A number of American corporations are retreating from participation in LGBTQ Pride events this year, amid the Trump administration’s nationwide rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Organizers of major Pride parades and festivals across the U.S. are reportedly facing funding shortfalls as several longtime corporate sponsors reduce or withdraw their support. Some scholars told the Daily Caller News Foundation that this trend may signal a broader move away from DEI commitments in corporate America.
“We are seeing major companies, in meaningful numbers, either eliminating or modifying their DEI programs, which certainly does include sponsoring LGBTQ+ pride events and so on,” Stefan Padfield, the executive director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project, told the Daily Caller.
“I think really the bottom line here is that there has just arisen an awareness on the part of executives that this promotion of these [pride] events runs such a meaningful risk of being perceived as pushing transgender ideology on parents … I think corporations have finally woken up to the reality that that’s a very big risk for them to be taking,” he continued.
“Those of us on the right, conservatives in this space, we are just pushing corporations to get back to neutral,” Padfield added. “We just want them to stop pushing these agendas down our throat, just get back to producing great products and services and making America great through the power of capitalism in that way … the left, on the other hand, wants the corporations to push their agendas. This is really a step back to neutrality, and I think we need to celebrate it and encourage more of it.”
Recent reports of corporate sponsors pulling out of major Pride events come as President Donald Trump continues his push to dismantle DEI policies across both public and private sectors. This includes a series of executive orders aimed at eliminating what he has described as “radical and wasteful” DEI programs within the federal government.
“It’s consistent with what we have seen in terms of DEI statements,” Jonathan Butcher, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told the outlet. “We have seen businesses close either pull down their DEI statements or close their DEI offices, especially over the last 24 months, and I would anticipate that we would see more such policy changes because of what the Trump administration has issued in terms of executive orders.”
Trump is making it a priority to undo former President Joe Biden’s “woke” DEI programs and policies interwoven throughout the federal government during his term. In addition, Attorney General Pam Bondi has led the charge to dismantle Biden-era DEI initiatives within the Department of Justice and enforce President Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity policies across federal agencies.
