With major Pride festivals facing a decline in corporate sponsorships, Trent University professors Dr. Momin Rahman and Dr. Karleen Pendleton Jimenez are raising critical questions about the future of 2SLGBTQQIA+ activism in a changing political climate.  

While some observers see the retreat of corporate sponsors as part of a broader backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, Professor Rahman, professor of Sociology and expert on global queer politics, sees a deeper concern. 

“It’s an indication that it’s okay for powerful social actors like these corporations to say queer people don’t belong, or queer rights aren’t proper rights,” he says. “It’s all a part of a meaning system that says LGBTQ+ people are expendable.”  

Speaking about the book bans and criminalization of queerness seen around the world, Prof. Rahman adds that Canadians “like to think that we’re immune to these things – but we’re not. What’s happening here is a part of the same global movement against LGBTQ+ rights.”  

The Meaning of Corporate Sponsorships and Public Investment

For Professor Pendleton Jimenez, who teaches in the Gender & Social Justice program and in the School of Education at Trent University, this moment compels us to consider what we value in those corporate sponsorships and the nature of their relationship to Pride.  

“You have to remember, the US did not decriminalize homosexuality until 2005. That’s a pretty low bar,” she says. “When a brand would pick us up, that representation felt good, but having the right to consume is not the same as having human rights.” 

She shares a recent memory from a road trip in the U.S., where a Pride-themed display at a department store made her feel seen – only to be removed days later after complaints.  

“Suddenly, all these brightly coloured shirts were hidden in the back of the store behind a wall. Something I had been proud of, now I felt dirty about. And I thought, this is why you can’t fall for this,” says Prof. Pendleton Jimenez. 

Prof. Pendleton Jimenez warns against underestimating the wider consequences of DEI backlash, not just in sponsorships, but in education and broader public policy discourse. 

“In Ontario, it’s not that they’re banning gender and social justice initiatives, but they’re quietly reducing funding,” says Prof. Pendleton Jimenez. “It’s less confrontational, but the result is the same. And it’s at our society’s peril – you have all kinds of conflict in the world and fewer people getting the skills to understand and articulate how power works.”   

What We Can Learn from the Grassroots Origins of Pride

Along with their critiques, both scholars also find reasons for hope. For Prof. Rahman, the corporate pullback presents an opportunity to reflect on the true purpose of Pride. 

“Queer organizers around the world are faced with this real dilemma: chasing the legitimacy of corporate sponsorships or abandoning that legitimacy in favour of a more grassroots, community-based event,” he says.  

Recalling his earliest Pride marches in 1990s Glasgow, Dr. Rahman says “it was actually pretty scary – only a couple hundred of us, without police protection, people on the sidelines saying homophobic things – but it was important to do it. We weren’t alone, and we were visible. With corporate Prides, that visibility is not wholly-owned by the queer community, and maybe it’s not a bad thing to have to rethink that.”  

Prof. Pendleton Jiménez agrees, noting that many local and grassroots events continue to thrive.  

“We don’t have to discover some new model – just go to Toronto for the Dyke March and see how many corporate sponsors are there. You don’t have to look far. Peterborough and Durham Prides are open, community-run events, like the marches in the ‘70s.” 

The Road Ahead for 2SLGBTQQIA+ Movements

As Pride Month unfolds, both faculty members hope this moment spurs deeper conversations beyond the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, among allies and institutional decision-makers. 

"If Pride marches disappear, what does that say about our society?” Prof. Rahman asks. “I think in those terms, we’ll get to the heart of what’s actually going on here.”   

“When we make more room – make things more inclusive – it helps everybody,” adds Prof. Pendleton Jiménez. “When Pride gives people the chance to love our gender and sexuality, when we can feel good about who we are and who we desire, and people see this in a way that says ‘as long as it’s consensual and you’re not hurting people, good on you for getting pleasure’, everybody is happier.”   

Neither believes the queer community is backing down. 

“Corporations can be shortsighted,” says Prof. Pendleton Jiménez. “The queer community remembers who sticks with us. Either way, we’re in the business of joy, beauty, and resistance. Pride isn’t going anywhere.” 

Learn more about Trent University’s Gender and Social Justice and Sociology programs.