New York City Pride is set to scale back some of its events this year after claiming that sponsors “have pulled back” amidst the Trump administration’s rollback on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.

Set to kick off on 29 June, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mastercard is not renewing its corporate sponsorship for this year’s march after being a “platinum” sponsor for almost 10 years. Nissan, Citi, PepsiCo and consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are also not sponsoring the event this year, according to the report.

Mastercard told the outlet that it will still participate in the march for NYC Pride, and other events. “Mastercard is a longstanding supporter of the many communities of which our employees are members, including the LGBTQIA+ community globally,” a company spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Citi said in response: “Our Citi Pride Inclusion Network is excited about sponsoring a range of Pride Month celebrations and participating in local marches around the globe, including in New York City, where we will march in partnership with one of our not-for-profit partner organisations.”

A Nissan spokesperson told WSJ that its choice not to renew was due to the company reviewing all of its marketing and sales spending. PinkNews has contacted PepsiCo and PwC for a comment on the matter.

Eve Keller, co-president of the United States Association of Prides told the outlet that the move away from sponsoring Pride events is partially due to “pressure” put on DEI programs by the Trump administration, as well as economic unpredictability, also due to Trump’s tariff announcements.

Kevin Kilbride, a spokesperson for NYC Pride, confirmed to Gay City News last week that “some higher-profile” sponsors “have pulled back, scaled back funding, or reallocated it in a different way”. Kilbride added that the update to funding, which has left NYC Pride with a $750,000 shortfall, is “a new reality”.

Kilbride said: “Just taking a closer look at how they’re spending their DEAI dollars, frankly, there’s a lot around tariffs right now and the economic impact of that, but folks have also expressed concern for potential blowback from this current administration.

“We have been facing budget setbacks last few years, but this year it is a little bit more pronounced as far as just taking longer than usual to solidify commitments.”

However, NYC Pride’s three trademark events, the PrideFest street fair, the Pride March, and Youth Pride, are still going ahead as planned.

NYC Pride March is set to launch at 11 am on 29 June at 26th St. & 5th Ave. in Manhattan, New York City. 

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