Participants march in the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s seventh annual Queer Liberation March in New York, June 29, 2025.

Erik McGregor | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Canadian citizen Robert Sharp was planning to visit Provincetown, Massachusetts — one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly places in America — for his friend’s milestone birthday in July.

But against a backdrop of ongoing trade tensions sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and increasing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policies in the U.S., he said his plans changed.

“Do we want to have that stress before going on vacation? Or do we want to support our own country?” Sharp said.

The group he was planning to travel with decided to cancel the trip and will instead visit Montreal, he said.

Sharp and his partner were also planning to visit Chicago or Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for a separate trip this year, but they shifted their plans to a Canadian road trip between Calgary and Vancouver.

“We’ve been hit hard in Canada with tariffs and there’s been a real sense of patriotism up here. So, we ultimately decided to explore our own country, and do a road trip to the Rockies and spend money within Canada to help our economy,” Sharp said.

Sharp’s change in plans reflects a larger trend of international travelers rethinking where they are spending their travel budgets and pulling back on visits to the U.S.

The number of foreign visitors to the U.S. by air dropped 10% in March from a year prior, according to the International Trade Administration, part of the Commerce Department. Including land border crossings, inbound visitors to the U.S. fell 14% in March from the same period last year, according to the industry group.

Oxford Economics estimates spending among international visitors to the U.S. will fall $8.5 billion this year, as negative perceptions of the U.S. tied to trade and immigration policy lead travelers to other destinations.

Among the LGBTQ+ population, bookings for queer-friendly housing accommodations in the U.S. on the LGBTQ+ travel platform misterb&b saw a 66% decline among Canadian users and a 32% decline among European users from February to April, compared with the same period last year.

The company said it had a 22% increase in bookings in blue states and a 9% decline in red states during that time period. It also saw declines in cities within red states including Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and Austin, Texas.

Misterb&b CEO Matthieu Jost said overall bookings on the platform are not down globally but are increasing. Jost said LGBTQ+ individuals appear to be continuing to spend on vacations, but they’re changing their destinations.

The company said the majority of misterb&b users it surveyed this year said they use their travel budget as a form of activism — supporting inclusive destinations and economies.

Participants including GLIDE President Gina Fromer, center, ride in the 2025 San Francisco Pride Parade in San Francisco, June 29, 2025.

Arun Nevader | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

The rainbow dollar

Sharp, who owns LGBTQ-friendly travel company Out Adventures, is not alone in changing his travel plans.

In February, the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Egale Canada issued a statement saying its members would not participate in person at conferences or events happening in the U.S. this year, including WorldPride, which took place at the beginning of June in Washington, D.C.

The decision was made primarily to protect individuals’ safety, said Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada.

In his second term, Trump has signed several executive orders targeting transgender people, including preventing them from serving openly in the military and trying to keep transgender athletes out of girls’ and women’s sports.

Another executive order, which says the federal government recognizes only two sexes, male and female, prompted several countries, including Denmark, Finland and Germany, to issue official cautions for LGBTQ+ travelers visiting the U.S., particularly transgender travelers. Canada has also updated its travel guidance with specific advisories for people with an “X” gender listed on their passports.

Kennedy said another reason for the decision not to travel to the U.S. was to push back on what she views as “economic warfare” from the U.S. toward Canada.

“People talk about Canada and the U.S. having a long history of being incredible neighbors. And yes, we do, but that’s based on economic interests a lot of the time,” Kennedy said. “When you put that human element with the economic element, then you think, well, OK, why would I go there?”

Kennedy said members of Egale Canada who are involved in nongovernmental organizations would normally spend anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per person during a trip to attend a conference or event. Corporate travelers usually spend at least $5,000, she estimated.

“We do spend a fair chunk of change in hotels,” she said. “We do excursions, we rent bikes, we do all of the things that everybody else does.”

The LGBTQ+ travel market is significant. The purchasing power of LGBTQ+ consumers overall is estimated to be $1.4 trillion, according to a 2022 study by the market research firm Pride Co-Op.

In 2023, the global LGBTQ+ tourism market size was $296.8 billion, and it’s expected to more than double in 10 years, reaching $634.9 billion in 2033, according to Market.US.

Research from Arival Travel shows that LGBTQ+ travelers are more likely to be affluent, with a household income of over $150,000, compared with other travelers.

When traveling, LGBTQ individuals book more activities and tours and spend more on these experiences than other populations, the Arival research found.

John Tanzella, CEO of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, said his organization is already sensing a pullback in international LGBTQ+ travel to the U.S. He said he has heard hesitations from international members about attending the organization’s global convention in October in Palm Springs, California.

“They don’t feel welcome here, so why come and spend their money here?” Tanzella said.

“On the surface, it affects airlines and hotels. But if you dig a little deeper it does affect other businesses, whether it’s barber shops or restaurants, bars, spas. A lot of communities rely on tourists to come in and spend their money,” he added.

Pride flags are seen at the Pride on the Pier boat parade, part of the World Pride festival, at the DC Wharf in Washington, June 6, 2025.

Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images

Pride celebrations carry on

Despite concerns of waning visits from international LGBTQ+ travelers, as well as some pullbacks in corporate sponsorships for Pride celebrations, Pride organizations across the U.S. said attendance was strong at Pride Month events, many of which take place on the last weekend of June.

But many organizations said it’s still too soon to get official attendance numbers or difficult to estimate, given that many Pride celebrations are non-ticketed and open to the public.

Matt Şenız-Cheng, associate director of partnerships for NYC Pride, said attendance for its Pride events last weekend is expected to total 2.5 million — in line with its typical numbers.

He said NYC Pride lost approximately 25% of its corporate sponsorships initially this year, due to the economy, tariffs and pullback surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion. But he estimated the number of people and contingents participating in the Pride march this year will be bigger than in previous years.

Ryan Bos, executive director for the Capital Pride Alliance, which ran WorldPride this year, said organizers were “pleasantly surprised” that people still showed up amid concerns about the Trump administration’s policies.

Bos said he had heard calls to cancel the event this year due to political tensions in Washington, he said.

“If we were to retreat, what message would that have sent to all the other Prides who are also experiencing similar challenges?” Bos said.

While WorldPride doesn’t have official attendance numbers yet, Bos said he believes attendance was strong. However, Tanzella, of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, said he heard numbers for WorldPride were down this year.

Cities in red states have also continued on with their pride celebrations.

Attendance rose from about 28,000 last year to 33,000 this year at Phoenix Pride’s annual Rainbows Festival in April, Executive Director Michael Fornelli told CNBC in a statement. Its pride parade will be celebrated in October due to the summer heat.

In Salt Lake City, SLC Pride estimated its celebration last weekend brought in 17,000 attendees, more than the 10,000 it saw last year, according to Bonnie O’Brien, festival director.

“We are in a little bit of a blue bubble here in Salt Lake,” O’Brien said. “We’re not expecting people to come from big, big cities or foreign countries. But will we get people from Wyoming? Yes. Will we get people from rural Utah or rural Idaho? Yes.”

“It’s not about travel. It’s not about red or blue,” she said. “It’s about the closest place that they can find community. And that they know that they’re safe, if just for a weekend.”

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Revelers attend the annual LGBTQ+ Capital Pride parade in Washington D.C., U.S., June 8, 2024.

Leah Millis | Reuters

Companies that were once loud and proud in supporting LGBTQ+ community celebrations are pulling back.

LGBTQ+ Pride festivals across the country have faced significant sponsorship challenges this year, with some losing corporate partners that collectively provided six-figure donations. As a result, organizations say they’ve had to modify their programming, pivot to other funding sources and reconsider their dependencies on corporate dollars.

Many companies have cited economic concerns as their impetus to delay or exit partnerships with Pride groups. But LGBTQ+ group leaders also noted an increasingly hostile climate for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that has prompted some businesses to rethink their support. In turn, Pride organizations are seeking clarity on how much their values still align with those of their corporate contributors.

“For this many companies to be dropping off, I think, points to that we’re in a different political environment than we have been maybe in a long, long time,” San Francisco Pride executive director Suzanne Ford told CNBC.

Financial challenges

Many LGBTQ+ groups consider certain corporations to be longtime partners, but organizers said they often ink one-year deals that are negotiated in the months before the annual Pride celebrations. That leaves them vulnerable if once-reliable companies decide to withhold their dollars, and several organizations said they are facing sponsorship deficits that weigh on budgets and plans for festivals in the summer.

Among the largest shortfalls, Seattle Pride and New York City Pride say they have to make up for $350,000 deficits, and San Francisco Pride and Minnesota’s Twin Cities Pride say they are each facing a $200,000 cut.

Some festivals have named which previous sponsors aren’t returning, while others said they are keeping that information private to avoid burning bridges.

San Francisco Pride’s Ford said Anheuser-Busch, Comcast, Diageo and Nissan have told the organization that they are not sponsoring the festival this year. All were previously longtime partners, Ford said.

The companies gave a variety of reasons for the change.

A Comcast representative said the company is participating in other Pride events in San Francisco and is supporting Pride parades in California in Oakland, Sacramento and Silicon Valley. A Diageo representative said the company will appear at Pride events across the country through its Smirnoff brand this year. A Nissan spokesperson said in a statement that the automaker will not sponsor any Pride festivals this year as it reviews all marketing and sales spending. Anheuser-Busch didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Washington, D.C.-based Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing the biannual, global WorldPride celebration this year, said Comcast and Deloitte had regularly supported the group’s Pride festival but declined to do so this year, while Booz Allen Hamilton initially committed to sponsoring the event before later withdrawing.

A Booz Allen Hamilton spokesperson said in a statement that the defense giant’s sponsorship decisions do not reflect a pullback in support for employees.

Ryan Bos, Capital Pride Alliance’s executive director, said economic uncertainty, safety and security issues, and fear of losing federal funding have all discouraged companies from returning as sponsors. He highlighted President Donald Trump’s executive order ordering government agencies to investigate and sue companies supporting DEI.

“The sad thing is corporations have long been the first to step into our corner,” Bos said, citing companies’ support of domestic partner benefits and LGBTQ+ employment programs. “The fact that some are questioning their commitment now during this uncertain time is very disheartening, hurtful and frustrating for many.”

Parade participants are seen marching during the 2024 Kentuckiana Pride Parade on June 15, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Stephen J. Cohen | Getty Images

Ford said the White House’s anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and executive orders targeting transgender people have impacted corporate America.

“We’ve all seen the culture wars playing out as far as how corporations respond, and I think this is part and parcel of that movement,” she said.

The White House didn’t respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Even corporations that are sticking with Pride festivals have reduced their support. Denver Pride’s returning sponsors have pared down their contributions by 62% on average, according to Natalie Zanoni, interim CEO of LGBTQ+ organization The Center on Colfax. The center organizes the Denver Pride celebration, which faces a total deficit of $230,000.

Festivals are also still in wait-and-see mode. St. Pete Pride president Byron Green-Calisch said several sponsors had asked the Tampa Bay, Florida-area organization if they could discuss sponsorships closer to April rather than the usual period beginning in January. As of late March, St. Pete Pride said it had achieved 55% of its fundraising goal, compared with the usual 80% to 90% at this time of year.

Seattle Pride executive director Patti Hearn said the group expects about $400,000 in sponsorships this year, compared with its total budget of $1.5 million. While she said the organization will be able to pull off its planned events this year, it would need to change its programming in the future if its $350,000 deficit became permanent.

Corporate sponsors are responsible for 75% of Twin Cities Pride’s budget, executive director Andi Otto told CNBC. As a result of sponsorship losses, the Minnesota organization had to cut a performance stage for the upcoming festival and will have to reduce its year-round programming, Otto said.

Not all businesses are taking a step back from festival sponsorships. Several groups said Delta Air Lines, among others, remains a strong supporter of their events. Others said small businesses have been steadfast.

Reevaluating partnerships

Pride organizations are also reexamining their relationships with sponsors that have rolled back DEI policies or visible support for their communities, further complicating their financial outlook.

Seattle Pride hasn’t engaged with previous sponsor Boeing this year, Hearn said, because she had a sense that the aerospace giant didn’t align with the organization’s values and would decline to return as a festival partner. Boeing reportedly shut down its DEI team in November, according to Bloomberg. The company didn’t respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Cincinnati Pride development director Jake Hitch said the Ohio group has rejected sponsorships from previous partners this year based on their nondiscrimination policies, involvement in the LGBTQ+ community and support for employees.

“With everything happening politically and in 2025 that is consistently coming against our community, we thought, what better time to really reset our expectations and align with our community on what they want to see?” Hitch said.

Twin Cities Pride dropped Target, which had sponsored its festival for over 15 years, after looking into the retailer’s DEI policy changes announced in late January. Changes to its supplier diversity commitment, community representation principles and participation in external DEI surveys concerned Otto enough for him to refuse the $50,000 sponsorship offer, he said.

“It did not feel right for my community to accept that money,” Otto said.

Target didn’t respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Pride Month merchandise is displayed at a Target store on May 31, 2023 in San Francisco, California. 

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

San Francisco Pride’s Ford said the group no longer has a relationship with previous sponsor Meta, in part due to its changes to fact-checking policy but also because Meta staffers who had previously worked with SF Pride had left the company in the past couple of years.

A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that since 2024, the company has allowed local employee resource groups to make their own decisions on Pride sponsorships.

Some organizations have maintained productive relationships with corporations that have modified their DEI efforts, although understanding the policy changes can present its own challenge.

Dave Wait, chairperson of Detroit’s Motor City Pride, said some community members were spreading misinformation on social media about a sponsor shutting down its LGBTQ+ health care services, and that Motor City Pride had to clear it up with the company before signing the sponsorship deal for this year.

Twin Cities Pride’s Otto said although festival sponsor 3M has removed several DEI-related pages from its website, the industrial giant explained to the organization that it was only changing the language, not the substance of its DEI policies. 3M did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Lowe’s had sponsored Charlotte Pride’s festival and parade in North Carolina for nine years, but in August the home retailer ended its support for parades amid other DEI policy reversals. Lowe’s has pivoted to funding the LGBTQ+ group’s job fair and scholarship and internship programs, Charlotte Pride managing director Meredith Thompson told CNBC.

Some community members spoke out against the decision to continue working with Lowe’s, Thompson said, but she didn’t hesitate to do so because of their previous relationship.

“My attitude is, we need our corporate sponsors and we meet them where they are,” Thompson said.

Lowe’s did not respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Some national corporations that have curtailed DEI efforts are still showing up as sponsors through local affiliates and operators. McDonald’s, which retired numerous diversity goals in January, has regional operators sponsoring WorldPride and Charlotte Pride. And although Anheuser-Busch is not sponsoring San Francisco Pride or Pride St. Louis this year, Bud Light distributor Adams Beverages is returning as a sponsor for Charlotte Pride.

Diversifying funding

While LGBTQ+ organizations have long debated the role that corporations should play in Pride celebrations, this year has amplified the idea that Pride groups should rely less on businesses.

Several groups have turned to grassroots campaigns. Twin Cities Pride started a crowdfunding effort to help compensate for dropping Target, and it eventually raised over $110,000. Stonewall Columbus has received $8,500 in donations, Cincinnati Pride has netted over $43,000 and San Francisco Pride has fundraised $35,000, all through crowdfunding.

Green-Calisch of St. Pete Pride said the group will focus more on community donations moving forward and will also increase its year-round presence so that donors understand the work that the organization does beyond Pride Month.

“We are the people. This is about people power and being able to use your dollar to advocate,” Green-Calisch said.

Local governments have also grown more involved in some festivals. Stonewall Columbus executive director Densil Porteous said the Ohio-based group has received increased support from Franklin County, Columbus’ home county, to help make up for the organization’s $96,000 sponsorship deficit.

Pride Northwest executive director Debra Porta said the group is “very intentional” about not overly depending on corporate sponsors for Portland Pride, with its top sponsorship level totaling just $15,000. Other festivals offer sponsorship packages with costs that stretch well beyond $100,000.

Pride groups say that above all they’re focused on their communities, not sponsors. Although some festivals have ticketed programs or charge for entry, many organizations stress the importance of making Pride as accessible as possible.

“We never want to put the burden back on our community, because this is supposed to be their celebration,” Twin Cities Pride’s Otto said.

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.

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