


A majority of U.S. adults are skeptical of the true motives of corporations expressing support for Pride month, as many companies have scaled back on pride displays this year.
A poll from Pew Research found that both LGBT and non-LGBT adults are doubtful as to the genuineness of corporations’ support for Pride events. Among LGBT adults, 68% of respondents said businesses supported Pride month to help business, 35% said they did it due to pressure, and only 16% said they did it out of a genuine desire to celebrate LGBT people.
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Among non-LGBT adults, 54% said businesses supported Pride month to help business, 45% said they did it due to pressure, and only 13% said they did it out of a genuine desire to celebrate LGBT people.

Responses are also polarized by age and political affiliation.
LGBT adults under 30 are the most skeptical of businesses’ support for Pride month, with 51% saying only a few or no companies support Pride out of a genuine desire to celebrate LGBT people. The share of LGBT adults in their 30s with the same view is 43%, compared with 39% of those in their 40s, and 30% of those 50 and older.
LGBT Republicans are somewhat more optimistic than their Democratic counterparts — 71% of Democrats say companies primarily support Pride month because they believe it will be good for business, compared with 59% of Republicans. A higher share of Republicans, 43%, believe companies support pride out of pressure, with 34% of Democrats believing likewise.
Among non-LGBT adults, Republicans are significantly more suspicious of companies’ support for Pride month. The survey found 61% of Republicans believe all or most companies that promote Pride month do so out of pressure, compared to just 30% of Democrats. Altogether, 63% of non-LGBT Republicans believe only a few or none of the companies that show support do so out of a genuine desire to celebrate LGBT people, compared to 37% of Democrats.
Corporate sponsorship of Pride month activities and other displays of activism come as part of a broad change in alliances across the American political landscape. The Republican Party has increasingly grown sour on big business, long a hallmark of Republican politics, while some Democrats have warmed to it. Terms such as “woke capital” and “rainbow capitalism” have emerged to describe corporations’ support of LGBT and other socially liberal issues.
A wider cultural backlash against social liberalism in the U.S. has resulted in a scaling back of companies’ support for LGBT and other issues. Roughly 40% of companies are scaling back Pride month engagement in 2025, according to an Axios report based on Gravity Research data.
RECLAIMING JUNE FOR THE FAMILY
Corporate sponsors have pulled out of Pride events in New York City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Columbus, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., among other places.
The Pew Research poll surveyed 3,959 LGBT adults from Jan. 8-19 and 4,740 non-LGBT adults from Feb. 10-17.