Scoop: Corporations pull sponsorships from Virginia's largest Pride event
Two corporate sponsors have pulled out of Pridefest, the largest LGBTQ+ celebration in Virginia, organizers tell Axios.
The big picture: It's part of a nationwide pivot for corporate America in which many companies that previously embraced Pride are walking back support following President Trump's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Threat level: "We're at a point now, if more pulled out, it's going to make a big difference," James Millner, the director of Virginia Pride, tells Axios.
"This is the first time — and this is my 11th year doing this — where I really had this feeling of constant uncertainty about what was going to happen."
State of play: Corporate sponsors account for about half of the funding for Pridefest, which has been a Richmond fixture for nearly 50 years and hosted by Virginia Pride since 2007.
The free festival, scheduled for September at Midtown Green instead of June, regularly brings tens of thousands of people to the city.
And it usually has over 30 sponsors to help cover the $300,000 to $400,000 in estimated costs, Millner says. Sponsorship packages range from $2,500 to more than $30,000.
Zoom in: Millner declined to name the companies out of respect for the yearslong relationships built, the need to offer grace "in this moment," and because conversations with sponsors are still ongoing.
But he tells Axios that the sponsors that pulled out shared they had to because of changes in their company's DEI policies or due to pressure following Trump's anti-DEI orders.
Other sponsors are reducing their funding to Pridefest because they're also supporting WorldPride in D.C. in June.
By the numbers: Nationwide, 39% of corporations are scaling back external Pride Month engagements this year, according to Gravity Research data, reports Axios' Eleanor Hawkins.
This is a sharp increase from last year, when only 9% said they were changing their external Pride engagement.
Roughly 6 in 10 companies cite the Trump administration as the top reason for this change, while conservative activists and conservative policymakers come in second and third, per Gravity Research.
What we're watching: While organizers are planning to ramp up security this year, Millner says they'll have to "make some big adjustments" if more sponsors drop out.
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