Mastercard, American Eagle Boost Pride Month Spending Despite Backlash

US companies are spending more on LGBTQ causes and Pride Month events this June, a notable turnaround after years of retreat and anti-DEI backlash.

Mastercard Inc. is increasing spending, including paying for about 100 employees and executives to march in Pride events this year. American Eagle Outfitters Inc. is among companies boosting contributions to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer causes. Levi Strauss & Co., which is donating $100,000 to human rights group Outright International, is paying homage to queer motorcycle clubs with a collection of muscle tees and trucker jackets. Pride events from Milwaukee to Lexington, Kentucky, are also reporting stronger business support.

“Companies are coming back into the fold,” said Bob Witeck, president of Witeck Communications Inc., which advises businesses on how to engage with LGBTQ consumers, employees and communities.

Some businesses, he said, are responding to pushback from their own employees to show more support for LGBTQ issues. It’s also likely companies are thinking of Pride support as more of a marketing decision than a political position, he added. Still, the renewed investment is unfolding more quietly than in previous years.

“It’s not the same amount of visibility,” Witeck said.

NYC Pride, which hosts the country’s largest Pride parade, has nearly a dozen more sponsors than it did last year, putting it on track to break even.A year ago, the group had a $750,000 shortfall after donors such as Mastercard, Target Corp. and Skyy Vodka dropped off as major sponsors during growing conservative opposition and pressure from the Trump administration to back away from diversity, equality and inclusion efforts. Skyy owner Davide Campari-Milano NV said the brand is a sponsor of NYC Pride this year as well as other Pride events.

But now, many companies are returning with sponsorships. Even those that don’t want to be publicly named are increasingly willing to give funds, said Im Lynde, executive director of NYC Pride.

“We are in a better financial situation,” he said. “It definitely is not the intense fear that it was last year.”

Target, for example, which Lynde said was a “silent partner” last year, is back as a publicly listed platinum sponsor. The retailer has been a lightning rod in the debate over corporate support for LGBTQ and reported a drop in sales after controversy surrounding a 2023 Pride Month merchandising campaign.

In a statement, Target said it “will continue to mark Pride Month by sponsoring local events in neighborhoods across the country, curating an assortment of products and hosting internal programming to support our team.”

Despite signs of a rebound, LGBTQ marketers and activists say Pride sponsorships remain well below the levels seen in the early 2020s. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House accelerated the corporate retreat. By the time he signed executive orders in early 2025 targeting DEI programs, including guidance on pronoun use and gender identity policies, dozens of companies had publicly distanced themselves from LGBTQ causes.

Companies are still treading carefully, weighing the risk of drawing Republican-led ire against the expectations of more progressive employees and shoppers. A new Gallup poll highlights the growing divide. The May survey found backing for same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ-related issues has dropped after two decades of gains. But nearly all of the decline comes from changing attitudes among Republicans. In 2022, a majority of Republicans said they supported gay marriage. This year, that figure fell to 37%. Views of Democrats were mostly unchanged.

Anti-DEI crusader Robby Starbuck, who forced more than a dozen major retailers to disavow LGBTQ activities to avoid boycotts in 2024, said he plans to watch closely this month to see if companies backslide, and is prepared to call them out again to his followers on social media.

Smaller Pride events have faced less disruption because they rely more heavily on local businesses that are less vulnerable to pressure from activists like Starbuck, said Jason Schubert, president of the Lexington Pride Center. The group’s annual Pride event in Kentucky, held during the last weekend in May, attracted about 20,000 people.

The group had a setback two years ago when Toyota Motor Corp. pulled its funding after Starbuck called for a boycott of the automaker over DEI activities. But the festival largely rebounded this year because of local support, Schubert said.

“The shock has kind of worn off,” he said. Toyota had no comment.

Corporate advisers and event organizers say many companies are still marking Pride Month without changes. Apple Inc. has a Pride edition sport loop watchband for its watch and it promoted a new Pride wallpaper for devices as part of a recent operating system update. Levi’s is a sponsor of the San Franciso Pride Parade and is supporting parades in Amsterdam, Mexico City, Paris and Warsaw. Travel companies and airlines also show few signs of cutbacks.

“Delta has not scaled back,” the airline’s chief executive officer, Ed Bastian, told Bloomberg last month when asked about plans for Pride Month. “We’re still out there actively supporting.”

Photo: Activists with the Gilbert Baker Foundation carry a 1,000-foot Rainbow Flag down a parade route during the WorldPride 2025 Celebrations on June 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)