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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Corporate support for Pride is dwindling nationwide. In NC, it's a mixed bag
Pride Month has long been an occasion for companies and institutions to display their support for the LGBTQ+ community, whether it be for profit or for principle. It's often a trivial gesture, but it can have a meaningful impact for a community that had long been relegated to the shadows of society. But more recently, that support has waned amid a regressive political climate that has made many companies rethink their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. A survey conducted by the national risk management firm Gravity Research found that around 39% of companies said they would reduce their engagement around Pride Month this year. Some of the top reasons for the change were the Trump administration, conservative activists and conservative policymakers, the survey found. Major corporations, including Mastercard and Pepsi, have pulled their sponsorship of major Pride events or avoided the topic on social media. In North Carolina, the results are mixed. Take Lowe's, which is based in Mooresville. Lowe's hasn't yet acknowledged Pride Month on its social media — a marked difference from past years when it openly embraced the occasion. That's not unexpected, given that Lowe's has already announced an end to many of its DEI initiatives. Last year, the company said it would no longer participate in surveys conducted by LGBTQ+ groups and ended its support of outside events like festivals, parades and fairs. (Lowe's had previously been a longtime supporter of Charlotte's annual Pride festival.) But surprising or not, it's reflective of a growing trend away from publicly embracing the LGBTQ+ community. Charlotte-based Bank of America also has remained quiet about Pride so far. In past years, Bank of America has been vocal about celebrating the occasion on social media and honoring its LGBTQ+ employees with the hashtag #BofAPride, but that support has been absent this year. Compare that with Truist, which posted in celebration of Pride on its Facebook and Instagram accounts. For North Carolina's professional sports teams, the results are mixed, too. While the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets both celebrated the start of Pride on social media, the Carolina Hurricanes have not. In fact, the team has remained largely silent about Pride since 2023 — the Hurricanes are one of just a handful NHL teams to not acknowledge it this year — a decision that has disappointed many fans who feel a simple acknowledgment of the occasion is not too much to ask. The same goes for the state's largest cities. The city of Charlotte posted on its social media accounts at the beginning of Pride, in addition to updating its profile picture to a rainbow version of the city's crown logo. The cities of Raleigh and Greensboro, however, did not. This move toward silence comes at a time when things like Pride celebrations and flags are under attack from lawmakers across the state. Legislation has been introduced at the state level that would effectively ban the display of Pride flags in government buildings, while some counties have passed ordinances governing public events that some interpret as targeting Pride events or drag performances. Of course, a social media post is just that: a social media post. It's not going to defeat anti-LGBTQ legislation, or save gay kids from being bullied, or change the country's attitude towards transgender people — at least not on its own. From some companies, it's just a lot of empty words or glorified virtue signaling. But public support for any marginalized group can be meaningful, especially when it happens on a large scale. And when institutions cower in the face of political pressure to stay silent, they're just letting the bullies win. It makes real change all the more difficult. Ultimately, it's not the silence that is the problem. It's the fact that the silence is new — a sudden absence of the public support and acceptance that existed before. It feels like another step backward during a time when progress feels like it's constantly stuck in reverse.
New York Post
8 hours ago
- New York Post
Why there's no shame in corporate America boycotting LGBT Pride Month
'Private companies can do whatever they want,' leftists once snorted in defense of companies like Facebook banning conservative speech. But now the tables have turned, and LGBTQ activists have found themselves in a state between panicked and sulky as their fair-weather friends in corporate America are pulling sponsorships of Pride celebrations this month. As a result, Pride events across the nation are facing budget shortfalls, and activists are blaming everyone but themselves. Advertisement 8 LGBT Pride events across America have seen millions of dollars in sponsorship deals dry up since President Trump returned to the White House, according to reports. lazyllama – At least 14 companies — including Pepsi, Citi, MasterCard, Nissan, Garnier, and US defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. — have dropped or greatly scaled back their financial contributions to annual Pride events nationwide. Anheuser-Busch, makers of Bud Light, has also backtracked on Pride sponsorship — and for good reason. The company lost an estimated $395 million after its botched partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to a nationwide boycott in 2023. Advertisement Ever since, Bud Light has struggled to reposition itself as the good ol' boys, God 'n' guns beverage, to lukewarm reception. The numbers are grim: Heritage of Pride, organizers of New York City's festivities, by far the largest in the nation, faces a $750,000 shortfall this year after nearly a quarter of corporate donations dried up. This follows years of operating at a loss: In 2022, the group was $2.7 million in the hole, and another $1.2 million the following year. 8 At least 14 companies, including MasterCard, have scaled back on their financial contributions to annual Pride events nationwide. 8 Pepsi has also decreased its financial contributions to Pride events around the country. Advertisement 8 Nissan is also including in the group of companies that have either scaled back or dropped their contributions for national Pride events. Christopher Sadowski In California, longtime corporate donors ran for the hills when San Francisco Pride executive director Suzanne Ford reached out begging for money. Twin Cities Pride has seen longtime corporate sponsors in Minnesota shift into retreat mode, and now the group is scrambling to meet a $200,000 goal. Organizers in Washington, DC, Milwaukee, and St. Louis all have reported being ghosted by big companies they once relied upon. All of this is occurring at a time when a dozen companies have withdrawn participation from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a shakedown scheme used by the LGBT nonprofit behemoth to enforce woke capitalism. For LGBTQAI2S+ activists, the reason for all this is simple: It's Trump's fault. Advertisement 8 Trans-influencer Dylan Mulvaney set off a billion-dollar backlash against her 2023 sponsorship program with Bud Light Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/MEGA 8 'There's a lot of fear of repercussions for aligning with our festival,' Wes Shaver, president of Milwaukee Pride, said. Wes Shaver 'There's a lot of fear of repercussions for aligning with our festival,' Wes Shaver, president of Milwaukee Pride, told The New York Times, joining others who believe companies fear they may be penalized by the White House if they donate to Pride events, citing the administration's effort to curtail DEI initiatives. (When asked about this, the White House didn't respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post.) What's equally likely is that everyone just has gay fatigue — a collective eye roll at the oversaturation of LGBT themes in culture, combined with all the negative connotations now associated with Pride. Once a niche event of subculture fun and revelry, it's devolved into a mainstream, month-long orgy of far-leftism that looks more like a tent revival beckoning an impending open-borders transgender race war. Rage-hungry conservative influencers have latched on to videos of public nudity and shameless parents forcing Pride spectacles onto their children. Transgender insanity has swallowed the entire movement and, in doing so, repelled middle-of-the-road Americans. Simply put, it's exhausting. Advertisement And what company, in its right mind, wants to be tied to all that? While activists say companies are afraid of Trump, the same could have been true about Biden. Businesses certainly felt the Democrat gun in their back to start coughing up their woke bona fides during his term. Overall, the corporate retreat from Pride is a good thing for everyone, and it ought to continue. The grotesque parade of political and corporate pandering that's defined Pride over the last two decades is embarrassing, as any honest gay person will admit. 8 Trump has set his sights on banning identity-based initiatives and organizations, according to reports. AP After all, who wants their sex life validated by junk food companies and bomb-makers? Advertisement It's also alienated plenty of old-timers. 'The cold corporations are more important to the rotating Heritage of Pride than the actual surviving Stonewall veterans. Plenty are still alive and kicking,' former New York City Pride Grand Marshall Williamson Henderson, of the Stonewall Veterans Association, and who participated in the original Stonewall rebellion in June 1969 (the reason Pride Month exists), told The Post. 8 NYC Pride alone has seen nearly a million dollars in funding losses. Some community observers, however, suggest the Pride event has become over-commercialized. Getty Images Corporate America is a shallow and skittish place, and only the most destructive HR managers want their businesses butting in on the culture wars. Advertisement Rather than blaming Republicans for a long-deserved pushback against Rainbow Totalitarianism, LGBT activists ought to do a better job policing themselves, embark on a little soul searching as to how they became so toxic, and maybe even re-examine their unbridled love of money. That last one might be a tough sell. Free Love? Not anymore. It's just about free stuff.
Fast Company
a day ago
- Fast Company
Pride Month is looking very beige this year
Branded is a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture. Pride Month is looking a little different this year—at least when it comes to corporate brands. For years, big brands and retailers have broadcast their (at least symbolic) support for the LGBTQ+ community through everything from social media accounts tweaked with rainbow-flag colors to special Pride merch collections and sponsorship of established parades and other events. But in the first year of a second Trump presidency, the administration has expressed noisy hostility toward 'diversity' in general, and as a corporate value specifically. It has been particularly hostile toward the trans community, for example, banning transgender service members from the military and introducing legislation that would curtail gender-affirming healthcare. All this has evidently quieted some businesses' Pride participation: A Gravity Research poll found that 39% of hundreds of surveyed companies 'plan to reduce Pride-related engagement' this year—and none planned to increase Pride engagement. A startling 65% reported they were preparing for potential backlash to whatever support they showed. Anecdotal evidence backs up the idea of a more cautious corporate Pride approach. The Wall Street Journal reported that Mastercard, Nissan, and other brands did not continue their sponsorship of the famous New York City Pride March. NYC Pride, which organizes the parade and related events, has said it is facing a budget shortfall this year. As Newsweek recently noted, brands from BMW to NFL teams that have added rainbow visuals to their logos in the past aren't doing so this year. Target, which has been known to treat Pride as a major marketing event—a practice that attracted conservative criticism and boycott calls—remains an NYC Pride corporate partner. But many on social media have roasted its 2025 Pride collection as bland and defensive. In fairness, Target's collection usually gets some roasting, but this year the theme was its noticeable non-noticeable aesthetic—'primarily inspired by the color beige,' as one review put it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by connor clary (@ In a notably blunt example of a brand rethinking its Pride strategy, a leaked Slack message from the pet-toy subscription service BarkBox sought to explain why the company was pausing promotion of its Pride Collection, featuring items such as the Proud Pup Rainbow Tug and Daddy Dolphin toy: 'Right now,' it stated, 'pushing this promo risks unintentionally sending the message that 'we're not for you' to a large portion of our audience,' referring to the Pride products as 'politically charged.' This was heavily criticized, and BarkBox CEO Matt Meeker apologized, saying the message 'doesn't reflect our values,' and noting its Pride-themed merch was still very much available. (Earlier, a former Trump attorney complained on social media about receiving Pride-themed BarkBox products; after Meeker's apology, she announced that she would cancel her subscription.) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Spencer Meade (@spennyislennie) While a politically polarized atmosphere is clearly playing a role in the apparent tamping down of many brands' embrace of Pride, it's worth acknowledging that this embrace has always been met with a certain skepticism. The argument that corporate alignment with Pride always had more to do with courting customers than supporting gay or transgender rights is sometimes summarized as ' rainbow capitalism '—a largely superficial practice that may have aided LGBTQ+ social acceptance, but did so as essentially a side effect of the profit motive. In fact, recent Pew Research Center polling found that 68% of LGBTQ+ adults (and 54% of non-LGBTQ+ adults) believe that companies promoting Pride Month do so primarily because it 'helps business.' Only 16% and 13%, respectively, believe a 'genuine desire to celebrate' LGBTQ+ people as the prime motivation. (The remainder believe such promotion is the result of 'pressure to support' LGBTQ+ people. About 61% of non-LGBTQ+ Republicans agreed with that, compared to around 30% of Democrats, according to Pew.) In addition to noting companies' stated plans to scale back public engagement with Pride this year, the Gravity Research survey noted that most 'internal initiatives' connected to LGBTQ+ rights are continuing. 'As polarization deepens, brands are favoring lower-profile, internally focused strategies that minimize public exposure while signaling commitment to employees,' the report said. The handful of brands sticking with pro-LGBTQ+ messages this Pride Month are winning some praise for positive, productive campaigns—from Mac cosmetics making a $1 million donation (its largest) to several LGBTQ+-focused nonprofits in connection with a new Kim Petras lip gloss collaboration, to Ikea donating proceeds from certain projects to LGBTQ+ charities and sponsoring the San Francisco Pride Parade, to a Levi's collection with a $100,000 donation to nonprofit Outright International, which focuses on LGBTQ+ human rights. The skittishness of their peers just makes these efforts look that much more sincere. And definitely less beige.
