KC PrideFest lost corporate sponsor money. Trump anti-LGBT rhetoric is blamed

Eric Adler, The Kansas City Star on May 7, 2025

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Kansas City’s PrideFest — which each June draws some 22,000 people to a parade and weekend celebration of LGBTQIA+ pride to Frank A Theis Park — is, this year, seeing both a loss in corporate sponsors and a reduction in their level of giving.

Organizers place the blame for what currently is a $200,000 shortfall directly on the anti-DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) and anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric that has emanated from President Donald Trump’s White House.

“Absolutely. That is what we feel,” said Tony Medina, the vice president and treasurer of the Kansas City PRIDE Community Alliance, which this year is celebrating 50 years of advocacy for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersex and allied individuals.

“And it’s not just here in Kansas City,” Medina said. “We see it across the country.”

Kansas City PrideFest

In March, St. Louis PrideFest announced that Anheuser-Busch had no longer opted to support the organization’s festival after 30 years of having done so.

In Minneapolis, conversely, organizers of the Twin Cities Pride festival opted to remove Target from its annual celebration after the retail giant announced in January that it was scaling back its corporate DEI initiatives.

The KC Pride festival is scheduled for June 6, 7 and 8, with a parade on Saturday, June 7.

Although unable to speak to the festival’s sponsorship crisis, Tracey DeMarea, executive director of the Mid-American LGBT Chamber of Commerce, urged others to support the festival.

“The Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce continues to support this year’s KC Pride events,” she said, “and we strongly encourage others to do the same. We recognize how important Pride is for visibility, community connection, and economic impact.”

Medina said that, in questioning corporate sponsors, KC Pride is being given a number of explanations for the lack or reduced giving.

“One thing that we hear is that budgets were cut, and the funds aren’t available this year for them to participate in LGBTQ activities,” he said.

“We hear from others that they just are not participating at all in these types of events. Then again, we have others that have said, ‘We’re willing. But it’s got to be much less than in years past.’

“Of course, I can’t say that budgets have been reduced simply because of the political climate, but we also know that that is part of it. Companies are being very cautious. They don’t want to be out there supporting LGBTQ activities because they’re afraid where that might put their business.”

Trump and DEI

The president’s rhetoric had been nothing if not pointed. In January, Trump signed an executive order terminating DEI initiatives in federal agencies, calling them “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”

That same day, he signed another executive order declaring there to be only two sexes — male and female — and saying sex “is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity.’”

KC Pride Alliance is not the only local organization that has been affected. In April, another nonprofit, the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, complained after the Kansas City office of Oracle, the software company, reneged on a promise to give the organization $10,000 to provide college scholarships to five Black Kansas City area high school students.

Communication between the organizations cited Oracle’s concern over supporting DEI initiatives. After The Star reported on the issue, Oracle backtracked, promised to fund the scholarships and said the incident was a matter of miscommunication.

The KC Pride website features the logos of numerous sponsors for the 2025 event that include UMB, Arvest, Ameristar Casino, University Health, Resurrection, A United Methodist Church, Milhaus, Vivent Health, Cornerstones of Care, CBD American Shaman, McCown Gordon Construction.

Medina opted not to name organizations that have chosen to no longer support the event. He also would not say which companies had reduced their giving this year.

Tax documents show the parade and festival raise about $500,000 in revenue each year.

Financial shortfall

At this point, a month prior to the event, KC Pride typically has corporate sponsorship commitments equaling about $250,000.

Instead, Medina said, they have about $50,000.

One result is that the festival is likely to cut back on the number of outside and headline acts. The organization’s social media on Wednesday listed 12 headline acts that included Brooklyn singer Iniko, drag performer Nicky Doll and singer/songwriter Stewart Taylor.

“We will still have a fantastic show that we will put on throughout the weekend,” Medina said. “We’re celebrating 50 years of pride, so we’re excited to honor the past five decades with music and performances.”

Another result, Medina said, is that the festival’s admission, currently at $5, may be raised to $10.

The organization had been working toward making admission for the event free.

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