Pride events in the Florida cities of Tampa and Fort Myers have been canceled this year as organizers cite funding issues. President of LGBTQ nonprofit Visuality, Adam Larivee said Pride Southwest Florida cannot go on due to a lack of sponsorship funding. “The unfortunate part was we just didn’t have enough planning time for us to be able to put it on for 2025, so with that, we are shooting for 2026,” Larivee said. Southwest Florida’s Pride typically takes place in Fort Myers in November, and according to the event’s Facebook page it is the largest Pride celebration in Southwest Florida.
Tampa Pride, which is typically held in March, celebrated its tenth anniversary this year, but The Board of Tampa Pride recently announced via Facebook that the event would be taking “a one-year hiatus” starting in 2026. The Facebook post was a letter from the Board of Tampa Pride to Carrie West, Tampa Pride President, informing him they would not renew his employment contract.
Though reasoning behind the cancellations is unconfirmed, it wouldn’t surprise any to find that the cancellations are politically motivated. “The current political and economic climate, including challenges with corporate sponsorships, reductions in county, state, and federal grant funding, and the discontinuation of DEI programs under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has made it increasingly difficult for our organization to sustain ongoing operations for 2026,” the board wrote.
West said the organization needs at least $225,000 to fund Pride events, according to an NBC Tampa news affiliate. He reported that other funding went down significantly with some donations shrinking from $10,000 to just $1,000.
NBC reports Pride organizers around the country are struggling to maintain funding and sponsorships they need to stay afloat. Amidst DEI rollbacks and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments in the White House, many of the country’s largest Pride celebrations are seeing drops in funding, forcing many to downsize festivities.
