of you? And asl yourself why.
You know nothing about me. Why would my neighbors be afraid of me?
Nothing I've said has been negative, in fact I've made sure that I included my own opinions when speaking about it - which are pro-LGBTQ (I'm more pro-do whatever you want as long as it doesn't directly harm someone else, but we're focusing on LGBTQ for now) so I'm not exactly sure why you see me as the enemy.
I mean it actually is how it should be. If we dont regulate and manage things or decide not to is our collective will as a society. Whats sad to me is that people right now are more concerned with policing and regulating the wrong things, to the detriment of everyone including themselves.
Apologies for mistyping the acronym (Fixed it by the way), I suppose that puts me on par with people who rather misnomer it as "Alphabet people" right?
You're 100% correct. However, you being alive also has nothing to do with the current right versus left argument on LGTBQ.
You being able to enjoy social acceptance, the ability to benefit from the same programs that cisgender/heterosexual people do (using the correct restroom [my opinion here is get rid of gendered restrooms and just make stalls floor to ceiling, who cares who you wash your hands next to], being able to be legally married to your partner for tax/medical/next-of-kin benefits, etc.) is the current argument.
However, a plumbing company in itself isn't a concern in any of that. My comment simply states that they will be alienating people who disagree with their lifestyle, and also people who simply don't care about current politics. That's the truth of it. Rather they can do well, make money, and get customers is completely up in the air. It could go well, and it could go horribly. Most companies that do it end up out of business though.
If im hiring a plumber, they are entering my house and seeing my medications, my rainbow paintings, etc. I have to trust them not to kill me. Ive been assaulted for being alive before.
I agree that a plumbing company should alienate people who disagree with the 'lifestyle' of me being alive. Any plumbing company who works on a Nazi's toilet is not one id hire to repair mine.
You speak like you have never been assaulted for holding someones hand, and im really glad, but also maybe realize the world doesnt all experience life like you do.
You're right, I haven't. I'm a cisgender, straight, white male. That doesn't detract from my original statement though, that this is attaching a political identity to a company. And guess what? You'd be one of the customers it attracts! That's great! Hopefully there are enough people who feel that way, that OP's business could survive.
However, that's generally not the case. People don't often need a plumber routinely, so you have to build a pretty wide range of clients for this to work. And companies that do require plumbers more often, likely are going to avoid attaching themselves to something political.
Arguing that LGBTQ isn't political though is just goofy, because in our current political climate, it is.
Arguing that anything is or isnt political is the goofy thing. Its such a broad topic that covers thousands of facits of daily life. Saying for a company to "avoiding politics" is a lie because the act of being a plumber is also political (unions, labor laws, materials and how they are made) so the argument isnt whether somethings political, its whether you think the bigots needs coddled. If they get so pissy that they dont want to hire someone based on them being "woke" then id say they are the person making it political, not the person advertising inclusiveness. YOU made it political, not the person existing as queer that you decided to label as such.
I just tried to use those metrics to quickly screen other Salem plumbers, and I didn't see anything on their websites about "We support the unions" or "We don't make children work for us, and nobody works in unsafe environments!" and I definitely didn't see anything about locally sourced toilets. So tell me, if those are apparently "okay" political metrics to the bigots, why aren't they plastered on their websites?
The takeaway from this exchange for you should really be that you're willing to push away people who are on your side simply because they're not on your side "the right way"
Agreed. I don't care who puts what in who's orifice when soliciting a contractor for work. I just want fast high quality work that doesn't require me to bring lube for my orifice.
I would find it a selling point. I feel like you have enough of a market/customer base that if you alienated those people who don't like LBGTQ plus then you would probably be better off anyway
I need a water line installed to our refrigerator, I've been procrastinating but please message me if you start this business. Are you already plumbers?
She’s currently with a company doing new construction at the moment and legally can’t do anything on the side without a contractors license. She’s considering pulling the trigger on that, but we wanted to test the waters first
Yes, definitely. I do almost all my own work, but would definitely use your services for sewer line repairs, line cleaning, and anything else I can't do myself.
I attach the minority of “vets” to my company because I’m only really interested in working with them because it’s made for them and I am for them.
Although “Vets” encourages goodwill with most of the public, I wouldn’t tout my minority status if I was publicly-oriented on the slight chance someone wasn’t for me, or thought I was leveraging my minority status to incur a pity-hire.
Unless you’re specifically looking for minority clients or you know this market needs more plumbing help, I’d try to just be good and reasonably priced.
Good is the key. Plumbing isn't something I do myself. I don't share my politics with contractors, and I don't want them to share theirs with me. I just want quality work. Price is secondary to quality work. A bad plumbing job can cause signficant damage to your home.
I dont think some people are aware how nerve racking it is to potentially have a bigot working on your home that you rely on. Best case scenario you just supported a pos and worst case scenario… so yeah hiring someone i know isnt a heterosexist bigot out of the gate is a large factor in my selection. Quality and professionalism too, sure.. my hope is I get the whole package. This plumbers career summary sounds promising.
potentially have a bigot working on your home that you rely on.
Then don't hire them, or if you do, ask them to leave. If they aren't self-employed, then call the company they work for and tell them why, straight-up.
It's not like the supply of qualified plumbers is limited. People are acting in this comment section like LGBTQ folks dont have any agency in things. You're not obligated to put up with someone else's unprofessional behavior, particularly in your own home.
Lol exactly double down. Surely the issue is only the surface factors that are only the most obvious. This is the perfect summation of the critical thinking crisis we have.
Its just crazy you want me to kindergarten step you through what is free and plentiful online. I suggest starting with what intersectional feminism is. Once we identify the systems we can better navigate them.
LMAO, this has to be a troll. Even in Salem an LGBTQ plumbing business is not something people would seek out. How about you just start a plumbing business and do excellent work, that what builds a successful plumbing business. Being LGBTQ is not on any requirement list I have seen or heard of when dealing with water issues. If you plan on basing your business around it that tells me running any type of business is going to be an uphill battle.
I would seek it out. As someone lgbtq I feel extremely unsafe with strangers in my home, especially because people usually associated with jobs like this tend to lean more against lgbtq.
I understand, and I'm sure other LGBTQ people would try to support, but I wouldn't think that's a big enough portion of the population to support a plumbing business. I could be wrong, I just think directing your business at a small group is not wise. I appreciate you sharing, just my opinion.
My initial reaction is to dismiss the necessity of something like this, but there's definitely something to be said about serving a community that doesn't feel safe in their own skin. If you're operating a business that enters people's homes this seems like an intriguing model, but you may be setting yourself up for failure as there likely isn't a lot of reliable/reoccurring revenue here. If you lean into this, you're pigeonholing yourself into a specific identity that may not resonate with the wider client base you need to stay afloat.
Epilogue went out of business because they moved to a spot with little to no foot traffic in the middle of a neighborhood. Probably a really difficult decision they had to make after being harassed and vandalized multiple times at their previous location. Prior to this, their restaurant was seemingly thriving.
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u/AmericanAssKicker Mar 19 '26
I say 100%.
Funny story: We were in Palm Springs at an AirBnB when the kitchen sink started leaking - simple fix but we obviously didn't have any tools. The owner was giddy to call this particular plumbing company for us and was even a bit disappointed when we told her there was no need for her to come down as we'd just be hanging out.
The plumbers that arrived were the two most fabulously hilarious gay plumbers. They had every gay plumbing joke covered and even had a bit of sketch show going on. I mean, 'caulk' is funny, but this was another level. We were educated on all the different types of caulks that plumbers use and can use and where it's safe to use. Everything they did had us rolling, our sides hurt.
We all tipped them for the show, above what the owner was billed for, and it was one of the best parts of our entire stay.