By The Epoch Times | Created at 2025-03-20 05:13:13 | Updated at 2025-03-20 15:32:11
11 hours ago
A number of sponsors, including Comcast and Anheuser-Busch, have decided not to sponsor the annual celebration.
Major corporations are choosing to not sponsor San Francisco’s 2025 Pride parade and street fair, the event organizer said.
“This year, many long-time corporate sponsors have withdrawn their support, leaving a critical gap in funding,” said Suzanne Ford, executive director of San Francisco Pride, in a statement on the organization’s website.
Scheduled for June 28 and 29, the 55th Pride celebration is part of an annual event that hosts “the largest LGBTQ+ parade in the world.”
Companies including Comcast, Anheuser-Busch, alcoholic beverage company Diageo, Benefit Cosmetics, and wine company La Crema have decided not to sponsor the event this year, Ford told local Fox affiliate KTVU in an interview published March 15.
While the businesses cited a lack of funds, Ford suspects the real reason is the country’s political climate under President Donald Trump, KTVU reported.
In January, Trump rolled back diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and programs and declared that the federal government would recognize only two sexes. He also directed the military to exclude individuals with a gender identity inconsistent with their sex from service, which was blocked in a preliminary injunction on March 18 by a federal judge.
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Ford told KTVU the five companies’ donations accounted for approximately $300,000 of the $1.2 million fundraising goal. Pride organizers are now scrambling for new sponsors for this summer’s festivities, which include parties, concerts, and the parade.
The Epoch Times reached out to the companies and San Francisco Pride and did not hear back by publication time.
The first installment of San Francisco Pride took the form of a small march on Polk Street and a gathering in Golden Gate Park in June 1970.
Major companies that participated in the 2024 parade include Hilton, Visa, Apple, IKEA, Merck, eBay, and Amazon, according to the organizer.
Earlier this month, the Pride organization also announced that it had terminated its relationship with Meta, the Menlo Park-based company that owns Facebook and Instagram, after company representatives made it clear they no longer wanted to be involved, Ford said.
“I’m both proud and sad that we don’t have a relationship with Meta,” Ford told ABC7 on March 4. “That was discontinued last year. So, at this moment, and I don’t see it being rectified, Meta will not be included.”
