Support for Boston Pride Month Remains Strong Among Local Community

As Pride events across the country lose footing due to economic and political pressures, support for Boston's Pride for the People parade remains solid.

Gary Daffin, one of the event's organizers, told NBC10 News Boston said he was concerned about whether sponsors from previous years would continue their support this year. Daffin noted that most sponsors have returned as organizers focus their efforts on being intentional about corporate sponsor selections.

"We vet our sponsors," Daffin said. "We look at whether or not they have been supporting anti-LGBTQ or anti-abortion issues or campaigns, and we don't take those folks as sponsors, and so we don't have a lot of the sponsors I hear from the national group that aren't stepping up again."

The parade is scheduled for Saturday, June 14, at 11 a.m. in Back Bay. It's followed by a festival on Boston Common.

Under the Trump administration, companies nationwide have been curtailing their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. According to the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, these changes have begun hurting small LGBTQ+-owned businesses.

"We're talking to small businesses who say, 'Hey, I normally have a huge spike in sales in June, and right now, that's not happening' because the businesses, the large businesses, who would host their own internal Pride events, they're seeing those being scaled back, so therefore, they're not buying those products," said Alexandria Eberhardt, executive director at MA LGBTCC, in an interview with NBC10 News Boston.

Pride Month celebrations are moving forward at Boston's City Hall. Boston's LGBTQ+ community crowded the council's chamber, detailing stories and sharing mixed feelings.

Boston City Councilor-at-Large Henry Santana hosted the community event in collaboration with 45 partner organizations. "With the federal government attacking the LGBTQIA2S+ community, we wanted to make sure today is about uplifting," said Santana.