SF Pride faces financial difficulties after losing 5 corporate sponsors
SAN FRANCISCO - SF Pride, the nonprofit that puts on the annual parade and two-day street fair, is facing financial difficulty after a handful of corporate sponsors have pulled their financial support.
Suzanne Ford, its executive director, said she's looking for other companies and people to sponsor the annual pride celebration, concerned that more sponsors may pull out.
Pride weekend is a highly anticipated annual celebration in San Francisco.
"I like to watch the parade. Often do things with friends. Come here to the Castro and stroll around," said Ryan Jones, a San Francisco resident and co-owner of Hot Cookie, a popular shop in the Castro.
But SF Pride said five corporate sponsors have pulled out after years of supporting the annual celebration.
They include Comcast, Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, an alcoholic beverage company that makes many popular brands, including Johnny Walker and Guinness, and La Crema, a wine company owned by Jackson Family Wines. "I'm very concerned. Obviously, there's pressure from the federal government," Ford said all the companies that withdrew their support cited a lack of funds.
Ford suspected the Trump Administration's policy against diversity, equity and inclusion programs played a role.
"The tone has changed in this country. Businesses already hedge their bets, and I think people who, this isn't their hard core value of their corporation, maybe they're rethinking their investment," said Ford.
She said the loss of five corporate sponsorships adds up to $300,000 out of the $1.2 million she still needs to raise. "We gays, we know how to survive. We'll figure out a way to maintain our community through all of this, including financial hardships for things like pride," Jones said.
Ford said this year's Pride festivities will go on as planned, but moving forward, what the pride celebration will entail is uncertain. And small businesses that now benefit may be impacted.
"We're going to have to be creative and adapt, and find new ways of doing things with less, and doing it just as well. That's going to be a challenge for sure," said Jones.
Ford said the city is a magical place for the LGBTQ community, and that it's important to maintain that luster.
"The whole world will be watching to see if San Francisco still has those values. That they can come here and live their authentic lives," said Ford.
KTVU reached out to the companies that had withdrawn their financial support but had not heard back in time for this report.
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU
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