Tampa’s CBS affiliate reports:

Tampa Pride announced it is implementing a one-year hiatus of the annual Tampa Pride Festival and Diversity Parade, citing the “current political and economic climate.”

A letter from the Board of Tampa Pride was published to the organization’s Facebook and website Friday, saying challenges with corporate sponsorships, reductions in county, state and federal grant funding, as well as the discontinuation of DEI programs under Gov. Ron DeSantis has made it difficult to sustain ongoing operations for 2026.

“We recognize the festival and parade’s significant financial contribution to local businesses and its vital role to our LGBTQIA+ community. However, this pause is necessary for the organization to regroup, reassess our long-term strategy, and identify additional avenues of funding to secure the future stability of Tampa Pride events,” the board wrote.

Read the full article. Cultists on social media are celebrating, with some crediting anti-LGBTQ activist Robby Starbuck for having pressured many major corporations into dropping sponsorship of Pride events. In 2023, Tampa Pride appeared here when DeSantis’s anti-drag pogrom forced the cancellation of one of their events.