By Ali McCadden
Despite concerns of waning visits from international LGBTQ+ travelers, as well as some pullbacks in corporate sponsorships for Pride celebrations, Pride organizations across the U.S. said attendance was strong at Pride Month events, many of which take place on the last weekend of June.
But many organizations said it’s still too soon to get official attendance numbers or difficult to estimate, given that many Pride celebrations are non-ticketed and open to the public.
Matt Şenız-Cheng, associate director of partnerships for NYC Pride, said attendance for its Pride events last weekend is expected to total 2.5 million — in line with its typical numbers.
He said NYC Pride lost approximately 25% of its corporate sponsorships initially this year, due to the economy, tariffs and pullback surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion. But he estimated the number of people and contingents participating in the Pride march this year will be bigger than in previous years.
Ryan Bos, executive director for the Capital Pride Alliance, which ran WorldPride this year, said organizers were “pleasantly surprised” that people still showed up amid concerns about the Trump administration’s policies.
Bos said he had heard calls to cancel the event this year due to political tensions in Washington, he said.
“If we were to retreat, what message would that have sent to all the other Prides who are also experiencing similar challenges?” Bos said.
While WorldPride doesn’t have official attendance numbers yet, Bos said he believes attendance was strong. However, Tanzella, of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, said he heard numbers for WorldPride were down this year.
Cities in red states have also continued on with their pride celebrations.
Attendance rose from about 28,000 last year to 33,000 this year at Phoenix Pride’s annual Rainbows Festival in April, Executive Director Michael Fornelli told CNBC in a statement. Its pride parade will be celebrated in October due to the summer heat.
In Salt Lake City, SLC Pride estimated its celebration last weekend brought in 17,000 attendees, more than the 10,000 it saw last year, according to Bonnie O’Brien, festival director.
“We are in a little bit of a blue bubble here in Salt Lake,” O’Brien said. “We’re not expecting people to come from big, big cities or foreign countries. But will we get people from Wyoming? Yes. Will we get people from rural Utah or rural Idaho? Yes.”
“It’s not about travel. It’s not about red or blue,” she said. “It’s about the closest place that they can find community. And that they know that they’re safe, if just for a weekend.”