Two months ago, Philz Coffee ordered its Pride flags taken down. Now, it’s sponsoring one of the biggest Pride celebrations in the world.

SF Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford said Philz has never sponsored the parade since she took over the organization in 2018. But this year, the Mission-born coffee shop is pitching in $30,000. 

Call it a gesture of goodwill, call it a face-saving PR move. Either way, Philz is on board after rocking the boat with the short-lived but controversial order in April to ban Pride flags in its stores.

“It was like, OK, we see that you’re addressing the harm you caused, you’re reversing your decision. Would you like to deepen this relationship, and would you like to support San Francisco Pride?” Ford said. “I’m really, I’m very grateful that they did.” 

 Ford, a transgender woman, intervened after Philz CEO Mahesh Sadarangani told baristas and other employees the rainbow flags would be removed to create a “more consistent, inclusive experience across all our stores.” The backlash was immediate from staff and customers. Criticism poured in across social media. Baristas said their tips dried up as customers got their caffeine fix elsewhere. To underscore her point, she read to him during an April meeting a death threat she had received that morning to demonstrate the hatred and threats of violence queer and transgender people often face.

Through his discussions with Ford, Sadarangani said he came to realize that the flag takedown made queer people feel unsafe.

“When Suzanne and I met in April to have a real conversation about the Pride flag decision, my eyes were opened about how deeply the community felt about the flag, and I committed to keeping them up in our stores,” he said in an emailed statement. “I am very proud that Philz is a sponsor of SF Pride.”

Though its support of the parade organization is new, Philz’s UNITY campaign has donated to queer and trans groups each June since 2022, Sadarangani said.

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With its involvement, Philz fills the void left by Starbucks, which dropped out as a 2026 sponsor and was the only company not to return this year, Ford said. The company wouldn’t say why it dropped out, but said Starbucks baristas will give San Francisco Pride volunteers free drinks and that the company is participating in Pride celebrations in Los Angeles, Nashville, Dallas, and Seattle.

Another newcomer this year is Gap, according to Ford. The apparel company cosponsored the Runway of Pride fashion show Tuesday night, she said. 

Meanwhile, the lack of support from tech companies — one of the city’s dominant industries — vexes Ford. Meta (opens in new tab) and Google, for instance, have not been sponsors since 2022.

The lack of support from AI companies, the latest winners (opens in new tab) in the current tech boom, is most frustrating, she said. She met Sam Altman in person earlier this year and asked him to have OpenAI sponsor Pride, but she said he was “non-committal.” She never heard back from him.

“It is preposterous in this city that AI, who’s benefitting from San Francisco, they’re not taking care of the community like they should,” Ford said. 

While support from the tech sector has lagged, other Bay Area-based companies have rallied around Pride. Kaiser Permanente, Gilead Sciences, and BMO have also increased their sponsorship amounts, Ford said.

“I feel like it’s shifting a little bit. I think people understand that it will bend back towards social justice,” she said. “We’re going to get through this nightmare, and I think that people are starting to think about what it’s going to look like on the other side.”