San Francisco Pride Struggles to Secure Sponsorships Ahead of 2025 Parade

San Francisco Pride organizers face a challenging task: raising $3.2 million to cover the total costs of labor, security, insurance and permits required to produce the two-day festival and parade set for June 28–29. However, reaching that goal has become harder as several corporate sponsors have pulled their financial support, SF Pride executive director Suzanne Ford said.

“We expected [funding] to increase this year and then the whole world changed on us,” she told KQED.

Comcast, along with beverage companies Anheuser-Busch and Diageo, were multi-year sponsors but are not supporting this year’s celebration. The news comes after SF Pride announced that its relationship with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, had ended.

“The world’s changed politically, and the environment for sponsorship has changed dramatically,” she said. “And I think these companies have determined that it’s not a good investment in Pride this year.”

Since the pandemic, SF Pride has faced financial challenges as production costs rise each year. Both the parade and festival are free to attend, making the event, as currently designed, dependent on corporate sponsorships. Admission to other Pride celebrations in the country, like Los Angeles Pride in the Park, can cost up to hundreds of dollars, depending on the type of ticket.

Ensuring SF Pride remains accessible to all is key to the event’s purpose, said Ford, who grew up in Kentucky during the 1970s watching images of San Francisco’s first Pride marches.

“There was a city out there somewhere where people were themselves,” she said. “That’s more important than ever this year. I think the whole country, in fact, the world, will be looking to see if San Francisco still has those values.”

Comcast, Anheuser-Busch and Diageo did not respond to KQED’s request for comment. A spokesperson for La Crema, a wine company owned by Jackson Family Wines, said it may not support SF Pride at the same scale as before because of financial trouble in the wine industry. The spokesperson said the company is still negotiating with organizers.

SF Pride, which recently announced a partnership with San Francisco International Airport, is now looking for new sponsors. Ford said organizers plan to take a more proactive approach in asking Pride attendees for donations during the celebrations.

SF Pride’s dependence on corporate sponsorship has been a source of criticism within the city’s LGBTQ+ community for years. Earlier this month, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club released a statement calling for SF Pride leadership to ban companies that have terminated their diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives and “sold out trans safety in favor of currying political favor with far-right bigots like Donald Trump” from the parade.

SF Pride will no longer partner with Meta after CEO Mark Zuckerberg terminated the tech giant’s DEI initiatives and changed its content moderation policies, with some advocates pointing out that now it is easier for users to target and demean transgender people.

“We do sympathize with SF Pride’s financial situation, but these flimsy sponsorships are really just a testament as to why we should be working to create a Pride celebration that is sustained by people,” said Melissa Hernandez, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club co-president.

“SF Pride should be asking itself, what is its purpose?” Hernandez said. “Is it to provide corporations with an outlet to showcase their rainbow branding, or is it to provide LGBTQ+ people from all over the world with an opportunity to feel safe and seen?”