Anheuser-Busch pulls support for St Louis PrideFest after 30 years of participation, sponsorship

Brewing company Anheuser-Busch, whose headquarters is located in St. Louis, Missouri, has pulled its support from St. Louis’ PrideFest after 30 years.

Nonprofit Pride St. Louis announced the company’s move on Tuesday, with organization President Marty Zuniga saying that Anheuser-Busch had been a key supporter of the event for 30 years, per STLPR.

"For them to walk away from the table in negotiations, simply to note that, ‘we just don’t see the value in it anymore,’ it’s like a bad breakup," Zuniga said. He noted that other large corporate sponsors are "coming in at historic lows" in terms of funding, leaving the organization around $150,000 below target.

"The difference there [is] they’re still working with us and we’re working with them to find ways how we can still benefit each other to be successful and highlight pride in this city," Zuniga said. 

A grassroots fundraising campaign called 45for45 has been launched in an attempt to close the funding gap. Zuniga said, "We’re hopeful that by asking the community now to get involved, to help us make up some of these shortfalls, that we can continue to have this celebration. Pride will happen, period. We will have a festival. May it look different than other years? Yes."

Angelo Ossessivo, co-founder and festival director of Tower Grove Pride, a separate Pride festival that takes place in St Louis in September, said, "We feel for Pride St. Louis; it isn’t easy navigating a shifting and increasingly hostile environment. Every Pride, no matter how they get their support, is at serious risk right now."

Anheuser-Busch has also pulled funding for San Francisco Pride, along with Comcast, Benefit Cosmetics, and Diageo, leaving the Pride event facing similar financial constraints.

For San Francisco Pride, the pulling out of longtime corporate sponsors has left them with $1.3 million in lost revenue. Suzanne Ford, the executive director of SF Pride, stated that the event will continue, but organizers will be required to operate on a reduced budget.