San Francisco Pride, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in the world, has reportedly lost significant funding as major corporate sponsors – some who supported the festivities for years – have pulled out of the event.
Four companies, which include Comcast and Anheuser-Busch, among others, and provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, told the organization that they could no longer afford to offer financial support, Suzanne Ford, the executive director of San Francisco Pride, told KRON4. Ford believes the sudden departure of longterm sponsors is the result of a political environment that has become increasingly hostile to the LGBTQ+ community.
“The backtracking on rights for the LGBTQ community certainly have to be part of any cooperation’s calculus on whether they give us money so I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, but, as we all know now, it’s more difficult than ever to stand up and say you support rights of LGBTQ people,” Ford told KRON4.
Since taking office, Donald Trump’s administration has attacked LGBTQ+ people and diversity efforts with a barrage of executive orders. Trump has ordered that the US only recognize two sexes, sought to ban trans people from the military, and repealed policies promoting racial equity and protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. Major US companies from Amazon to Google have announced they will end their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
SF Pride recently announced it would end a longtime partnership with Meta after the company terminated its DEI programs shortly before Trump took office.
Organizers are now seeking new funding sources for the event, including to cover greater security costs. Ford has said Pride organizers anticipate more threats this year and planned to increase security. “I expect people are going to be emboldened and we are going to encounter more threats this year,” Ford told KGO.
