Pride parades and festivals get underway this weekend in cities like Dallas, Boston, Indianapolis and Sacramento. Those events might look a bit different this year after a broad pullback in sponsorship dollars as companies navigate smaller DEI budgets and political pressure.

This year, long-time corporate sponsors of Pride St. Louis committed historically low dollar amounts or, in the case of beer company Anheuser-Busch, stepped away altogether.

“It simply was they just didn’t see value in the relationship anymore, and that’s a quote,” said Pride St. Louis President Marty Zuniga. Anheuser-Busch didn’t respond to a request for comment.

St. Louis Pride is accounting for a $150,000 shortfall.

“We’ve been a free event for 45 years. And we are now charging $10 a ticket,” Zuniga said.

As corporate sponsors retreat, LGBTQ marketing expert Joanna Schwartz said Pride organizers are leaning on their communities.

“Prides are becoming a little more homegrown,” she said.

Local fundraising can narrow — but not close — the corporate gap, Schwartz added.

That’s true for Seattle Pride. It shaved a $350,000 shortfall down to $120,000 with a grassroots campaign. The community wanted stronger vetting of sponsors anyway, noted President Ramone Myers.

“They wanted to make sure that the corporations that were partnering with us really do care about us as human beings,” he said.

Myers added that this year’s event will be short a few bells and whistles, but in this anti-LGBTQ political environment, one line item organizers won’t touch is security.