Corporate support for Pride is dwindling nationwide. In NC, it’s a mixed bag | Opinion
Pride Month has long been an occasion for companies and institutions to display their support for the LGBTQ+ community, whether it be for profit or for principle. It’s often a trivial gesture, but it can have a meaningful impact for a community that had long been relegated to the shadows of society.
But more recently, that support has waned amid a regressive political climate that has made many companies rethink their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. A survey conducted by the national risk management firm Gravity Research found that around 39% of companies said they would reduce their engagement around Pride Month this year. Some of the top reasons for the change were the Trump administration, conservative activists and conservative policymakers, the survey found. Major corporations, including Mastercard and Pepsi, have pulled their sponsorship of major Pride events or avoided the topic on social media.
In North Carolina, the results are mixed. Take Lowe’s, which is based in Mooresville. Lowe’s hasn’t yet acknowledged Pride Month on its social media — a marked difference from past years when it openly embraced the occasion. That’s not unexpected, given that Lowe’s has already announced an end to many of its DEI initiatives. Last year, the company said it would no longer participate in surveys conducted by LGBTQ+ groups and ended its support of outside events like festivals, parades and fairs. (Lowe’s had previously been a longtime supporter of Charlotte’s annual Pride festival.) But surprising or not, it’s reflective of a growing trend away from publicly embracing the LGBTQ+ community.
Charlotte-based Bank of America also has remained quiet about Pride so far. In past years, Bank of America has been vocal about celebrating the occasion on social media and honoring its LGBTQ+ employees with the hashtag #BofAPride, but that support has been absent this year. Compare that with Truist, which posted in celebration of Pride on its Facebook and Instagram accounts.
For North Carolina’s professional sports teams, the results are mixed, too. While the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets both celebrated the start of Pride on social media, the Carolina Hurricanes have not. In fact, the team has remained largely silent about Pride since 2023 — the Hurricanes are one of just a handful NHL teams to not acknowledge it this year — a decision that has disappointed many fans who feel a simple acknowledgment of the occasion is not too much to ask.
The same goes for the state’s largest cities. The city of Charlotte posted on its social media accounts at the beginning of Pride, in addition to updating its profile picture to a rainbow version of the city’s crown logo. The cities of Raleigh and Greensboro, however, did not.
This move toward silence comes at a time when things like Pride celebrations and flags are under attack from lawmakers across the state. Legislation has been introduced at the state level that would effectively ban the display of Pride flags in government buildings, while some counties have passed ordinances governing public events that some interpret as targeting Pride events or drag performances.
Of course, a social media post is just that: a social media post. It’s not going to defeat anti-LGBTQ legislation, or save gay kids from being bullied, or change the country’s attitude towards transgender people — at least not on its own. From some companies, it’s just a lot of empty words or glorified virtue signaling. But public support for any marginalized group can be meaningful, especially when it happens on a large scale. And when institutions cower in the face of political pressure to stay silent, they’re just letting the bullies win. It makes real change all the more difficult.
Ultimately, it’s not the silence that is the problem. It’s the fact that the silence is new — a sudden absence of the public support and acceptance that existed before. It feels like another step backward during a time when progress feels like it’s constantly stuck in reverse.
