Shortly after lawyer Ron Hicks, at age 39, came out as gay to his friends, family members and employers, he began to center his law practice on the LGBTQ business community. Hicks said he found that he could more easily relate to LGBTQ business owners to provide legal services and help their businesses thrive.

“When I decided to come out, I thought it was important for [LGBTQ] business owners to know that I’m out and that I’ll talk to them because I had a similar story to them,” said Hicks, a Pittsburgh-based lawyer now in his 50s.