Corporate sponsors abandon LGBTQ Pride amid Trump's attack on DEI

The Trump administration's attack on U.S. diversity, equity and inclusion policies is reverberating across the Atlantic, with corporations abandoning sponsorships of Britain's Pride festivals, threatening key funding for events this summer.

Three-quarters of more than 100 Pride organizers have seen a decline in corporate partnerships this year and a quarter of them have seen funding from sponsorships drop over 50%, according to exclusive data from the UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON). That's hit smaller parades particularly hard, with several canceling events that were planned for Pride Month, which is celebrated globally each June in memory of the Stonewall protests. 

Sponsorship withdrawals have been particularly pronounced from American businesses, according to Pride in London. The UK's biggest LGBTQ parade relies on corporate sponsors to cover the $2.3 million it costs to host more than 1.6 million attendees during its July 5 festival. But this year, longtime sponsors have stepped away, said Christopher Joell-Deshields, chief executive officer of Pride in London.

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"Across the Pride movement, there is a very different feel this year," Joell-Deshields said. "Some of our sponsors are global partners and we're seeing the effect of those who are based in the U.S. who have seen the roll back of DEI. We're having to push harder in terms of sponsors and getting them to understand the importance of the Pride platform."

Companies doing business in the U.S. have rushed to appear politically neutral after President Donald Trump signed executive orders demanding the end of what he calls "illegal DEI." The order was a culmination of a broader blowback against what some U.S. conservatives have dubbed "woke capitalism," with activists calling for boycotts against firms that give money to causes like LGBTQ rights and racial-equity programs. 

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The pullback in LGBTQ support is a trend already documented in the U.S., where a survey of corporate executives revealed that two in five were scaling back Pride Month engagement this year, leaving organizers scrambling for funds. Earlier in May, New York City Pride announced it was looking at a $750,000 budget shortfall and launched a community fundraising campaign to keep the event free to attend. 

In the interim, LGBTQ organizations will have to adapt to the new environment, said Ian Howley, CEO of health and wellbeing charity LGBT HERO. Even if larger brands ask to sponsor events again once the dust settles, he said the community won't easily forgive firms for abandoning them this year.

"The damage is already done and we don't forget," Howley said. "We will remember that they weren't there when we needed them the most."