Kalamazoo LGBTQ community faces challenges amid federal cuts, corporate 'Pride' pullback
News Channel 3 | by Abigail Taylor
Published June 5, 2025
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo is set to host one of the biggest Pride festivals in the state of Michigan, but according to organizers, while the annual June event is still a major draw for attendees, support behind the scenes is changing.
There has been a notable pullback in 'Pride' representation and financial support among companies throughout the United States, according to the Associated Press.
One explanation being the broader reduction in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the county, including cuts to program budgets that historically sponsored Pride events. Another explanation, according to local advocates, are concerns for safety and backlash.
"I think this year feels very different from a year ago. The attacks on our community are being felt and heard and seen much more deeply, much more tangibly," said Heather Sanford, Communications and Advocacy Manager of Kalamazoo's OutFront Center.
“As executive orders come out and they feel scary and intimidating, people have to make different choices now than they used to.”
Even in Kalamazoo, where Sanford noted that community support is stronger than in many places, the organization is feeling financial strain.
“We are seeing that impact. It’s harder for our organization to sustain itself. We’re seeing that on a very fiscal level, that donations are drying up because the economy is so uncertain,” Sanford said.
Heading into OutFront's biggest annual fundraising event, the Kalamazoo Pride Festival, Sanford said it's uncertain how much financial support the organization can expect.
Sanford told News Channel 3 a few sponsors have withdrawn from Kalamazoo Pride, and there are businesses still committed to providing financial support that have asked not to have their affiliation shared publicly outside of the event itself.
"What we are seeing is more concerns about safety and security, being tagged in social media posts," said Sanford.
According to a Pew Research Center survey from early 2025, the majority of people in the U.S. believe companies promote Pride primarily for business interests. Sanford, however, shared an alternative perspective on corporate pullbacks: "They don't want to be shouted out, for layered reasons, right? There's always complications to it, but they're they're showing commitment to us in all of the ways that matter to us directly," she said about the sponsors choosing to stay more private with their support.
As far as companies pulling back entirely, Sanford is also empathetic, particularly to the individuals who are caught in the middle of what she said are complicated politics.
"The people who are managing the DEI budgets and committees, those people aren't the ones saying, 'oh, we need less of a budget, we need to cut this and this.' It's not those people in those positions that are making the decision to cut the budget or remove the programs. It's the people above them," Sanford said.
"If there's no DEI budget to give to things like Pride, then it's just not there. You can't make a choice with $0, right?"
Last year, Kalamazoo Pride broke its previous record, with over 26,000 attendees, and Sanford said they expect similar turnout this year at Arcadia Creek Festival Place. What they don’t expect is the same revenue.
On top of tightened support from corporate sponsors, Sanford said that ticket sales are also down compared to years past, because of what she believes is the impact of the current economy on the community as a whole.
"We have a pay what you can option explicitly listed in the ticket purchasing portal. For many valid reasons, ticket sales are down. We're hearing from a lot more folks that they can't pay the full ticket price," Sanford said.
“Being able to have a pay-what-you-can option is making Pride accessible," said Sanford. "But in terms of the dollars that we’re bringing in from this event, we’re not expecting it to be as high,” she said.
With something like 15% of OutFront's annual budget coming from the Pride festival, Sanford told News Channel 3 the biggest concern is that if funding doesn't rebound, the organization could have to look at cutting back on some of its critical resources offered to the LGBTQ+ community.
The biggest resource OutFront provides is emergency housing, according to Sanford, including Legacy House, a transitional housing program for LGBTQ+ individuals ages 18 to 24 who are experiencing homelessness. Other services include housing navigation assistance, which connects people across Kalamazoo to stable, accessible housing.
“It costs a lot of money to run,” Sanford said. “So if we’re not able to piece together the dollars that we need to keep it going, then that’s real young people who could really lose out if we have to close the program.”
While fundraising may be falling short, Sanford emphasized that the mission and importance of Pride is as important as ever.
“Pride started as a protest, and it is still in many ways a protest,” she said. "It is because of the work of those protesters that we have been able to evolve into a festival and into a celebration of. These are the rights that we have now that we didn't have before. This is the visibility and community we have now that we couldn't have before. And that deserves to be celebrated, especially when it's under attack, because it reminds us how important it is to fight for it," she said.
Kalamazoo Pride 2025 takes place June 6 beginning at 6 p.m. and June 7 beginning at 2 p.m. at Arcadia Creek Festival Place.