Companies vs Employee Resource Groups in the Seattle Pride Parade

Every year during Pride, we hear the conversations and the concerns about the presence of corporations in the Seattle Pride Parade. We hear you, and we understand where that frustration comes from, especially now, in a time when many companies are pulling back from DEI commitments, staying silent when they should be speaking up, or even rolling back internal support for LGBTQIA+ employees.

Not all companies in the parade are marching as corporations. Many are represented through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), groups made up of queer and trans employees who’ve carved out space for themselves within their workplaces. These folks aren’t marching to represent a brand; they’re marching as LGBTQIA2S+ people who want to be seen, to find community, and to celebrate Pride just like everyone else.

At Seattle Pride, we encourage ERGs to show up as themselves, because our queerness is who we are, not who we work for. Our jobs don’t define our identities, and Pride is a space where we can lead with who we are.

Transparency matters to us. Being a marcher in the Seattle Pride Parade and being a Seattle Pride partner are two very different things. Marchers can register as a company, organization, or social group, but that doesn’t mean they’re a sponsor or funding our work.

Partners, on the other hand, are organizations who commit to a deeper relationship with Seattle Pride. They support our year-round programmatic work and align with our mission. You can always find a list of our official partners on the Partnerships page of our website.

In early 2025, we introduced a new vetting process for partnerships, one designed to address the broader systems that affect our community. This process looks at factors like political lobbying, ties to weapon manufacturing, anti-LGBTQ+ workplace policies, and more. Our goal is to hold honest conversations with companies and push them to do better, both for their employees and the broader LGBTQIA2S+ community.

At the same time, we recognize the hard work happening from the inside. Many ERG members are pushing for inclusive policies, challenging harmful norms, and doing the emotional labor of shifting workplace culture. That kind of advocacy, especially in environments that weren’t built for us, is important and often not recognized. It’s also exhausting. We want to hold space for those who continue to do that work, even when it’s hard and even when they aren’t fully supported.

So if you see a company name in the parade, we encourage you to look closer. You may be seeing LGBTQIA2S+ employees who are choosing visibility. Who are celebrating their identities publicly, maybe for the first time. Who are showing up for themselves and their communities, even when their employers don’t fully show up for them.

At Seattle Pride, we will always center queer and trans people first. That includes our artists, our organizers, our everyday changemakers and those doing the quiet, courageous work of pushing for change from within.

Let’s keep showing up for each other louder than ever.

Happy Pride