Little Rock's SoMa Pride sees influx of donations ahead of Saturday's festivities
Little Rock's second annual SoMa Pride festivities scheduled for Saturday will be smaller than last year's due to fewer sponsorships, but much of the event will go on as planned, organizer Elizabeth Michael said.
SoMa Pride is co-hosted by Central Arkansas Pride, which also hosts LGBTQ+ events in October, and the SoMa 501 nonprofit, of which Michael is executive director. The nonprofit launched a crowdfunding campaign in March with a goal of $20,000 to 'bridge the gap' after losing 'a few major funding sources,' Michael said in May.
As of Thursday, the goal had been reduced to $10,000, and the campaign had raised $6,800, an increase of $4,480 in just under a month.
A May 29 article in The Guardian highlighted nationwide struggles to host Pride events, including SoMa Pride, in the current political climate. Michael said the publicity led to an influx in donations to the event's crowdfunding campaign.
'It has been extremely uplifting to see the support, not only locally, but from across the country,' she said.
SoMa Pride will include a parade and performance art, such as live music and drag, on Saturday, as well as a Pride 'pre-party' Friday evening at the Boswell Mourot art gallery. Saturday's festivities will have one stage as opposed to two last year, Michael said.
'We did scale it back some, but we're really going to have a great event,' she said. 'We didn't have to scale back nearly as much as I thought we were going to have to.'
Arkansas LGBTQ+ organizers crowdfund to make up for fewer Pride sponsors in time for June
SoMa is short for 'South Main' and encompasses Little Rock's business district on Main Street just south of Interstate 630.
SoMa Pride was not alone in its crowdfunding efforts. NWA Equality, which runs Northwest Arkansas Pride in Fayetteville, the state's largest annual Pride festival, raised over $30,000 in early April to make up for lost event sponsors.
Michael and NWA Pride director Richard Gathright both said the current precarity of federal funds, such as grants for diversity initiatives, played a role in shortages of financial support for Pride.
Pride festivities in major cities nationwide this year have lost major corporate sponsors, such as Anheuser Busch in St. Louis. Minnesota's Twin Cities Pride removed Target as a sponsor after the company dropped its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The changes have come as state and federal officials have targeted LGBTQ+ rights and DEI initiatives.
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