“It stings a bit. Like with some companies…I genuinely believed they were supportive for a long time, especially regarding their trans healthcare initiatives. And now, seeing them retreat from their DEI efforts, it’s painful. It feels like a betrayal,” they expressed.
Companies rolling back
As per a Gravity Research survey, 39% of businesses are cutting back on external commitments for Pride Month this year. This is a significant jump from the previous year when just 9% of companies altered their Pride plans.
An NBC report highlighted that organizers of several major Pride events across the nation experienced a loss of approximately $200,000 to $350,000 in funding from corporate sponsors this year.
“We went out and we surveyed a group of corporate executives, 49 executives, to be specific, in the run up to pride month,” Gravity Research President Luke Hartig said.
“65% of our respondents said that they feared backlash in some way to their pride engagement, and when we asked them specifically what stakeholders are driving your adjustments to pride? Overwhelmingly, the biggest drivers of those adjustments were the Trump administration and conservative activists and consumers,” Hartig told NBC News.
ditionally, Gravity research found that no companies surveyed in 2025 reported an increase in pride investments.
Hartig said many of these large corporations are continuing internal DEI efforts, but have lowered their public visibility for supporting identity based months, like February’s Black History Month and June’s Pride, due to fear of backlash.
