SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
World Pride kicks off today. The year's global event takes place in Washington, D.C. Most of America's other LGBTQ Pride celebrations follow shortly thereafter in the month of June. Events may look a little different this year as ongoing efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs complicate the relationships of organizers and the corporate sponsors who've been so visible in years past. Andi Otto is executive director of Twin Cities Pride. He joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us.
ANDI OTTO: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: Tell me about your relationship with Target. Might be the best-known company in Minneapolis. Its CEO admitted that the recent decision to abandon DEI efforts was a corporate misstep. Yet, I gather you remain skeptical of them as a partner in Twin Cities Pride.
OTTO: Yeah, you know, Twin Cities Pride has had a partnership with Target for 20-plus years. And when they made the decision to roll back their DE&I programs is really when that made an impact on us. And it was an incredibly hard thing for our organization and our community here because a lot of our community partners work for Target. And we, unfortunately, just due to some of the decisions and policy changes, needed to walk away from that sponsorship.
SIMON: Well, let me ask - couldn't Pride and Target just agree to disagree?
OTTO: Yes, and we absolutely can agree to disagree. And I think that's kind of where we're at, is agree to disagree. However, that also means that I need to make a decision about whether or not their presence in the park and in our parade is worthy. And I want to be very clear that Target was still going to support and wanted to sponsor. However, my community depends on my leadership to make those decisions, and, unfortunately, that was just one I couldn't get behind.
SIMON: May I ask you to help us understand how much support this may have cost you? I guess - what am I saying? - how much money this may have cost you?
OTTO: Yeah. Target's sponsorship is typically right around $50,000, and we knew that financially we were going to take a hit for that. We're incredibly fortunate. The community rallied around us in support, and we were able to make up that funding within 48 hours.
SIMON: Have you had to contend with other companies, maybe less well-known than Target, who've expressed similar opinions?
OTTO: Yeah, I - there are other corporations. I use the example of Deloitte. Deloitte - it's a national accounting firm. And as a corporation, with some government contracts, they made the decision to not sponsor Prides anymore. And so, you know, that decision was on them, and I respect that.
SIMON: Let me ask you this 'cause I'm sure you've probably dealt with some of the mixed feelings that people have in recent years. Stonewall was an uprising in 1969. It wasn't a corporate event.
OTTO: Correct.
SIMON: And there have been complaints in recent years about what's been called the corporatization of Pride. I wonder how you feel about that.
OTTO: You know, I completely understand that and respect that opinion. I think, for me, I don't want my community to have to pay the, you know, $1.5 million it costs us to put on the festival and the parade. You know, all year round, we support these corporations, whether it is retail-wise, or maybe it is who we pay our utility bills to or our health insurance to or the clinics that we visit. All of those things, we continuously put funding into their pockets, and I look at it as an opportunity to give back to the community that supports them all year round.
SIMON: Will the festival be notably smaller this year?
OTTO: It will not look smaller. Where this will truly, truly impact is our year-round programming. We do what's called a rainbow wardrobe. It's a gender-affirming closet that provides free gender-affirming clothing and undergarments and personal care items to the community. We do, you know, our rainbow feast, which feeds 300 individuals over the holiday season. That's where, unfortunately, we're going to see the hit in funding. And so, while you may not see the festival any smaller or the parade any smaller, it's those smaller events that will truly see the impact.
SIMON: Andi Otto is executive director of Twin Cities Pride. Thanks so much for being with us.
OTTO: My pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF KYLIE MINOGUE'S "CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD (EXTENDED INSTRUMENTAL)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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