San Francisco Pride Director Suzanne Ford feels both saddened and determined about this year’s plans for the city’s iconic Pride parade.

The longtime LGBTQ organization is dealing with the potential loss of $300,000 in corporate sponsorship for its hugely popular annual parade, funding needed ahead of June’s Pride Month. Multiyear sponsors including Comcast, Anheuser-Busch and Diageo have all backed away from participating.

“We’re very disappointed. We’re hurt. It’s not just a number or transaction,” Ford told USA TODAY shortly after announcing the sponsors’ exit. “We know everybody is facing difficult decisions to make right now. But we’re not going anywhere.”

Comcast and Diageo told USA TODAY Thursday that while those companies are not sponsoring the SF Pride parade, they are supporting other Pride-related events across the city. Anheuser-Busch has not returned USA TODAY’s request for comment.

San Francisco isn’t alone. Kendra Walker, a former president of Pride Houston, said a similar sponsorship trend is occurring for Pride parades and festivals nationwide. The organization currently has a $100,000 deficit for its 47th Annual Houston Pride Festival and Parade, also scheduled for June.

“It’s happening everywhere,” Walker said. “Most of us have some of the same sponsors, and once you started seeing cuts in San Francisco, San Diego and here, it’s like a double-whammy. The reasons become both economic – and political.”

In the Nation’s Capital, organizers of WorldPride 2025, one of the largest LGBTQ+ festivals, said events are expected to go on without a hitch, despite losing a key sponsor, government defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.

The sponsorship shortfalls for nonprofit Pride organizations − which hold events that attract millions of people across America − come amid political DEI backlash. In January, President Donald Trump began issuing executive orders to dismantle DEI programs, prompting companies to end “illegal DEI discrimination” and saying they could be investigated for their initiatives.

“And our country will be woke no longer,” Trump reiterated during an address to a joint session of Congress earlier this month.

None of the businesses USA TODAY reached for comment said they were pulling funding because of the Trump administration’s actions. But Pride Month organizers still feel let down.

“For years, businesses across industries have proudly championed LGBTQ+ rights, workplace diversity, and economic equity – not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it drives innovation, increases the talent pool, and expands the bottom line,” Andrea Abrams, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Defending American Values Coalition, and a member of the American Pride Rises Network, told USA TODAY in a statement Thursday.

“We urge businesses and community leaders to hold the line, reject fear-driven politics meant to divide, and stand up for the values they claim to support,” Abrams said.DEI explained: What is DEI and why is it so divisive? What you need to know.

San Francisco Pride says ‘We’re not victims’

Annually attracting more than a million attendees to its parade and Pride-related events in late June, San Francisco has one of the largest LGBTQ+ gatherings in the nation, Ford said. It’s also an economic driver as Pride week fills restaurants and bars and crowds the streets, bringing an estimated $500 million to city coffers, studies show.

“People travel from all over the world to attend,” said Ford, and planning typically begins a year in advance. “This is for the LBGTQ community, but it belongs to all of San Francisco, and the city cannot afford for us to fail.”

San Francisco Pride has budgeted $3.2 million for this year’s gathering called “Queer Joy is Resistance.” The nonprofit’s sponsorship goal is $2.3 million, but only $1 million has been committed so far, Ford said. The funds offset the free admission.

The funds will also be used to increase security in anticipation of more threats, given the escalating social divisiveness, Ford said.

Ford wished SF Pride could’ve been better prepared for corporate shifts as Trump’s second presidency began.

In another example, Ford announced earlier this month that San Francisco Pride was ending its relationship with Meta, the parent company of Facebook after the social media giant reportedly ended its DEI programs.

But Ford doesn’t want any pity. More sponsors, like the San Francisco International Airport, are on board. Two other companies Ford initially believed were removing their sponsorship, La Crema, a wine company, and Benefit Cosmetics, remain steadfast sponsors, spokespersons for the companies confirmed to USA TODAY.

SF Pride is also seeking additional private donations to cover costs, and it has already received more than $5,000 since word of the sponsorship loss spread, Ford said.

“We’re not victims. It’s not all doom and gloom,” Ford said. “We’re going live up to what we said we’re going to do.”

This also includes celebrating the parade’s 55th anniversary this summer.

“We’re a beacon of hope and love and we’re not going to shirk those responsibilities,” Ford said. “We’re still going to make a huge statement to the rest of the country that we still celebrate our LGBTQ community. We’ll find a way.”

D.C. prepares for World Pride 2025, despite losing key sponsor

Meanwhile, the Washington, D.C.-based Capital Pride Alliance said it plans to commemorate 50 years of celebrations in the nation’s Capital this summer despite “navigating current challenges and many unknowns.”

In a statement to USA TODAY Wednesday, the alliance said Booz Allen Hamilton is the only corporate sponsor that has pulled its backing from the alliance’s nearly monthlong WorldPride 2025 event, which is expected to have more than 3 million attendees globally.

“We are confident, however, that we will have the support necessary to have a successful and safe WorldPride that meets this moment,” Capital Pride’s statement read. “That support includes individuals, families, organizations and businesses from across our community, and corporations that truly celebrate diversity and value equity and inclusion for all.  

“Many in our community are extremely vulnerable right now, and standing up for them, with those who stand with us, in this moment is what we all need,” Capital Pride concluded.

Last month, Booz Allen Hamilton ended its DEI programs, citing President Trump’s executive order pressuring federal suppliers to cancel diversity practices, according to Bloomberg.

Booz Allen Hamilton has not responded to USA TODAY’s request for comment.’A first taste’: Trump DEI war escalates, reshaping diversity in corporate America

Pride Houston says ‘Don’t count us out’

Walker and current Pride Houston Co-President Kerry-Ann Morrison are optimistic they will find the $100,000 sponsorship funding gap.

With annual costs ranging from $500,000 to $800,000, Walker and Morrison say Pride Houston is the largest pride event in Texas. They say the parade and festival are among the largest single-day events in Houston, outside of the popular Houston Rodeo. They estimate more than 850,000 people attend monthlong Pride-related events.

“Last year, we thought we had turned the corner, now there’s this political and financial turmoil, and this year, we’re being hit from different sides,” said Walker, adding a good portion of funds are used for pay for security and entertainment, similar to other organizations.

“We keep hearing the words ‘political climate,’ and that’s unfortunate,” Morrison said. “Who knows what next year will look like?”

In previous years, Walker and Morrison said sponsors wanted their logos wherever they could be seen. But about two years ago, Walker said she noticed that sponsors wanted more strategic logo placement – and some sponsors didn’t even want to be publicly known.

“So fast forward this year, some have outright said they don’t want the backlash or the negative attention,” said Walker, declining to name the sponsors to honor their request. 

Walker said not all supporters are upset seeing some corporate sponsors go. Some have argued that Pride Houston needs to be a more community-driven event.

“Well, this is the best time for the community to step up and fill the gap and show and prove they can take care of its own,” Walker said. “I think we have enough resources.”

Having fewer corporate sponsors also opens the door for local small businesses “to get some shine,” Walker said.

“It’s not June yet, don’t count us out,” Walker concluded. “We’ll come together. We always do.”