Pride Month is a time meant to celebrate LGBTQIA+ lives and promote equality, safety and inclusion. It’s about acceptance, parity, celebrating the work of LGBTQIA+ people, education in LGBTQIA+ history and raising awareness of issues affecting people in this community.
So, when is it Pride Month? It’s celebrated annually in June, coinciding with the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots – a series of gay liberation protests in the U.S. that changed gay rights for many people in America and around the world.
In recent years, some have questioned whether Pride has become too commercial and a vehicle for shallow brand virtue signalling. This year, however, companies are being quiet about Pride for other reasons.
Only a year or two ago, rainbow logos, Pride collections and social media campaigns flooded our feeds for 30 days straight, but in 2025, the landscape has shifted and brand footing now seems increasingly unsure. Corporate participation in Pride is no longer growing – it’s actively shrinking.
Many brands are quietly stepping back, wary of backlash in an increasingly polarised climate. Pride events that were once saturated with corporate floats are now seeing sponsors pull out entirely. In fact, in Lincoln, UK, Pride may not even go ahead this year due to cutbacks in corporate sponsorship.
This issue isn’t local – it’s global. In the USA, companies like Google and Home Depot have dropped out of events like Pride Toronto.
You can read more about the wider shift away from corporate values over here, but for now, let’s stick to Pride and why it matters.
Visibility matters – and silence speaks volumes
Critics argue that the presence of brands dilutes Pride’s radical roots, but sponsorship can be essential for Pride events to take place at all and visibility can be lifesaving.
In the UK, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people have soared by over 250% in the past decade — and that’s just the incidents that are reported. I’ve personally been attacked with a glass bottle for holding another man’s hand in public and have repeatedly faced verbal abuse – whether it’s from a pedestrian or a passing car, it’s always unsettling. I even had an offer to buy a house refused for being a gay man.
Rainbow capitalism may not be perfect but the message, that “you are not alone”, still lands, especially in environments in which being LGBTQIA+ can be dangerous.
For those wondering ‘why do we celebrate Pride Month?’, remember that, globally, 64 countries still criminalise same-sex relationships. In 12 of them, it’s punishable by death. Uganda’s 2024 law legalised the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” In Brunei, stoning remains a legal punishment. Meanwhile, the UK, once a leader in LGBTQ+ rights, has now dropped to 22nd place in ILGA-Europe’s rankings; a freefall blamed on rising anti-trans rhetoric and the government’s failure to ban conversion therapy.
Pride is rooted in safety, not sass
Peter Tatchell, a veteran activist with the Gay Liberation Front, has in the past criticised the over-commercialisation of Pride. And he’s right — Pride was born from protest, not marketing.
But today’s step back from corporate support isn’t necessarily a win for authenticity. In fact, it risks isolating LGBTQ+ people further in a time of rising hostility.
Whether at home or overseas, the backslide is palpable. For example, earlier this year, the UK Supreme Court ruled that legal references to “woman” apply only to biological females; a decision that is likely to limit trans women’s access to single-sex spaces. Meanwhile, in the U.S., President Donald Trump has declared June “Title IX Month” instead of Pride Month, aligning his administration with anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment while claiming to champion women’s rights.
This political hostility makes Pride — authentic, visible and unashamed — more necessary than ever.
What should brands do?
There is no space for ‘fair weather’ brands when it comes to allyship. If you’re a marketer debating whether to post this June, or an HR lead wondering how to celebrate Pride Month at work, here’s the simple answer: only do it if you mean it.
Support Pride not just with colourful graphics, but with action: donate, advocate, include. Don’t retreat because it’s controversial; show up because it matters. The LGBTQIA+ community doesn’t need more empty rainbow-washing.
What is rainbow washing?
Rainbow washing is a term used to describe brands that seemingly hop on the bandwagon of Pride celebrations without real activism or support for the LGBTQIA+ community. This can include brands using rainbow symbolism in their marketing for their own benefit, giving the impression of allyship, when in reality it doesn’t align with their actual practices, internal policies or political affiliations.
Support that’s only shown during the month of June is of no use to the LGBTQIA+ community – it needs allies who stick around when things get hard. Visibility may not solve everything, but in a world where LGBTQ+ youth are over four times more likely to attempt suicide, it can still mean the difference between hope and hopelessness.
You can read more about the implications that values, including support for LGBTQIA+ people, can have on a company’s PR over here, and get in touch if you’d like our help.
