The organizer of this year’s San Francisco Pride didn’t expect rejection when she contacted sponsors, but amid US President Donald Trump’s anti-diversity offensive, several longtime backers have withdrawn their support.”It was quite frightening,” said Suzanne Ford, executive director of the California-based group which is among America’s most influential gay rights organizations.”In about a week and a half period, several corporations came back and said ‘We’re not sponsoring this year,'” she told AFP. In total, Ford’s group faced a $300,000 budget hole, with longstanding partnerships suddenly unwilling to fill it ahead of the late June festivities. “It’s disheartening,” Ford said.One of Pride’s major partners, the brewer Anheuser-Busch, has withdrawn, according to the organization. The brewing company did not respond to requests from AFP.The lack of sponsorships is “newsworthy for sure,” noted Eve Keller, co-president of the USA Prides network of nearly 200 march organizations nationwide.Several US companies have opted to stop financially supporting organized events, especially those in June, designated as LGBTQ Pride Month.Pride organizations are reluctant to call them out, however, for fear of cutting ties. “Some are still talking with us,” Ford said. “We hope they return.”In some cities where 2025 Pride marches have already occurred, groups proceeded with “tighter” budgets, according to Keller.”They just didn’t have headliners (or) could not hire the biggest, best band,” she added, although for her, the main focus in 2025 was to ensure the safety of participants.- ‘Between the lines’ -In San Francisco, the companies all pointed to “budgetary reasons” for scaling back their contributions, said Ford.But “I think you could read between the lines,” she added. “No one wanted to be on record saying anything, you know, that would hurt them with the administration or with people that support the administration.” Since returning to the White House in January, Republican billionaire Trump has led a crusade against programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).Companies that implement such policies are threatened with prosecution, and several major brands, including Meta, Target and McDonald’s, have either abolished their DEI programs or drastically reduced them.The so-called “anti-woke” pressure campaign comes as US capital Washington hosts WorldPride, a global event for LGBTQ rights, culminating in a major parade this weekend.June Crenshaw, one of the rally’s organizers, estimates she suffered “about a 20, 25 percent reduction” in business partnership and support.”So we’ve had to look at other ways in which to finance programming, etc, really leaning on the community and individual donations,” she said. WorldPride organizers also decided to turn away from their “long and strong partnership” with the Kennedy Center after President Trump seized the reins of Washington’s renowned cultural institution, Crenshaw added.- ‘Pinkwashing’ -According to Bob Witeck, a communications consultant on LGBTQ topics for major brands, companies fear that taking part in these events could expose them to “visible risk” during a sensitive political period and “put themselves in harm’s way needlessly.”But several firms “are still engaged,” he stressed, including “through the nonprofits they serve.”San Francisco’s Ford noted that “pinkwashing” — the practice of superficially promoting LGBTQ rights — is no longer fashionable.By contrast, companies are contacting her offering support “but not wanting any credit,” Ford said.They “just want to do the right thing.”

A US prisoner on death row and a Catalan jazz star who formed an unusual musical collaboration have released a second album together that rallies against capital punishment. Catalan musician Albert Marques and Keith LaMar, who performs over the phone from a maximum security prison in Ohio, debuted their new work “Live from Death Row” at a gathering in New York last Friday.On death row since 1995 after he was convicted of a crime he insists he did not commit, LaMar’s execution is scheduled for January 13, 2027.The album, which coincides with LaMar’s 56th birthday, chronicles the civil rights struggle of Black people like himself.It features compositions by Marques with lyrics by LaMar, alongside classics such as Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” and “Alabama” by John Coltrane.LaMar said that music “saved his life” during solitary confinement, particularly jazz tracks like those on Coltrane’s 1964 album “A Love Supreme.””Music is the vehicle through which I’ve been able to resurrect my bid for freedom,” he told AFP.”I love it when a plan comes together, when the stars align to bring to fruition a dream that didn’t seem possible. That’s what this live album is — an impossible dream.”It follows 2022’s “Freedom First,” which turned into a clarion call for a fair retrial that could ultimately lead to LaMar’s release.”This music is about trust and faith (and) about stepping out even when you can’t see the stairs and believing that your foot will find something solid to stand on,” LaMar told AFP by email.- ‘This crazy thing’ -Marques, who is convinced of LaMar’s innocence, said “we have done this crazy thing at the highest possible level.”After staging concerts worldwide in recent years and “showcasing that we have done everything we could, we need help” to take the fight “to another level,” said Marques, a Brooklyn high school music teacher.”We may be tired, exhausted, but we cannot throw in the towel.”In 1995, an all-white jury found LaMar guilty of the deaths of five out of nine inmates and one guard killed during one of the worst prison riots in US history.During the incident, which happened in 1993, LaMar was already serving a sentence for the murder of a former friend during a drug dispute in his native Cleveland.LaMar, as well as recent journalistic investigations, claimed that exculpatory evidence was hidden at trial and destroyed, and other prisoners were rewarded with sentence reductions for implicating him.Ohio’s governor had postponed LaMar’s execution, originally scheduled for November 2023, due to the refusal of pharmaceutical companies to supply the components needed for lethal injection.However, the situation could change following President Donald Trump’s January 20 executive order directing the US attorney general to ensure states can access the necessary ingredients.Nineteen inmates have been executed so far this year, compared to 25 in all of 2024.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the renaming of a US Navy ship named after a gay icon, the assassinated former San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, a military affairs website reported Tuesday.Military.com said it had reviewed a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy that said the move was in line with Hegseth’s purported goal of “reestablishing a warrior culture” in the US armed forces.Military.com quoted an unidentified defense official as saying that Navy Secretary John Phelan had been ordered by Hegseth to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, and the timing of the upcoming announcement — during LGBTQ WorldPride month — was intentional.CBS News said the navy is considering re-titling several other ships including two named after former US Supreme Court justices — Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the top court, and liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Responding to the reports, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said “any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.””Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all (Department of Defense) installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief’s priorities, our nation’s history, and the warrior ethos,” Parnell said in a statement.Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, condemned the reported move to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, calling it “a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream.””Harvey Milk proudly served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was a formidable force for change -– not just in California, but in our Country,” the California congresswoman said in a statement.”This spiteful move… is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country.”Milk served as a US Navy diver at a time when there was a ban on homosexuality in the military.One of the first openly gay politicians in America, Milk was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, where he was instrumental in passing laws banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.Months later, in 1978, Milk was shot dead along with mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled former city supervisor.Milk’s murder helped cement his reputation as a civil rights icon, and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.The USNS Harvey Milk, a 227-metre (744-foot) refueling vessel, was christened at a ceremony in 2021 attended by then-secretary of the navy Carlos Del Toro.Since taking office, President Donald Trump has moved to ban transgender troops from the military and to dismantle diversity programs, claiming they “undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness.”

Canada’s wildfires, which have already forced evacuations of more than 26,000 people, continued their stubborn spread Tuesday, with heavy smoke choking millions of Canadians and Americans and reaching as far away as Europe.Alerts were issued for parts of Canada and the neighboring United States warning of hazardous air quality.A water tanker air base was consumed by flames in Saskatchewan province, oil production has been disrupted in Alberta, and officials warned of worse to come with more communities threatened each day.”We have some challenging days ahead of us,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told a news conference, adding that the number of evacuees could rise quickly.Every summer, Canada grapples with forest fires, but an early start to the wildfire season this year and the scale of the blazes — over two million hectares (494,000 acres) burned — is worrying.The provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been hardest hit. Both declared wildfire emergencies in recent days.”This has been a very difficult time for many Canadians,” federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski told reporters in Ottawa.”This wildfire season has started off more quickly, and it’s stronger, more intense,” she said, adding that the Canadian military has deployed aircraft to evacuate remote towns in Manitoba and was ready to also assist Saskatchewan and Alberta with firefighting.Climate change has increased the impact of extreme weather events in Canada, which is still recovering from the apocalyptic summer of 2023 when 15 million hectares of forests were scorched.As of Tuesday, there were 208 active fires across Canada. Half of them were listed as out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.Many of the affected populations are Indigenous, and some small communities have burned to the ground.- ‘Very intense few weeks’ -Heavy smoke from the fires, meanwhile, has engulfed part of the continent, forcing residents of four Canadian provinces and the US states of Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin to limit outdoor activities.”Smoke is causing very poor air quality and reduced visibility,” Environment Canada said in a statement.Wildfire smoke is comprised of gaseous pollutants such as carbon monoxide, along with water vapor and particle pollution, which can be particularly hazardous to health.Some of the worst smoke was in Alberta where three major oil sands producers — Canadian Natural Resources, MEG Energy Corp, and Cenovus Energy — this week evacuated workers and temporarily shut down hundreds of thousands of barrels of production per day.Huge plumes of smoke even reached Europe, the European Union’s climate monitoring service said Tuesday.Due to their very high altitude, they do not pose an immediate health risk, according to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), but are likely to result in hazy skies and reddish-orange sunsets.Additional plumes are expected to shade both continents in the coming days.”Central regions of Canada have experienced a very intense few weeks in terms of wildfire emissions,” noted Mark Parrington, scientific director at CAMS.Canadian authorities have forecast a more intense fire season than usual in central and western Canada, due in particular to severe or extreme drought.”The significant reduction in snowpack in the spring led to early exposure of soil and vegetation, accelerating surface drying,” explained University of Ottawa professor Hossein Bonakdari.”This early exposure acted as a silent amplifier, subtly setting the stage for extreme fires long before the first flame ignited,” he said.Elsewhere, extensive forest fires have been raging in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District since early April, particularly east of Lake Baikal, generating carbon emissions of around 35 million tons, Copernicus reported.