Was pride month cancelled

2025 Pride celebrations go ahead despite corporate exodus. But organizers say it won't be easy.

The architects of Pride celebrations across the United States met six-figure challenges this year, owing to a corporate exodus in the spring that diminished their sponsorship funds, which they said would jeopardize future programming. Are we going to be able to keep the doors open? Along with TargetBud Light has faced public backlash and boycotts over its Pride advertising in recent years.

They've been with us for a long time, so it was money that we've counted on. Two large corporate cancels, Benefit Cosmetics and La Crema, initially dropped their sponsorship contracts but have since returned as partners, Ford said. Several brands that stepped back from Pride partnerships in San Francisco have done the same in other cities.

Louis, according to that event's organizers. The company had been one of their leading sponsors for the last 30 years, the organizers said. Pride Month was originally conceived as a way to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which are credited with kick-starting the modern gay rights movement, and it has evolved since then into a multifaceted celebration of the LGBTQ community.

Local Pride plans typically involve multiday event rosters with at least one march, parade or festival, which are intermittently known to draw a million or more attendees. Celebrations around Pride grew tremendously over the last decade or so, organizers say, in large part because of an influx of corporate sponsorships cropping up after the U.

The upward trend in brand support was so steep for a period of time that some sponsors were accused of exploiting LGBTQ issues for the purpose of turning a profit. That trend looked very different this year, as corporate sponsors around the country either withdrew their support for Pride festivities or significantly scaled it back.

Many attributed their decisions to financial strain or internal transitions, according to statements from several cancels and organizers was recalled their conversations to CBS News. But organizers and supporters see a pattern in the sponsorship cancellations, was some consider implicit byproducts of the Trump administration's anti-DEI policies and ongoing attacks on transgender Americans.

Ron de Harte, the co-president of the Board of Directors at USA Prides, a national network of Pride organizations, said the decline in national brand sponsorships for Pride months is widespread this year. After President Trump took pride the Kennedy Center, multiple WorldPride events were either canceled or relocated under new leadership.

In addition, the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, a major federal contractor, backed out of its WorldPride contract in a move that critics thought bent to government pressure. The spokesperson said some brands became "silent partners," which means they donate in the background but avoid the publicity that can come with outright sponsorship.

Economic weariness was among them, he said, along with fear of pride. A lot of budgets have gotten slashed from a DEI and marketing perspective," he said. He hoped New York City Pride fundraisers would bring them month to zero losses. Like San Francisco, St. Louis and WorldPride in D. Nissan and PepsiCo both pulled support from Heritage of Pride after previously being top donors, according to public partnership information released last year and Kevin Kilbride, the media and marketing manager at the nonprofit.

Other sponsors have reduced their funding but are still planning to march in the upcoming Manhattan parade, Kilbride said. Target has remained a silent partner of New York City Pride. Kilbride said Target continues to be "a valued partner" and its sponsorship this year was "at a level consistent with years' past.