San Francisco – Many American corporations of this year stopped supporting pride events that celebrate the culture and rights LGBTQ+, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in budget deficit before the summer festivities and asking questions about the commitment of the corporate United States with the cause.
The movements occur as President Donald Trump has demonstrated Antipathy for trans protections E has tried to reverse some friendly federal policies LGBTQ+. Experts also point out that a growing portion of the public has tired that companies adopt a position on social and political issues.
The pride of San Francisco, the non -profit organization that produces one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the country, faces a budget gap of $ 200,000 after corporate donors retired. In Kansas City, Missouri, KC Pride lost about $ 200,000, approximately half of its annual budget.
Heritage of Pride, the Umbed organization behind NYC Pride and other LGBTQ+ events in New York City, is raising funds to reduce a budget gap of $ 750,000 after companies withdrew.
Meanwhile, Budweiser Brewer Anheuser-Busch ended his sponsorship of Pridefest in St. Louis, Missouri, his base of operations, after 30 years, leaving the organizers with a budget deficit of $ 150,000.
In response, many pride organizations have canceled some dance parties, have reduced the number of stages, hired less expensive holders and no longer offer volunteers food or free t -shirts.
But the main celebrations will continue. In San Francisco, this year’s issue is “Laer joy is resistance.” In New York, it is “Rise Up: Pride in Protest”, and, in Boston, it’s “here to stay!”
“If you are proud this year, that is a revolutionary act,” said Suzanne Ford, executive director of San Francisco Pride. “You are sending a message to those in Washington who, here in San Francisco, we still have the same values that we have always had: you can love who you love here. We are not going to retire from that.”
After the media coverage of their retirement, some companies changed the course, but asked that their names were not affiliated with the events, the organizers of the event said.
San Francisco’s pride earlier this year lost the support of five important corporate donors, including Comcast, Anheuser-Busch and Diageo, the giant of drinks that makes Guinness Beer and Smirnoff Vodka.
“With everything we faced with the Trump administration, to lose five of its partners in a couple of weeks, it seemed to be abandoned,” Ford said.
After retreats caught attention, some corporations said they would donate but only anonymously, Ford said, denying to identify those companies. From this week, neither Comcast, Anheuser-Busch nor Diageo appeared on the organization’s website as sponsors of the June 29 festivities. It wasn’t clear if they donated.
Anheuser-Busch and Diageo did not respond to the Electronic Associated Press emails in search of comments. A Comcast spokesman also declined to comment, but said that some of his companies are sponsoring Silicon Valley Pride and Oakland Pride.
NYC Pride spokesman Chris Piedmont said about 20% of his corporate sponsors withdrew their support or reduced, including Pepsico and Nissan, based in New York.
Kyle Bazemore, director of corporate communications at Nissan North America, said the decision occurs when the car manufacturer reviews all its marketing expenses to reduce costs. Pepsico did not return an email in search of comments.
Piedmont said that NYC Pride has also received anonymous corporate funds and that it appreciates unpublished support.
“Writing a check to a non -profit organization and admitting a non -profit organization without attachment is moving on the plate,” said Piedmont.
The change reflects how corporations are adjusting to a changing cultural landscape that began during the pandemic and accelerated with Trump’s second mandate, experts said.
“Companies are ingenious, they are intelligent to identify trends and study their environment and the needs of their customers, but those needs change and corporations are adjusted,” said Amir Grinstein, marketing professor at Northeastern University.
The presence of corporations in pride parades full of rainbow, concerts and dance parties became more ubiquitous after the emblematic decision of the 2015 Supreme Court that legalized same -sex marriage throughout the country, since companies splashed their names in the floats of the parade, the flags of the rainbow and the bright plastic bracelets.
The so -called brand activism reached its maximum point between 2016 and 2022, a period of social agitation around the pandemic, police brutality and transgender rights, said Grinstein.
But since then, the research has found that a growing number of US consumers does not want companies to take positions on such issues, said Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor at the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania.
“There have always been people who said:” I do not want my toothpaste to have an opinion, I just want to use my toothpaste, “but the tide has changed, and the investigation shows that there are more people who feel that way,” Kahn said.
Meanwhile, states led by Republicans have approved legislation to reduce initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion and LGBTQ+rights, especially the ability to transgender young people To participate in sports or receive gender care that states.
Trump signed executive orders on his first day in the position that receded the protections for transgender people and finished federal OF THE programs.
Some companies did the same by eliminating their ODI goals, which led pride organizations to separate ties.
San Francisco organizers cut ties with goal after the Facebook and Instagram parent company He finished his goals from Dei and content moderation policies.
Twin Cities Pride ended its relationship with Target on the reduction of the retailer with Minneapolis headquarters of its Dei initiatives after a violent reaction of the conservatives and the White House. The withdrawal of the company of Dei’s policies led to a Contra-Boycott for civil rights defenders.
Aim announced in May that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter due to customer boycots, tariffs and other economic factors. The company now offers only some pride products in some stores and online.
Even so, Rick Gómez, commercial director of Target, told journalists in May that it is important to celebrate the patrimonial months, which highlight different groups of Latinos to Asian Americans to the LGBTQ+community.
“They drive the growth of sales for us,” he said.
Donations for the first time of individuals, foundations and local businesses have increased after the corporate retirement of the United States.
In Minneapolis, a Crowdfunding campaign of Twin Cities Pride to fill a financing gap of $ 50,000 raised more than $ 89,000.
In San Francisco, two local foundations donated $ 55,000 combined.
“This is not the first year that there has been an inflammatory climate around pride,” said James Moran, spokesman for KC Pride, in Kansas City, Missouri. “We know that our community is looking for spaces for us, where we can celebrate, but also process what is happening and build our own support networks.”
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Associated Press’s retail reporter Anne D’Onnocezio, in New York City contributed.
