Anheuser-Busch has pulled its sponsorship of yet another Pride festival, this time in the company’s own hometown.
“We are devastated this year that our hometown brewer, Anheuser-Busch, has declined to sponsor PrideFest after more than 30 years of partnership,” festival organizer Pride St. Louis said in a March 25 press release. “At a time when many sponsors have already reduced their contributions, this decision is especially painful. We are saddened to lose such a historic supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community in St. Louis.”
According to the organization, the festival is now $150,000 short of last year’s funding total, thanks to the loss of the Bud Light parent company’s sponsorship and reductions in other sponsors’ contributions.
Pride St. Louis Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach Jordan Braxton told KMOV that representatives for the St. Louis headquartered beer company informed the organization of their decision over the phone.
“They decided after 30 years they would no longer sponsor our event,” Braxton said. “That hurt us very much because we are all homegrown here in St. Louis.”
The move comes after Anheuser-Busch withdrew its sponsorship of San Francisco’s 2025 Pride celebration earlier this month.
Braxton told KMOV that she sees the company’s decision as a direct result of the current administration’s efforts to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in both the federal government and the private sector.