US President Donald Trump’s purge of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the US is having a direct impact on UK Pride, expert have warned. The UK Pride Organisers Network has reported a 75 per cent drop in corporate sponsorships this year as a result of the funding decline in the US. A quarter of Pride events have reported a 50 per cent cut in funding, while GoFundMe has confirmed an 82 per cent increase in organisers using the crowdfunding site to help make ends meet. Read more: Martin Lewis’ MSE delivers verdict on if Premium Bonds ‘worth it’ after cuts In an interview with The Independent, Pride organisers said big corporations are 鈥減ulling back their funding in all aspects鈥. Dee Llewellyn, chair of UK Pride Organisers Network and director of partnerships and growth for London Pride, said the LGBTQ community could experience 鈥渇ive years of difficulty and struggles鈥. She added: 鈥淚 think we will see more global brands declining, not because they don鈥檛 want to participate, but because they don鈥檛 have the EDI budget to do so. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the people on the ground in the UK either, I鈥檝e had brands that have withdrawn this year that were absolutely devastated to have to do it. 鈥淏ut they鈥檝e had their budgets cut from America and there was absolutely nothing they could do to argue or fight that in the UK.鈥 Over in the US, it was reported that Mastercard pulled its corporate sponsorship of the New York City Pride March earlier this year. PepsiCo, Nissan, Citi, Comcast and PricewaterhouseCoopers also pulled out as sponsors of NYC Pride. John Paul Rollert, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, told the New York Times that many organisations fear “that they will be subject to heightened scrutiny and perhaps even reprisal by the current administration.” He added: “Supporting a Pride event is not particularly expensive undertaking. This is a fear of a potential reputational harm that might come from the administration turning its spotlight on them.” Despite the concerns for the future of UK Pride, Dee said they will persist, explaining: 鈥淚t’s essential now more than ever, really more than it has been over the past 10 years for us to be able to stand together as a community to have that safe space for us to join together. 鈥淧ride is a protest. That is what it was born and rooted in. We’ve been through lots of hardships as a community, but when we stand together and we unite our voices, that is when we’re strongest.鈥