This year’s “Pride in the CLE” march and festival drew thousands to downtown on Saturday. Participants celebrated LGBT+ culture and identity and protested the Trump’s administration push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The political climate has led to some companies backing away from sponsoring such events and to abandoning LGBTQ+ marketing campaigns. 

The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland organized the event. Executive Director Phyllis Harris said that some corporate sponsors took a lower profile the event this year but still financially supported it. 

“We knew coming into January 2025, when we first began planning for this event, that it was going to feel different and that the urgency was going to be real and palpable like it always is, but there is an extra feeling of targets on our backs and our lives being hyper politicized,” she said. “So, we are here and proud and we want to be loud and to be visible and celebrate, and despite the challenges, we have resilience and we have joy.” 

The Buckeye Flame‘s 2025 LGBTQ+ Ohio Pride Guide has more than 125 events slated to take place in Ohio this year, with many in June.