The Trump administration has taken aim at DEI, prompting corporations to retreat from recognizing Pride Month.
San Francisco Pride faces shortfall as corporate sponsors pull out
Several major companies have opted out of donating to San Francisco Pride this year, such as Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, Nissan, and Comcast.
- A deepfake video falsely depicts Donald Trump canceling Pride Month.
- The video, which labeled itself as a deepfake, went viral on social media.
- Trump has not issued any orders canceling Pride Month.
A deepfake video depicting President Donald Trump saying Pride Month is canceled is going viral, but the president has not issued any such orders.
The video posted on X on May 19 appears to show Trump in the Oval Office saying, “It is with great pleasure that I am announcing that Pride Month is canceled. Pride is a sin … instead June will be known as confidence month or maybe just June.”
Trump’s fake avatar goes on to make crude commentary about gay sex that some may find homophobic in the deepfake video. At the end, text on the screen says: “This is a deepfake, but let people dream.”
It was created by an account named Maverick Alexander with 40,000 followers whose bio says “mostly satire.” The deepfake video of Trump had 2.2 million views as of May 21.
Is Trump canceling Pride Month?
As of May 21, Trump has not issued any orders canceling or banning Pride Month.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the video or the administration’s plans for Pride Month.
USA TODAY also reached out to the creator of the deepfake video for comment on this story.
When is Pride Month?
Pride Month is observed throughout June to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and highlight their fight for rights.
The Stonewall Uprising was a series of protests against police raids in gay bars in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, but it centered on the most popular one, the Stonewall Inn. The bar still exists today, and nearby sits a small national park dedicated to the events.
Trump has taken aim at transgender community, corporate DEI
In February under the Trump administration, the National Park Service removed all mentions of “transgender” from the website for the Stonewall National Monument, despite transgender activists being central to the uprisings.
It was one of several moves from the administration that have targeted the transgender community. Trump has also issued executive actions that include banning transgender women in sports, banning transgender troops in the military, and limiting federal recognition to two genders, biologically female and biologically male.
The Trump administration has also taken aim at diversity, equity and inclusion, prompting corporations to retreat from recognizing Pride Month. Pride parades around the country usually receive lots of corporate sponsorship, some of which were jeopardized in this political climate, USA TODAY reported.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn and Bailey Schulz, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.