Trump’s anti-DEI wave extends to June celebrations as corporate sponsors break out of major events

The June celebration was expanded this year as businesses and local governments across the country rethink their support for diversity, equity and inclusive initiatives.

Federal grants and businesses that are separated from what is known as brand activity have been cancelled, clashing with the final line of parades and other events heading for federal public holidays on Thursday, celebrating the end of American slavery. The reduced financial support coincides with President Donald Trump’s efforts to destroy the DEI program across the federal government, cutting ties with LGBTQ celebrations for the pride of the year.

Denver, for example, has received support from businesses in June, one of the city’s biggest celebrations, one of the city’s biggest celebrations, according to Norman Harris, executive director of JMF Corporation, which hosts the event.

“We had quite a few sponsors who let us know that we’ve regained our investment, that we’re not in a position to support this year, that we can’t, or that we can’t,” said Harris, who has overseen the event for over a decade.

Historically, the festival, held in the Black Five Point neighborhood, has been reduced to one day rather than two due to budget shortages. It was just floating thanks to donations from individuals and foundations.

“Thankfully, there was extensive support when we announced that the celebration was in danger,” Harris said.

June celebrates the day Texas’ last enslaved people were told they were free on June 19, 1865, two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The day was celebrated by black Americans for generations, including Harris’ family, but was more widely praised after it became a federal holiday in 2021.

After George Floyd’s 2020 murder, many companies pursued efforts to make branding more comprehensive, but slowed over the past few years as many companies didn’t see it as a critical part of their revenue stream after some were hit by conservatives.

According to Sonya Grier, a marketing professor at American University, some companies don’t have the money to account for economic uncertainty, and they can no longer afford to support the June celebration.

“It’s the overall confluence of the matter,” Greer said.

Rollback of local support

Many state and local governments have held or supported celebrations, but have decided this year that is not the case.

The West Virginia Governor’s Office said the state will not hold an event this June due to the fiscal deficit for the first time since 2017. Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed a bill last month to end all diversity programs.

“The state government will not sponsor formal activities as the financial challenges facing West Virginia continues,” Deputy Reporter Drew Garan said in an email.

Members of the Scottsdale, Arizona city council broke up their Day office in February, leading to the cancellation of the city’s annual June festival.

Event organizers in Colorado Springs, Colorado had little city funding and had to move locations to cut.

Smith said about five companies sponsored the event this year.

“They said their budget was cut for Day,” she said they could no longer afford it.

Some groups also mention safety concerns. A Bend, Oregon planner cited “an increasingly unstable political situation” in a statement on why he canceled this year’s celebration.

Federal Funding Slash

Many local organizations cut their budgets in May after the National Fund for the Arts raised funds for numerous grants.

The Cooper Family Foundation throws one of San Diego’s biggest celebrations every year in June. It was one of dozens of groups in May that the NEA was told that the $25,000 grant had been cancelled.

The email said the event no longer aligns with the agency’s priorities, said Maria Jones, who works for the foundation.

The grant was spent on paying for arts and dance performers. The event will be held again this year, but Cooper family members will need to cover the costs, according to Merla Cooper, the foundation’s leader.

“That’s $25,000.

“We’re always June, and we’ll solve that,” she said.

This story was originally introduced Fortune.com