Annual San Francisco Pride Event Struggles to Raise Funds as Sponsors Withdraw
A nonprofit responsible for organizing an annual Pride event in San Francisco is facing financial difficulties after several major sponsors pulled their support.
San Francisco Pride is now searching for alternative ways to raise the $300,000 needed for the 2025 festivities, according to a report by SFGATE. Suzanne Ford, the nonprofit’s executive director, told the outlet she was “really disappointed” by the sponsors’ decision to withdraw. Among the companies backing out are Comcast, Anheuser-Busch, wine company La Crema, and the company that makes Guinness.
The sponsors cited budget constraints as the reason for their decision, though Ford suggested broader factors might be at play, such as the political climate regarding LGBTQ issues. This comes as the Trump administration has taken steps to roll back an emphasis on diversity and other social issues, which seems to have widespread support among the American public.
“I just interpreted that companies are making decisions that at this time it’s not good to be sponsoring Pride,” Ford explained to SFGATE. “I think in this political environment that they thought that was a risky decision. But that’s just me reading the tea leaves. I think for a long-term sponsor not to sponsor us, they are responding to what we are.”
La Crema addressed its decision in a statement to the Daily Caller, stating that the company “remains fully committed to the LGBTQ+ community” despite scaling back its involvement.
“While we had to scale back our SF Pride activation this year, it was never our intention to step away entirely and we are still in ongoing conversations with event organizers on how we plan to participate,” a spokesperson said. “We will continue to support Pride, both nationally and in our backyard, and continue our long-standing advocacy partnership with Equality California.”
