New York City Pride, or Heritage of Pride, will scale back some events this year after seeing a reduction in corporate sponsorship revenue during an unprecedented era of attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) led in large part by the Trump administration.
A report in the Wall Street Journal late last month pointed to many of the warning signs leading up to this year’s main NYC Pride March, which is slated for June 29. Mastercard is not renewing its corporate sponsorship of this year’s march after it spent roughly a decade as a “platinum” sponsor, while PepsiCo, Nissan, Citi, and PricewaterhouseCoopers are also not coming back this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Kevin Kilbride, a spokesperson for NYC Pride, confirmed in an interview with Gay City News on May 15 that “some higher-profile” sponsors “have pulled back, scaled back funding, or reallocated it in a different way,” describing the turn of events as “a new reality.” NYC Pride announced on May 21 that the organization is facing a $750,000 budget shortfall.
A Citi spokesperson indicated to Gay City News on May 21 that the company still plans to maintain some involvement in Pride events this year, but offered an indirect response when asked to explain why Citi backed out of its sponsorship role at NYC Pride
“Our Citi Pride Inclusion Network is excited about sponsoring a range of Pride Month celebrations and participating in local marches around the globe, including in New York City, where we will march in partnership with one of our not-for profit partner organizations,” the spokesperson said.
But the bigger picture, Kibride said, is somewhat of a mixed bag: NYC Pride is fortunate that about 75% of sponsors are back this year, and he said the “actual total number of partners is actually up a little bit.”
Most of the sponsors who have pulled back or left altogether have cited economic considerations, according to NYC Pride, but another factor is the potential wrath of the Trump administration.
“Just taking a closer look at how they’re spending their DEAI dollars, frankly, there’s a lot around tariffs right now and the economic impact of that, but folks have also expressed concern for potential blowback from this current administration,” Kilbride said.
The revenue dip comes after NYC Pride was already feeling squeezed by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which unexpectedly forced widespread cancellations of Pride festivities for multiple years and created funding gaps.
“We have been facing budget setbacks last few years, but this year it is a little bit more pronounced as far as just taking longer than usual to solidify commitments,” Kilbride said.
The sudden changes sparked by the pandemic also required NYC Pride to reconsider its approach to planning events for the season.
“The appetite for the types of events we had evolved in the post-pandemic world,” Kilbride said.
Kilbride stressed that NYC Pride’s three core events — the PrideFest street fair, the Pride March, and Youth Pride — are moving ahead as planned, but some events folks may have seen in previous years will not be returning.
“There are some secondary parties that we used to be involved with, but we’re not able to compete with those larger parties, so we’ve had to take a step back and strip down some of the secondary options to make sure we’re spending money where fold want us to show up,” Kilbride said.
YouthPride, slated for June 28, will feature carnival games, attractions, music performances, free food, snacks, and more. There are also several events which will require a ticket for attendance, such as the Road to Pride bar crawl as well as a brunch fundraiser on June 21 at Macy’s Herald Square. Folks can also purchase tickets for the Grandstand, which gives individuals the opportunity to watch the Pride March from a premium viewing spot with private restrooms, complimentary beverages, live entertainment, and more.
NYC Pride is holding out hope that the loss of sponsors is not permanent. Kilbride said many of them are longstanding partners.
“We want to bring them back to the table,” Kilbride said. “If not this year, we want to keep that line open so they are able to show up for us.”
In the meantime, NYC Pride is launching a fundraising campaign with the goal of drawing community support.
Heritage of Pride’s NYC Pride March is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.on June 29 at 26th St. & 5th Ave. in Manhattan. It is one of two main Pride Marches on the final Sunday of June, along with the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s Queer Liberation March, which bars corporate sponsors altogether.
