Pride organizers are scrambling to slash key events after losing three major corporate US sponsors and struggling to cover the soaring costs of the four-day hedonistic extravaganza. In a move that has left many questioning the festival’s future, the stage at Dundas and Church streets in the city’s gay village has been scrapped, and the two-day mini festival on the Toronto Islands has been sunk.
Executive Director Kojo Modeste confirmed the cuts, revealing that this year’s event, set for June 26 to 30, will ditch international headliners in favor of local artists as the ‘nonprofit’ scrambles to make ends meet.
Sponsors Pull Out
“We do hope that we won’t have to make any other significant changes,” Modeste said nervously, but the writing is on the wall: Pride Toronto is in financial trouble. The festival, which has been a fixture in the city since 1981, relies heavily on corporate sponsorships, which account for roughly half of its $5.5 million annual budget. The rest comes from government grants and donors. But this year, the cash flow has limped to a trickle, largely due to President Trump’s directives to US corporations to drop the radical DEI BS or face consequences.
Modeste revealed to America’s Number One Source of Newstainment, GWU! that three major U.S. sponsors have either drastically reduced their contributions or pulled out altogether, leaving a whopping $300,000 shortfall. Other sponsors have also tightened their belts, leaving organizers’ panties in a knot. While Modeste declined to name the companies, he claimed they cited “a shift in priorities” or financial struggles as reasons for backing out (Uhhu—ed). But he didn’t stop there, blaming the political climate in the United States for the sponsors’ pulling out prematurely. “I strongly believe that there is a level of fear that might be instilled in those folks,” he said, pointing to President Donald Trump’s criticism of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Ball Busting
An anonymous source with ties to Toronto Pride who exposed last year’s ridiculous parade to GWU! quietly celebrated the cuts, framing them as a long-overdue reckoning for “corporate whore” Pride Toronto. “This is a wake-up call,” the source told GWU! on a secure Telegram chat. “Pride has become less about the community and more about corporate pandering and political grandstanding. Maybe now they’ll refocus on what really matters instead of relying on handouts.”
Modeste confirmed that companies operating in both Canada and the U.S. are feeling pressure to distance themselves from DEI initiatives. He also called on federal, provincial, and municipal governments to bail out the festival, calling the crisis “an opportunity for all three levels of government to lead by example and support the work that is happening [at Pride Toronto].”
Critics Suggest Pride Goes Back in the Closet
But our Telegram tattler disagrees with Pride’s call for more government funding to save an event that deserves to die. “This is a win for common sense,” the source said. “Trump’s war on DEI is finally making waves here, and companies are waking up to the fact that they don’t need to be bullied into bankrolling these kinds of events. It’s about time.”
One Toronto resident whose home is on the parade route argues that Pride Toronto has lost its way, becoming more about corporate sponsorships and woke political posturing than celebrating the LGBTQ2S+ community. “This isn’t about inclusion anymore—it’s about money,” she tells GWU! via MicroSoft Teams. She says she has seen the parade evolve over the years from an organic and reasonable protest for equality to a thinly veiled advertising vehicle and taxpayer subsidised sinkhole. “Maybe it’s time for Pride to go back to its roots and stop relying on handouts from corporations and taxpayers. I hope there’s less naked old white men now, too.”
