Will Dempsey: Pride Sponsorships, Allyship & LGBTQ+ Mental Health

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/09/29

 Will Dempsey, LICSW, is the founder of Heads Held High Counseling, a fully online, gender-affirming practice serving clients in Boston and Chicago. With over 10 years of clinical experience, Will and his team specialize in supporting LGBTQ+ individuals navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, and chronic pain. His therapeutic approach integrates EMDR, CBT, IFS, and expressive arts, creating a personalized path to healing. As a public advocate, Will has written extensively on trans protections, sanctuary policies, and LGBTQ+ youth mental health. His work emphasizes resilience, community care, and the critical importance of affirming spaces in today’s challenging sociopolitical climate.

In this interview with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Dempsey examines the retreat of corporate Pride sponsors and its mental health impact. Communities want less corporatized Pride, yet lost funding can restrict access for youth, sober attendees, and disabled people. He defines allyship as year round investment, advocacy, benefits, and hiring practices, not seasonal branding. Pullbacks under political pressure reinforce stigma by signaling conditional support. Dempsey recommends diversified funding through small recurring donations, mutual aid, partnerships, and grants, plus sliding scale vendor options. He urges leaders and therapists to center marginalized voices and reconnect Pride to resistance, community care, and safety.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How does the decline in sponsorships at Pride events impact the mental health of LGBTQ+ communities?

Will Dempsey: I’ve found it to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, there is a growing demand within the LGBTQ+ community to decorporatize Pride. Many corporate sponsors have shown visible support during June, but behind the scenes, they are often supporting political figures who have actively harmed our community. The hypocrisy isn’t lost on people and feels like Pride is being used as a marketing opportunity or to attract more customers rather than a true form of allyship. 

At the same time, the withdrawal of corporate funding has real consequences. It can limit access, and in some areas, make Pride completely impossible. While unrelated to corporate funding, Boston Pride was completely shut down a few years ago. While grassroots events and bar-based celebrations still existed, they unintentionally excluded people: underage folks, sober community members, and people with disabilities, among others. 

It raises an important question: how do we return Pride to its roots as a protest and celebration of resistance, while still ensuring it remains accessible, inclusive, and safe for everyone under the LGBTQ+ umbrella? That balance – or lack thereof – can definitely have a mental health impact, especially for those who feel increasingly left out or unseen. 

Jacobsen: What role should corporations play in balancing profit and authentic allyship?

Dempsey: True allyship isn’t about what the ally gains – it’s about what the community gains. If a corporation is only showing up for profits or convenience, that’s not allyship; that’s marketing. Many of the companies who’ve stepped back from Pride have massive profits and leadership teams earning hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of dollars annually. Meanwhile, many LGBTQ+ people, especially trans folks and queer people of color, continue to face disproportionate financial hardship. That imbalance makes the withdrawal an even deeper cut. 

If a company genuinely wants to be an ally, there’s no real “balance” between profit and allyship. They should be listening to the community and acting accordingly by putting financial resources behind what the community actually needs – not just what looks good on a billboard in June. In a way, the recent pullback from Pride sponsorships has only confirmed what many of us already knew: for most of these companies, it was never about us. It was about optics. 

Jacobsen: How does corporate withdrawal from Pride sponsorships reinforce or challenge stigma?

Dempsey: Corporate withdrawal largely reinforces stigma. It sends a message that when support for the LGBTQ+ community becomes financially risky (such as from political pressure), it’s easily abandoned. True allyship means standing by a community not simply when it’s easy or profitable, but when it’s hard. Right now, with increasing backlash against DEI initiatives and growing political pressure, many companies are choosing to protect their bottom line rather than stand by their values. 

This reinforces what many in the queer community have suspected all along: that corporate Pride was often more about optics than genuine allyships. When companies step back at the first sign of controversy, it tells us that their support was conditional – and that’s a deeply stigmatizing message. It suggests our rights, identities, and safety are negotiable depending on market trends. 

Jacobsen: What strategies can LGBTQ+ organizations use to reduce reliance on corporate funding?

Dempsey: While it’s likely nearly impossible to match the scale of corporate contributions, especially for large Pride events, there are meaningful ways LGBTQ+ organizations can begin reducing reliance on them. One key strategy is building deeper community-based funding models – things like recurring small donations, mutual aid networks, or community interest funds. These may not bring in millions, but they build resilience, accountability, and long-term sustainability. 

Partnerships with local businesses, especially queer-owned or allied ones, can also be a support. These relationships tend to have aligned values and roots in the community itself. Additionally, pursuing grants from foundations, government programs, and mission-driven philanthropies can help diversify income without compromising on ethics. 

Ultimately, it’s about shifting the question from “How do we replace corporate dollars?” to “How do we build a more self-sustainable, inclusive, and true to values Pride?” That may mean scaling differently, but it also could mean regaining control over the purpose of Pride. 

Jacobsen: How do anti-LBGTQ+ laws and political backlash influence corporate decision-making?

Dempsey: They have a huge influence. This year alone, we’ve seen corporations pull out of Pride sponsorships specifically because of the growing political backlash and the rise in anti-LBGTQ+ laws across the country. Many companies are afraid of becoming targets in the so-called “culture wars,” and instead of standing firm in their support, they’re choosing to stay silent or step back entirely. 

It shows that, for many of them, the fear of political and financial repercussions outweighs their stated commitment to inclusion and equality. That kind of retreat doesn’t go unnoticed – it signals to the community that when things get tough, we can’t count on that support. It’s a reminder that corporate allyships, unless they’re backed by real courage and consistency, are often conditional. 

Jacobsen: What are examples of meaningful, year-round corporate allyship?

Dempsey: Meaningful corporate allyship can go far beyond Pride Month marketing. It needs to be a year-round investment in the community – especially the most marginalized. That could mean funding for LGBTQ+ organizations, offering grants to queer entrepreneurs, or supporting housing, health care, and mental health initiatives that directly benefit the community.

Internally, it could be comprehensive healthcare that includes gender-affirming care, strong non-discrimination protections, and inclusive family leave policies. It also means hiring and promoting queer and trans people, especially of color, into leadership roles. Most importantly, it means using their influence and power to take public stances against anti-LBGTQ+ legislation – even when it’s risky. 

Jacobsen: How might smaller businesses or community initiatives better support LGBTQ+ events? As far as I know, that’s how it used to work, anyway.

Dempsey: Smaller businesses and community initiatives have always played a vital role in supporting Pride – and in many cities, they still do. But one barrier is cost. A lot of small, especially queer-owned, businesses simply can’t afford the high vendor or sponsorship fees at larger Pride events. One way to strengthen those relationships is for Pride organizers to offer more accessible pricing, like sliding scales or community-tiered options. That way, more businesses can participate meaningfully without being priced out. 

It’s also important that support doesn’t only come from queer-owned businesses. Local small businesses – regardless of who owns them – should be showing their allyship for their LGBTQ+ communities year-round, with Pride being a great opportunity to do so. 

Jacobsen: How can LGBTQ+ leaders and therapists reframe Pride, returning to the roots of resistance and empowerment?

Dempsey: Reframing Pride starts with remembering, and educating, on its origins – not just the celebration, but the protest led by trans women of color, sex workers, and other marginalized voices resisting systemic violence. Over time, especially in the 1990s and 2000s, Pride began shifting towards a more corporate, celebratory model. Much of that shift was influenced by increased visibility and legal victories. 

Even in the 1980s, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Pride was deeply political. The community was grieving a tremendous loss while simultaneously fighting for survival, protesting government inaction, and finding power in collective mourning and celebration. That era showed that joy and resistance can coexist. 

Today, LGBTQ+ leaders and therapists have the opportunity and responsibility to help bring Pride back to that coexistence. That means centering marginalized voices, education about our movements’ radical history, and fostering spaces where people can connect to activism, identity, and healing. Therapists can reframe Pride as a form of resistance to shame and erasure, helping people see their visibility as a powerful act in itself. Leaders can refocus Pride around community care, protest, and direct support – not just performance. 

Pride shifted towards celebration due to legal victories, but those legal victories focused on some of the community, namely those who are sexually diverse, but it did not focus on all of the community. Silvia Rivera, in the 1970s, would often speak about how those, namely trans women of color, who started the movement, were being ignored in its progress. That still stands true today, as Pride remains a celebration while laws are being put in place to target the trans community. 

Pride doesn’t lose meaning when it moves away from corporate influence – it regains it. By reconnecting to the spirit of resistance, we remind ourselves that Pride was never just about celebration. It was, and still is, about survival, liberation, and collective power.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Will.

Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In-Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices.  In-Sight Publishing by Scott  Douglas  Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In-Sight Publishing by Scott  Douglas  Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.