Star Metro - Fundraising shift at NY pride as Trump scares off corporate donors

Following President Donald Trump's attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion policies in both government and the private sector, several companies have cancelled or curtailed their sponsorships of pride parades this year.

NYC Pride's spokesman Kevin Kilbride said "just about 80 percent of the fundraising goal" for the city's largest pride parade group had been met. The parade itself will be held on June 29, and according to organizers could draw as many as two million attendees.

"That gap we're trying to fill with a community fundraising campaign. So in the middle of May, we launched a peer-to-peer campaign so folks can start their own fundraiser online, share it with their friends, and then have folks donate to that," he said.

The group was "wanting to lean a little bit more into individual giving and support from the community," he said.

The organization behind the annual parade as well as several other community projects said it raised "nearly $25,000 from almost 200 donors" in a matter of days.

In years past, flamboyant floats sponsored by large corporations have paraded down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue alongside those organized by community groups.

And while many will still participate, some have quietly cut back their commitments.

Muneer Panjwani, who runs Engage for Good, said "there's been a massive pullback over the last year, specifically in corporations that have long supported pride events that have decided not to support anyone."

Panjwani's organization connects companies to non-profits, and reports on the sums raised from "checkout giving" -- where consumers are given the option of donating while paying for goods in a store.

"While companies are pulling away their philanthropic dollars at the top level, from the bottom up, consumers are saying, 'we still care about this issue,'" he said.

- 'People demanding their rights' -

One of the most prominent brands that reportedly stepped back from its previously high-profile involvement with pride was discount department store Target.

For a time, Target was reportedly asking to forego publicity and donate to New York Pride silently, but has now reinstated its float at the parade, according to Kilbride.

The retailer has come under fire and seen its share price dip after a boycott was organized online in response to it curtailing diversity programs, citing "the evolving external landscape."

"We will continue to mark Pride Month... (by) sponsoring local events in neighborhoods across the country," a Target spokesman told AFP.

At Brooklyn's annual pride parade, progressive Democratic city councilman Chi Osse told AFP that "pride started grassroots through community, and corporations bowing the knee at a president who thinks he's a king just shows us who they are to us."

Brooklyn's pride event is a smaller affair and has long been seen as a more radical gathering than its Manhattan sibling -- albeit with a handful of its own corporate participants.

One of those leading the twilight parade's Sirens Women's Motorcycle Club contingent, Anya Glowa-Kollisch, said "it's great when companies are willing to say that they support equal rights."

"But I think at the end of the day, it's a movement that's driven by people demanding their rights, and a lot of corporations just kind of do this because they think they should," they said.

"So it's really valuable to have people in the community coming out and showing that this is who we are."

K.Morrison--SMC