Fundraising for this year’s Denver Pride Parade has fallen by two-thirds compared to last year — part of a national trend in response to fears created by the new presidential administration.
Pride officials, in the meantime, are being tight-lipped about which, if any, of its former funders are no longer supporting the events.
“Denver Pride has experienced a decrease in funding when compared to previous years for our festival parade, festival and 5K race. Some organizations that have participated in years past have only been able to return at lower levels of sponsorship and others have even been unable to return entirely, due to rollbacks in DEI budgets caused by national legislation,” said Natalie Zanoni, interim CEO of The Center on Colfax, in a recorded message provided to Denverite.
The Center on Colfax is a nonprofit providing free programs year-round for the LGBTQ community. It held its first LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in 1974, and the Center was formally founded two years later. Now, the parade gets about half a million visitors each year.
This year, Denver Pride is scheduled for June 28 and June 29.
