Pride Toronto is currently dealing with a $700,000 funding deficit. As it prepares for the 2025 edition — the next edition will happen May 1, 2025, starting at the top of Toronto’s CN Tower — the event continues to build. A handful of sponsors have opted not to renew or have reduced their giving for next year’s incarnation of the festival. We’re in the middle of a fiscal crisis. Kojo Modeste, the newly appointed Executive Director of Pride Toronto, has been clear about the disappointments the organization is currently reeling from.
At the start of the festival, Modeste shone a spotlight on a serious concern. He noted that just this month, tech behemoths Meta, Amazon, and Google have eliminated their DEI programs. This dramatic change in corporate policy came as a direct threat to the funding for Pride Toronto. Initially, Modeste was reluctant to name the companies that were pulling their money. Soon after, he backtracked, acknowledging that these companies weren’t coming back as sponsors.
In the wake of the U.S. election and a few weeks’ worth of executive orders, several of our sponsors have reached out to let us know that they are shifting their focus. As a result, they are not coming back as sponsors. Modeste stated. He further emphasized the disappointment felt by the organization: “The individuals and institutions we believed were committed allies to our community have shown themselves to be, at least in part, swayed by external political pressures.”
Rather than canceling their Pride Toronto festival plans in response to this upheaval, Pride Toronto has shown a serious commitment to persevering in support of inclusivity. Modeste stated, “Our festival will go on.” Despite the financial hurdles, the organization continues its commitment to participating in Pride activities throughout Canada and is looking ahead to future opportunities with Toronto Pride.
Public outcry over the situation has led to a larger re-examination of corporate support of LGBTQ+ causes. As Modeste put it, “This is our time to be awakened. Most importantly, he understood that the future of that funding was precarious given the politically toxic environment. He described the loss of sponsorship as “deeply disappointing, not just for our organization, but for the communities we serve.”
A spokesperson clarified, “We work with an extensive network of nonprofits made up of thousands of local and national organizations to amplify our support to the communities we serve. We continually review our nonprofit giving and decided not to contribute to this event this year with no agreement in place to do so.”
As Pride Toronto continues to chart a course through this difficult terrain, Modeste is hopeful for the organization’s future. He underscores that pride is about “visibility, equity, and justice – even when it’s politically unpopular.”
