As Pride month kicks off under a hostile federal government that takes its cues from a homophobic and transphobic far-right movement, the typical steady drip of rainbow-painted logos and feel-good news has been replaced with a stream of coverage of corporations pulling their sponsorship dollars from LGBTQ+ Pride events. This sudden withdrawal presents a material problem in queer circles, as advocates struggle to plan the increasingly bloated festivals that corporate cash has enabled in recent years.
It’s also an opportunity.
The corporate exodus has been swift and financially devastating. According to one Associated Press report, NYC Pride is staring down a $750,000 budget gap. San Francisco Pride is short $200,000 to $300,000. KC Pride in Kansas City lost half its annual budget, about $200,000. Anheuser-Busch alone left St. Louis Pride $150,000 poorer. WorldPride D.C., which was set to be a lavish affair, is out nearly $260,000. And numerous other Prides report sponsorship drops of 40 to 50 percent.
But it’s far from clear that that money was doing much to advance the interests of LGBTQ+ people. What started as a remembrance of the fury and desperation of the Stonewall riots has slowly been sanitized and co-opted into a series of stale, borderline apolitical affairs. Over the course of the 1990s and early 2000s, companies began dipping their corporate toes into LGBTQ+ pride events. Then came the post-Obergefell gold rush after 2015, when the landmark Supreme Court case legalized gay marriage and brand activism hit its peak.
Suddenly, every toothpaste and telecom company wanted a float in the parade. No corporation, no matter its line of business or its track record, was considered too amoral for inclusion.
Fast forward to 2025, the political winds have shifted — proving it all the more essential to revive the authentic, full-throated culture of protest that once characterized Pride. The Trump administration has pursued an aggressive anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, including spurious orders against private entities’ DEI policies and frontal assaults on the rights of trans people. The National Park Service erased the word “transgender” from the website for the Stonewall National Monument. At the state and local level, conservative activism to roll back progress on LGBTQ+ rights has reached a boiling point. Over 588 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures so far this year. More than 50 of them have already been passed into law.
All of a sudden, the rainbow logos that corporations loved rolling out on the first of June are seen as a massive political and even legal risk. The performative allyship has morphed into silence. Good.
Corporate support was a cynical marketing ploy to tap into the perceived disposable income of LGBTQ+ Americans.
