Twin Cities Pride leans into small-business backing after break with Target, corporate sponsors

In a state known for its big-name companies, Minnesota’s largest free Pride festival usually counts on Target, Deloitte and other major corporations to fund its annual parade.

But the Twin Cities Pride Festival, set to pack Loring Park this weekend with color and celebration, has seen a serious dip in corporate contributions since President Donald Trump took office and commanded companies scrap their commitments to diversity and inclusion. Instead, small businesses, from co-ops to clinics, have stepped up donations amid shifting political winds, an unexpected development that’s heartened Twin Cities Pride Executive Director Andi Otto.

“It’s interesting to see that shift in small businesses really coming forward and truly understanding the value of supporting the community,” said Otto, who added that contributions from local businesses have ballooned from $25,000 in 2024 to $93,000 in 2025.

Festival organizers in January rejected an anticipated $50,000 from Target after the Minneapolis-based company rolled back its DEI programs. Deloitte has declined to chip in. And overall money from major companies is down roughly $617,000 compared to last year, Otto said.

That trend is playing out across the country.

In Palm Springs, Calif., Pride festival organizers are leaning on businesses, like a local printing shop, to support the festivities. San Francisco Pride initially faced a $300,000 shortfall after corporate sponsors like Anheuser-Busch, the subject of fierce backlash in 2023 for partnering with a transgender influencer, announced earlier this year it wouldn’t sponsor the festivities.

Those changing financial foundations of local Pride festivals are adding up to a complicated moment.

To some, the June celebrations had become uncomfortably corporate, the spirit of defiance that dominated early marches lost in floats emblazoned with brand names. Now, the corporate presence at Pride is receding, driven in part by an administration that’s demonstrated hostility to LGBTQ rights — and infusing Pride festivals across the state with both urgency and unease.

“There’s a mix of real fear and apprehension about our current moment: the sense that all of the gains that we’ve made are feeling very tenuous,” said Kat Rohn, executive director of OutFront Minnesota. At the same time, “people are also seeing the necessity and the joy in coming together.”

Becky McNattin, the owner of Becoming Together Therapy and Wellness in Eden Prairie, kept hearing the same refrain from her LGBTQ clients: they felt hopeless and helpless, particularly about access to gender-affirming care and the longevity of same-sex marriage rights.

That’s one reason why, shortly before Trump took office, McNattin opted to increase her small therapy practice’s usual contribution to Twin Cities Pride from $2,000 to $10,000.

“It just felt like it was meaningful allyship [amid] the enormous pressure and changes for the LGBTQ community,” McNattin said.

A few weeks later, Target joined Meta, Uber and other corporations in obeying Trump’s executive order to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives — a move that prompted Twin Cities Pride to reject the retailer’s planned contribution.

The company, which has historically donated between $50,000 and $70,000 annually to the Minneapolis event, said in a statement that it remains “dedicated to fostering inclusivity for everyone.”

“As we have for many years, we will continue to mark Pride Month by offering an assortment of celebratory products, hosting internal programming to support our incredible team and sponsoring local events in neighborhoods across the country,” a Target spokesperson said.

Tucker Gerrick, the marketing manager of Eastside Food Co-op in northeast Minneapolis, said Target’s “DEI switcheroo” baffled him. But he quickly teamed up with a handful of other local grocers to contribute a combined $28,700 to Twin Cities Pride.

“It just honestly felt like the natural, right thing to do,” he said.

Gerrick said he understands why organizations depend on big companies for financial support. But he said there’s something special about small businesses stepping up in this fraught moment.

“Local businesses are the threads of your community,” he said. “They are truly who you are next to: who you are on the bus with, who you live next to, who you are eating or drinking with. And I think those are much deeper connections than we could ever have with a big corporation.”

Otto said not every company that’s pulled back from Twin Cities Pride has done so publicly — or even explicitly.

Some didn’t respond to his inquiries about whether or not they’re chipping in. Otto said Deloitte opted not to make its usual $8,500 contribution because it fears the show of support could cost the company federal contracts and put thousands of employees out of work. Deloitte didn’t respond to a request for comment.

To be sure, prominent companies including U.S. Bancorp, BlueCross and BlueShield, UnitedHealth Group, Xcel Energy and more remain sponsors.

Twin Cities Pride had raised roughly $1,350,000 for the annual festivities by mid-June — about $24,000 short of the amount it accumulated this time last year — thanks in part to individual contributions that poured in after the group cut ties with Target.

But the organization has seen less financial support for programs beyond the June celebrations, meaning it might have to scale back its popular career fair, free holiday meal and gender-affirming clothing giveaways.

“While the festival and the parade won’t look different, it’s the boots on the ground work that will,” Otto said.

One aspect of the Sunday parade will be new, however. At the procession’s conclusion, a “Stronger Together Unit” will be open to anyone who wants to march down Hennepin Avenue.

“I want people to look in that parade unit and just stop for a second and look around and realize they’re not alone,” Otto said. “And when you look at the sheer volume, it’s going to make a statement that this is a group of people that you are trying to erase, and they will not be erased.”