In another blow to one of the biggest celebrations of the LGTBQ+ people in North America, Pride Toronto said a few weeks before the festival’s set-off, the festival organizers said it was the direct result of Donald Trump’s campaign to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the United States.
Kojo Modeste, executive director of Canadian Event, has announced plans to abandon the festival in the form of a single-line email.
Organizers warn that the loss of sponsors poses operational challenges for Pride Toronto, which attracts 3 million participants each year. Other organisations, including local trade unions, have stepped in to make up for the shortage, but Modeste told the Guardian that he was deeply concerned about the future of the celebration.
“Do you need to significantly reduce what the 2026 festival looks like? This is not where I want to go,” he said.
Home Depot told the Guardian that it has continuously reviewed the nonprofit’s contributions and decided not to contribute this year. Google told the newspaper that it would support “Toronto Googlers” and “community moments” of pride marching in the parade.
The sudden exits of Google and Home Depot follow the departure of three other prominent sponsors in February. Modeste didn’t name them at the time, but on Friday they revealed they were Nissan, Adidas and Clorox.
Nissan Canada said it cannot sponsor Toronto Pride because of “local decisions,” which it says is based on a reassessment of marketing and media activity. Adidas and Clorox were approached for comment.
“These are American companies and they show real colours,” Modeste said. “We thought they were in the community, but obviously it wasn’t.”
Corporate sponsorship not only pays for staff, but also heads towards hundreds of local artists, but also maintains pride as a free event.
Modeste said he grew up in a period before the widespread celebration of pride – and did not want it to become an experience for the younger generation today. “I don’t want to be someone who has to make that decision to take away pride from my community,” he said.
The condemnation of the White House’s diversity and inclusion efforts has led businesses to move away from festivals they once supported loudly, says Sui Sui, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who focuses on the DEI initiative.
Sui said the move also suggests that large sponsors that have been made in the past are tens of and motivated.
The Trump administration’s months of purge of US federal workers has led to the firing of tens of thousands of people, including those who worked in transferring diversity and equity initiatives.
Sui said the coldness of sponsors for the Pride event has also affected New York City and Philadelphia. Mastercard, Nissan, Pepsi, Garnier and more major backers abandoned the New York celebration, and Target and the Philadelphia Union left the Philadelphia Pride 365.
“Canada is following the lawsuit,” she said.
For the future, Pride Toronto and other Pride events may need to rely more heavily on grassroots efforts to continue the event, she said.
“It’s for them that they see who truly believes in the importance of pride.”