On this episode of The Zeitgeist, guest host Dr. Eric Langenbacher speaks with two participants of the AGI exchange program, “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States.” Simon Schütz and Thomas Haakenson discuss the cost of discriminating against LGBTQ+ employees and customers, the U.S. and German legal landscape around discrimination, and associations that advocate for and promote LGBTQ+ businesses. Guest Host Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program Guests Thomas Haakenson, Associate Professor and Special Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Support, California College of the Arts; Treasurer, German Studies Association Simon Schütz, Head of Communication, German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) This podcast is part of the project “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Future” and is generously funded by the Transatlantik-Programm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Mitteln des European Recovery Program (ERP) des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz(BMWK) (Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany with Funds through the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economics and Climate Action (BMWK)).