LGBT Film Festival Loses Corporate Sponsor’s Public Support Ahead of 2023 Pride Programming: “Parts of Our Country Don’t Want Us Raising Our Voices” (2024)

2023 has seen a steep rise in anti-LGBT+ legislation and attacks from right-wing extremists on businesses supporting inclusive measures. Target and Bud Light are probably the two most prominent examples, but you can add another to the list: NewFest, New York City’s largest presenter of LGBT+ film and media, which lost a corporate sponsor at the start of this year’s 3rd Annual NewFest Pride on June 1.

David Hatkoff, Executive Director of NewFest, told the crowd at the New York premiere of the indie drama Fairyland about the abrupt shift, noting that he would typically wait until later in the event to mention sponsors, but felt they deserved special recognition as one corporate sponsor suddenly backed out due to fear of recoil from anti-LGBT extremists.

In an email statement provided to Decider, Hatkoff clarified his note from the festival’s opening remarks, stating, “We did have a sponsor decide to fully honor their financial commitment to NewFest, but decline to utilize any of the public brand visibility benefits that came with their sponsorship. As a non-profit community organization we are grateful for the financial support of this partner and our other supporters, and are especially grateful for the many companies wanting and willing to stand alongside us in the essential work we do.”

NewFest and Hatkoff declined to name the corporate sponsor; however, a press release for the event from May lists Chevrolet, SVA Theatre, Gilead, Ketel One, and Mubi as sponsors. All companies except Chevrolet have been recognized during the festival thus far. Chevrolet, who began its ongoing pride initiative in 2021, was set to present LGBT Nation’s docuseries Authentic Voices of Pride in-person and virtually on June 3, followed by a discussion, but the NewFest website has removed the webpage for the screening and no longer lists the event on the festival’s full line-up. However, Chevrolet remains on the overall NewFest website listed as a sponsor. Decider has reached out to Chevrolet for comment.

NewFest’s Pride festival is currently running over the first five days of June and features New York premieres of films like Bottoms, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Problemista, and more. In addition to the abbreviated festival in June, NewFest has its 35th annual marquee festival in October, which tends to run for nearly two weeks and features over 100 queer and diverse movies and media projects. Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Paris is Burning and Moonlight are just a few of the many iconic movies NewFest has supported and/or premiered over the years.

Founded in 1988 and in “direct response” to the AIDs crisis, the organization isn’t new to navigating tough conversations surrounding LGBT+ politics. And according to Hatkoff, who talked further to Decider over the phone about the issues confronting an LGBT+ focused film festival in the middle of Pride Month, in a country deep in a culture war surrounding LGBT+ issues, 2023 is just another disappointing hiccup in the timeline.

“Always at NewFest, for better or for worse, we know that we are existing in a time when parts of our country don’t want us to be raising our voices,” Hatkoff told Decider. “That has evolved over the past few years and it’s evolved over the past 35 years, since NewFest has been around. The battles that we have had to fight and what those battles look like have changed over time, but what has very unfortunately stayed the same is that we have to continue to fight them.”

Referring to the festival’s opening premiere, he added, “The energy in the room, in a place that has been primarily designed to celebrate queer folks, is pretty incredible. It’s just so joyful. And as I said in my speech: ‘Joy can be a really useful tool in this fight.'”

Hatkoff has been the executive director of NewFest since 2019 and recognizes the safety net that comes with being in New York City, noting the organization is “fortunate” to not have to implement additional safety measures at this time to protect the full-house of moviegoers that each screening brings. “We’re always cautious of wanting to create a safe space, so it is something that we think about. We’re very fortunate that our in-person screenings take place in New York, which is a relatively safe place for most members of our community.”

The director added, “Fortunately, we have not faced the kinds of threats that we’re seeing in other parts of the country, but it’s something we’re very aware of because the safety of our community is essential.”

As Hatkoff notes, aggressively negative and downright dangerous anti-LGBT+ laws have been passed in other states this year so far, including Florida, Tennesee, and Montana. And though the focus on these attacks has heightened as 2023 has continued, the pushback through what should be the safe space of a film festival celebrating queer art doesn’t stop at the end of the festival — or the end of June. “Pride is just one small part of what we do throughout the year,” Hatkoff said. “It’s certainly important for us to have a presence during Pride month, but it’s just as important, if not more so, for the work that we do and the presence that we have to continue throughout the year.”

Or, as the festival director noted in the organization’s 2023 festival trailer, “At NewFest, we create a space where we say ‘gay’ every day. Say it proudly, tell the world: ‘We are here, we are queer and we’re not going anywhere.'”

Hopefully, future sponsors can take that note to heart. Say it proudly. Tell the world.