Corporate Sponsors

You can live with them and you can’t live without them.

If you go to a LGBTQ+ event you will probably see ads or signs proclaiming their corporate sponsors and that includes the Trans Health & Law Conference. Without corporate sponsors we couldn’t keep the admission at $25 because it cost a lot more than the $25 which just barely covers the food.

There’s a Lot of Money at Pride, but Not Necessarily in LGBT Pockets
Don’t let the sea of big-name corporate floats at a Pride parade and glossy advertisements in magazines fool you into thinking the LGBT world is one of unfettered affluence.
The Daily Beast
By Samantha Allen
June 23, 2018

The first New York City Pride march in 1970 was a grassroots affair organized in a gay bookstore to mark the anniversary of a riot. Today, NYC Pride Week has about six dozen corporate sponsors, including some of the country’s largest banks and stores.

The first Chicago Pride protest in 1970 specifically targeted the Michigan Avenue shopping district, as the Chicago Tribune reported, in order to “reach the maximum number of… shoppers and tourists.” Today, retailers and airlines march in the Chicago Pride Parade.
[…]
By now, the commercialization of LGBT Pride seems like an age-old topic of debate—even though it wasn’t that long ago, in the grand scheme of things, that none of these companies would want to be seen touching anything queer with a ten-foot pole.

At one time the city of Hartford didn’t charge that much for events in the city like St. Patrick Day parades, Puerto Rico Day parades, Columbus Day parades, or Pride but as the city got more into debt they started charging more for parades and events and that created a need for sponsors.

Also many in the LGBTQ+ community live in poverty…

So, where do we get the idea that LGBT people are rich? Pride events awash in corporate money certainly don’t help. Nor do $150 rainbow sneakers or expensive Pride packages advertised by swanky hotel chains.
[…]
This year, as Them reported, activists around the country—including in New York City—will be protesting Pride parades, in part because they don’t want to see more corporate involvement in the event. When an event that started as an LGBT protest now draws protests from LGBT people, that’s a sure sign that something is amiss.

Sponsors create a love hate relationship with the LGBTQ+ community we see corporate banners everywhere at Pride and we hate that Pride is becoming commercialized but who is going to pay to go to Pride? Because there is police overtime, insurance, and sanitation all have to be paid somehow and sponsors pay for all that.

For our conference we have the meals, program guides, parking, insurance, and maintenance that have to be paid for somehow and sponsors fill that gap.

We need sponsors and they need us.