Latest news with #LGBTPride
New York Post
07-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Why there's no shame in corporate America boycotting LGBT Pride Month
'Private companies can do whatever they want,' leftists once snorted in defense of companies like Facebook banning conservative speech. But now the tables have turned, and LGBTQ activists have found themselves in a state between panicked and sulky as their fair-weather friends in corporate America are pulling sponsorships of Pride celebrations this month. As a result, Pride events across the nation are facing budget shortfalls, and activists are blaming everyone but themselves. Advertisement 8 LGBT Pride events across America have seen millions of dollars in sponsorship deals dry up since President Trump returned to the White House, according to reports. lazyllama – At least 14 companies — including Pepsi, Citi, MasterCard, Nissan, Garnier, and US defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. — have dropped or greatly scaled back their financial contributions to annual Pride events nationwide. Anheuser-Busch, makers of Bud Light, has also backtracked on Pride sponsorship — and for good reason. The company lost an estimated $395 million after its botched partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to a nationwide boycott in 2023. Advertisement Ever since, Bud Light has struggled to reposition itself as the good ol' boys, God 'n' guns beverage, to lukewarm reception. The numbers are grim: Heritage of Pride, organizers of New York City's festivities, by far the largest in the nation, faces a $750,000 shortfall this year after nearly a quarter of corporate donations dried up. This follows years of operating at a loss: In 2022, the group was $2.7 million in the hole, and another $1.2 million the following year. 8 At least 14 companies, including MasterCard, have scaled back on their financial contributions to annual Pride events nationwide. 8 Pepsi has also decreased its financial contributions to Pride events around the country. Advertisement 8 Nissan is also including in the group of companies that have either scaled back or dropped their contributions for national Pride events. Christopher Sadowski In California, longtime corporate donors ran for the hills when San Francisco Pride executive director Suzanne Ford reached out begging for money. Twin Cities Pride has seen longtime corporate sponsors in Minnesota shift into retreat mode, and now the group is scrambling to meet a $200,000 goal. Organizers in Washington, DC, Milwaukee, and St. Louis all have reported being ghosted by big companies they once relied upon. All of this is occurring at a time when a dozen companies have withdrawn participation from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a shakedown scheme used by the LGBT nonprofit behemoth to enforce woke capitalism. For LGBTQAI2S+ activists, the reason for all this is simple: It's Trump's fault. Advertisement 8 Trans-influencer Dylan Mulvaney set off a billion-dollar backlash against her 2023 sponsorship program with Bud Light Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/MEGA 8 'There's a lot of fear of repercussions for aligning with our festival,' Wes Shaver, president of Milwaukee Pride, said. Wes Shaver 'There's a lot of fear of repercussions for aligning with our festival,' Wes Shaver, president of Milwaukee Pride, told The New York Times, joining others who believe companies fear they may be penalized by the White House if they donate to Pride events, citing the administration's effort to curtail DEI initiatives. (When asked about this, the White House didn't respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post.) What's equally likely is that everyone just has gay fatigue — a collective eye roll at the oversaturation of LGBT themes in culture, combined with all the negative connotations now associated with Pride. Once a niche event of subculture fun and revelry, it's devolved into a mainstream, month-long orgy of far-leftism that looks more like a tent revival beckoning an impending open-borders transgender race war. Rage-hungry conservative influencers have latched on to videos of public nudity and shameless parents forcing Pride spectacles onto their children. Transgender insanity has swallowed the entire movement and, in doing so, repelled middle-of-the-road Americans. Simply put, it's exhausting. Advertisement And what company, in its right mind, wants to be tied to all that? While activists say companies are afraid of Trump, the same could have been true about Biden. Businesses certainly felt the Democrat gun in their back to start coughing up their woke bona fides during his term. Overall, the corporate retreat from Pride is a good thing for everyone, and it ought to continue. The grotesque parade of political and corporate pandering that's defined Pride over the last two decades is embarrassing, as any honest gay person will admit. 8 Trump has set his sights on banning identity-based initiatives and organizations, according to reports. AP After all, who wants their sex life validated by junk food companies and bomb-makers? Advertisement It's also alienated plenty of old-timers. 'The cold corporations are more important to the rotating Heritage of Pride than the actual surviving Stonewall veterans. Plenty are still alive and kicking,' former New York City Pride Grand Marshall Williamson Henderson, of the Stonewall Veterans Association, and who participated in the original Stonewall rebellion in June 1969 (the reason Pride Month exists), told The Post. 8 NYC Pride alone has seen nearly a million dollars in funding losses. Some community observers, however, suggest the Pride event has become over-commercialized. Getty Images Corporate America is a shallow and skittish place, and only the most destructive HR managers want their businesses butting in on the culture wars. Advertisement Rather than blaming Republicans for a long-deserved pushback against Rainbow Totalitarianism, LGBT activists ought to do a better job policing themselves, embark on a little soul searching as to how they became so toxic, and maybe even re-examine their unbridled love of money. That last one might be a tough sell. Free Love? Not anymore. It's just about free stuff.
eNCA
17-05-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
Brussels march urges EU to act over Budapest Pride ban threat
Thousands of LGBT activists marched through central Brussels on Saturday, calling on European leaders to act against Hungary's right-wing government after it moved to ban the Budapest Pride parade. The march followed a law passed in Hungary in March that bans LGBT Pride events and allows facial recognition to identify organisers, a move widely condemned by rights groups and EU officials as an attack on civil liberties. "We have come to sound the alarm," Viktoria Radvanyi, the chair of Budapest Pride, said while standing on a platform at the event. "What is really alarming is that we have not seen the (European) Commission take any legal action in two months," said Radvanyi, who wore a rainbow-coloured necklace. Although she met some Commission representatives on Friday, she accused the EU executive of being "complicit" with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban through its inaction AFP | Nicolas TUCAT "Do your job," she said, waving a Hungarian flag -- a slogan immediately taken up by the crowd, who held signs reading "Protect your children from Orban". "I think it's really important that we keep turning out for every pride as long as there are people in the world facing discrimination," said Migiel Moens, 39, who was in the crowd with European flag sticking out of his pink shorts. Roland Papp, a 35-year-old journalist who attended Budapest Pride for years, described a "horrible time". "People tend to think that once you have your rights, they're not going to be taken away. That's not true," he said. "Budapest pride had been going on for 30 years and now it's really going back to the horrible times," he said, vowing to be in the Hungarian capital on June 28 for the event. AFP | Nicolas TUCAT Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony, welcomed on stage by two drag queens, vowed that the parade would go ahead. "Budapest Pride cannot be banned, for the simple reason that love and freedom cannot be banned," said Karacsony, inviting supporters from across Europe to join what organisers hope will be the "biggest, most colourful and most international" pride event ever seen.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Brussels march urges EU to act over Budapest Pride ban threat
Thousands of LGBT activists marched through central Brussels on Saturday, calling on European leaders to act against Hungary's right-wing government after it moved to ban the Budapest Pride parade. The march followed a law passed in Hungary in March that bans LGBT Pride events and allows facial recognition to identify organisers, a move widely condemned by rights groups and EU officials as an attack on civil liberties. "We have come to sound the alarm," Viktoria Radvanyi, the chair of Budapest Pride, said while standing on a platform at the event. "What is really alarming is that we have not seen the (European) Commission take any legal action in two months," said Radvanyi, who wore a rainbow-coloured necklace. Although she met some Commission representatives on Friday, she accused the EU executive of being "complicit" with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban through its inaction "Do your job," she said, waving a Hungarian flag -- a slogan immediately taken up by the crowd, who held signs reading "Protect your children from Orban". "I think it's really important that we keep turning out for every pride as long as there are people in the world facing discrimination," said Migiel Moens, 39, who was in the crowd with European flag sticking out of his pink shorts. Roland Papp, a 35-year-old journalist who attended Budapest Pride for years, described a "horrible time". "People tend to think that once you have your rights, they're not going to be taken away. That's not true," he said. "Budapest pride had been going on for 30 years and now it's really going back to the horrible times," he said, vowing to be in the Hungarian capital on June 28 for the event. Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony, welcomed on stage by two drag queens, vowed that the parade would go ahead. "Budapest Pride cannot be banned, for the simple reason that love and freedom cannot be banned," said Karacsony, inviting supporters from across Europe to join what organisers hope will be the "biggest, most colourful and most international" pride event ever seen. cjc/jca/srg/rmb
France 24
17-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Brussels march urges EU to act over Budapest Pride ban threat
The march followed a law passed in Hungary in March that bans LGBT Pride events and allows facial recognition to identify organisers, a move widely condemned by rights groups and EU officials as an attack on civil liberties. "We have come to sound the alarm," Viktoria Radvanyi, the chair of Budapest Pride, said while standing on a platform at the event. "What is really alarming is that we have not seen the (European) Commission take any legal action in two months," said Radvanyi, who wore a rainbow-coloured necklace. Although she met some Commission representatives on Friday, she accused the EU executive of being "complicit" with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban through its inaction "Do your job," she said, waving a Hungarian flag -- a slogan immediately taken up by the crowd, who held signs reading "Protect your children from Orban". "I think it's really important that we keep turning out for every pride as long as there are people in the world facing discrimination," said Migiel Moens, 39, who was in the crowd with European flag sticking out of his pink shorts. Roland Papp, a 35-year-old journalist who attended Budapest Pride for years, described a "horrible time". "People tend to think that once you have your rights, they're not going to be taken away. That's not true," he said. "Budapest pride had been going on for 30 years and now it's really going back to the horrible times," he said, vowing to be in the Hungarian capital on June 28 for the event. Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony, welcomed on stage by two drag queens, vowed that the parade would go ahead. "Budapest Pride cannot be banned, for the simple reason that love and freedom cannot be banned," said Karacsony, inviting supporters from across Europe to join what organisers hope will be the "biggest, most colourful and most international" pride event ever seen.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NatWest customer offended by Pride flags told to bank online
A NatWest customer who complained about an LGBT Pride campaign at his local branch was told to bank online, documents show. The customer, known only as 'Mr J', went into NatWest last July and was upset by the Pride materials on display. He claimed that the paraphernalia distressed him both because of his disabilities and religious beliefs but NatWest refused to take them down. The bank pointed out most of the services he required could have been done online. Mr J escalated his complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in November, alleging the bank had failed to make adjustments required by the Equality Act 2010. The Act prohibits discrimination on a number of personal characteristics. Investigators ruled in NatWest's favour, adding the bank offered 'multiple ways' for customers to carry out their banking which do not involve visiting a physical branch. Ombudsman Danielle Padden wrote: 'NatWest is a bank that has chosen to display Pride materials along with other paraphernalia at certain times of the year. As a service, we wouldn't be able to tell them not to do that, as they are entitled to celebrate and raise awareness of the communities they serve.' Ms Padden added: 'I'm not able to decide that NatWest have acted unfairly here. They have provided alternative methods of banking and are entitled to decide what materials they display in their branches at certain times of the year.' To challenge NatWest's right to display Pride materials in its branches, Mr J would have to take them to court, the ombudsman said. The FOS told Mr J that he could use ATM machines outside the branch or a Post Office nearby to avoid the paraphernalia, or that he could use telephone or online banking. Records shared by NatWest showed that most of the activities he visited the branch to do between July and August 2024 could have been done online. The bank said Mr J – who claimed he needed to visit the bank in-person – could appoint a third party to visit the branch while Pride materials are prominently displayed. In the bank's 2024 annual report, it says that it 'celebrates Pride across the UK', and was ranked number 45 in the Top 100 Employers in charity Stonewall's UK Workplace Equality Index. On its website, NatWest states that it aims to 'continue to deliver a better LGBT+ colleague and customer experience through continuously challenging the status quo.' The rainbow 'Pride' flag was created in San Francisco in the 1970s, and has been adopted by pro-LGBT supporters worldwide. In 2018, an updated version, known as the 'Progress Pride Flag' was designed by Daniel Quasar, with a chevron added to represent trans and non-binary people. It comes after students at the Oxford Union refused to mandate the annual flying of the Pride flag in the month of June. At a meeting of the Union's standing committee on May 5, president Anita Okunde said that the rule requiring the flying of the flag had mysteriously been removed. But a motion to restore the rule, and to allow presidents to waive it in cases of national mourning, was rejected by seven votes to four, with critics fearing it would open a 'Pandora's box' of demands for other flags to be flown. NatWest was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
