Amazon and Meta are no longer sponsoring Pride Amsterdam

 

Amazon and Meta are no longer sponsoring Pride Amsterdam

June 10, 2025

https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/06/amazon-and-meta-are-no-longer-sponsoring-pride-amsterdam/

 

Tech giants Amazon and Facebook have quietly withdrawn their support for Pride Amsterdam, following growing sensitivity around diversity policies in light of the Trump administration’s stance in the United States, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Tuesday.

 

“We’ve decided to focus on other marketing activities,” a spokesperson for Amazon in the Netherlands told the FD. While the company previously joined the parade with its own branded boat, it no longer features on the Pride Amsterdam website.

 

Amazon stated that the decision was made in 2023, but the Pride organisation said the sponsorship officially ended in 2025.

 

Facebook will also not be participating in the parade on August 2 and parent company Meta declined to respond to the paper’s questions. The organisers confirmed that Facebook has ended its sponsorship.

 

Pride Amsterdam spokesman Martijn Albers said many companies are grappling with how to navigate the current political climate in the United States. “A lot of firms are shocked by the strong pushback coming from the US,” he said.

 

Under the leadership of Donald Trump, the US government has taken a hardline stance against diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&I) policies. Restrictions have been imposed on LGBT+ rights, including a ban on the rainbow flag in official contexts, and the removal of terms such as “non-binary” and “gender” from government documents.

 

For some firms, local and international approaches differ. Deloitte’s US branch ended its own DE&I programmes earlier this year and withdrew from sponsoring World Pride 2025 in Washington DC. While Deloitte Netherlands will not have a boat in this year’s parade, it will be present with a large floating platform along the route.

 

 

“We’re taking part again, but this year with a large pontoon by the side,” said Dutch HR director Mariette Los, adding the platform offers more space for employees. Deloitte remains a listed sponsor of Pride Amsterdam.

 

A&O Shearman, which controversially signed a deal on diversity with the Trump administration in April, is still sponsoring Pride Amsterdam and will host a platform at the side of the parade for staff and guests, as it did in previous years. The firm last participated with a boat in 2022.

 

Pride Amsterdam says the Canal Parade is fully booked, with companies such as ING, Heineken and PwC all taking part.

 

KLM is also returning with its own boat. “We have 33,000 employees, and that’s reason enough to celebrate our diversity,” Helen Demosthenous, programme lead for diversity and inclusion, told the paper. “KLM never considered pulling back.” The airline is also a sponsor of World Pride 2026, which will take place in Amsterdam.