Clashing Pride Month values on display in Detroit
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Anti-war activists are challenging Motor City Pride, arguing some of its sponsors' business ties conflict with the values Pride celebrations should represent.
Why it matters: The dispute reflects a broader national debate over whether corporate support makes large June LGBTQ+ celebrations possible or instead dilutes Pride's protest roots.
The annual Motor City Pride festival, Michigan's largest LGBTQ+ celebration, runs Saturday and Sunday with drag shows, vendors, food, a parade featuring local dignitaries and a historical exhibit.
State of play: The Detroit Anti-War Committee is renewing its 2025 criticism of Motor City Pride's sponsor choices. The group says in a social media post that it opposes the inclusion of Ford, GM, Bank of America and Rocket for ties to Israel and what it describes as war profiteering.
- The committee isn't explicitly calling to boycott Motor City Pride, but wants to "take back Pride," argues the sponsorships make some LGBTQ+ people feel unwelcome and urges "the Detroit queer community to demand better."
What they're saying: "We want to bring awareness to these issues and we want people to be … thinking about where we are spending our money," Jo Pico, the anti-war committee's education chair, tells Axios.
- Pico describes the group as majority-LGBTQ+ and not against Pride, but seeking to build alternative options for people who want events without corporate influence.
The other side: Motor City Pride chairperson Dave Wait tells Axios that he hasn't heard those critiques this year, that MCP does its research on its sponsors and that corporate funding enables the festival's existence.
- Wait says the event's purpose is to offer celebration, advocacy and an authentic space for people who aren't ready to be out in their day-to-day lives.
- "We look at ourselves as providing the venue for people to connect with nonprofit organizations, businesses, health organizations [and] with each other to help build and grow the community of people providing services for the LGBTQ individual," he says.
Zoom in: The protest committee previously called out past sponsor General Dynamics, which had a rainbow-wheeled model tank on display.
- The defense manufacturer is no longer a sponsor, Wait tells Axios.
Separately, some Pride Month events nationwide have seen corporate funders turn away as businesses jump ship from DEI-related causes.
- Motor City Pride, which has five new sponsors this year, hasn't experienced that fall-off.
- Three other sponsors dropped off, but none because of concerns with the cause, Wait says.
What's next: The committee directs people instead to grassroots Pride Month events with more of an anti-establishment tone, including a Cass Park Pride March on June 28.