Corporations have pulled around $300,000 in funding from the event, the organizer told news outlets
A number of high-profile sponsors have pulled their financial support ahead of this year’s LGBTQ Pride event in San Francisco, multiple media outlets have reported. This comes amid a push by the administration of US President Donald Trump to cut federal funding for programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Multiple firms, including US telecommunications corporation Comcast; Diageo, the owner of such alcohol brands as Guinness and Smirnoff; and Anheuser-Busch, the company that owns Budweiser and Stella Artois, have pulled their financial support the event, Forbes wrote on Friday.
Organizers have budgeted $3.2 million for this year’s two-day bash, which will feature a parade. There are plans for corporate sponsorships to cover some $2.3 million of the sum, executive director of San Francisco Pride Suzanne Ford told SFGATE news outlet in an article published earlier this week.
A total of five sponsors have cited a lack of funds and pulled out, resulting in the total loss of $300,000 in corporate funding, Ford told the television channel KTVU Fox in an interview last week.
“I’m very concerned. Obviously, there’s pressure from the federal government,” she told the channel. Trump’s anti-DEI policy has played a role in the sponsors leaving, Ford said.
According to Forbes, a number of other pride events, including in New York, Houston and Washington, have reported that some of their corporate sponsors have either withdrawn or scaled back their support.
“The current political and economic climate has had a significant impact on sponsorship levels from corporations,” Houston Pride’s board of directors told Forbes.
Since his inauguration in January, Trump has slashed a number of programs, contracts and grants related to DEI policies, claiming they are both wasteful and discriminatory.
Several companies appeared to scale back their public support of LGBTQ last year, after facing consumer boycotts. In 2023, Anheuser-Busch faced a boycott and plummeting sales after its Bud Light advertising campaign featuring controversial trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney which generated a widespread backlash.
