Pride Fatigue is Real and It’s Spreading

We’re witnessing something remarkable this June: a cultural shift in Virginia that’s been a long time coming.

Corporations are now withdrawing their financial support for Virginia’s Pridefest, which relies on substantial corporate contributions to pull off the event.  The event is being forced to reschedule for September instead of June – the normal month for such events – and the status of future events are now “uncertain.”

For years, Americans have been told that “Pride Month” was about inclusion and tolerance, but that façade is cracking. The New York Times, Axios, and USA Today are all reporting the same surprising trend: major U.S. corporations are retreating from Pride sponsorships, distancing themselves from DEI initiatives, and pulling support for public LGBT advocacy.

Corporate America jumped headfirst into this movement, slapping rainbows on products and turning every June into a month-long public morality play. But now, finally, many are waking up to the cost. As backlash grows, companies are quietly scaling back, ditching Pride campaigns.

It’s called Pride fatigue. And it’s real. And it’s spreading.

ANOTHER MAJOR WIN, the Suffolk School Board voted to align existing policies with Governor Youngkin’s 2023 Model Policies on Ensuring Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools.  The board also voted to strike specific discrimination protections based on “gender identity.” This is a huge win for Suffolk and something we at the Family Foundation have been pushing for since Governor Youngkin released his model policies.

For too long, the LGBTQ alphabet soup lobby has bullied, shamed, and coerced society into celebrating confusion. What began as a call for tolerance has mutated into something entirely different: a corrosive ideology that targets our children, redefines our institutions, and demands absolute cultural fealty.

It was never just about “baking a cake” or what consenting adults do behind closed doors. It’s about drag shows in libraries. Pornographic books in school libraries. Boys in girls’ locker rooms. Pronoun rituals and compelled speech. The criminalization of dissent. And an entire generation being told they can change their sex—and should.

This is a sign of hope, but also a sign of how far we’ve fallen.

The truth is, the momentum has shifted. U.S. support for LGBTQ+ ideology is declining after decades of uncritical celebration. Why? Because Americans can see what’s happening to their children, to their churches, and to their communities writ large. The radical left pushed too far, and now, people are pushing back.

This moment is not the end of the fight—it’s the beginning of something new and we must not grow complacent.