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At the end of May, Kate Austin, a creator who makes LGBTQIA+ lifestyle content for more than 273,000 followers, was panic-texting her manager asking where all her brand deals were. By that time in years prior, Austin typically had most of her deals in the books.

“I was like, ‘What’s going on, is there anything in the works?’” she said. “I was panicking. You feel like you’re failing.”

In May, agency execs told Campaign US they weren’t seeing many brands prepare to launch Pride Month campaigns. A conservative boycott of Bud Light that kicked off after the brand worked with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney last year and progressive criticisms of rainbow washing had pushed marketers into silence.

For LGBTQIA+ creators, the advertiser pullback means that brand deals dried up during their most lucrative time of the year.

“I know there are a lot of creators on TikTok I’ve seen talk about the fact that they’ve had to start DoorDashing or delivering for Uber Eats,” Austin said.

Austin typically secures more than 10 Pride deals every year. This year, she secured four from Marriott, Sam Edelman, Seeq and Free People. Large brands she’s previously done Pride campaigns with didn’t work with her this year, though she declined to name them.

Austin said she’s fortunate to have enough recurring brand partners to get by, even with the roughly 50% decrease in Pride work this year. Still, she’s carefully monitoring how many affiliate links she shares to earn extra income.

“It’s stressful for a lot of reasons,” she said. “Queer creators know that June is the time when they will make a lot of their money for the year. Not being able to depend on that is a shame.”

Marti Cummings, a nonbinary drag artist and creator, typically secures 25 Pride deals annually. This year, they signed 12.

They usually make about 20% of their annual income from Pride brand deals. They said that while they’re fortunate to still make enough to live comfortably, even with a roughly 50% drop in those deals this year, they’re focusing on pursuing opportunities with other queer artists.

In addition to the many brands that have ceased Pride campaigns this year, those still active reached out to creators much later than in prior years, prompting creators to wonder if advertisers are deciding to market with the community at the last minute.

Austin didn’t receive Pride deal offers until the last week of May and the first week of June. She found most of her work this year after reaching out to brands herself. In prior years, her inbox filled up in April. 

Cummings experienced a similar shift. Without naming brands, they stated that several companies they’ve worked with previously said they’re not doing Pride campaigns this year.

“Some friends of mine have said that they have no [deals] or one this year,” they said. “And it’s because these companies are pulling further and further away.”

Why brands are pulling back

For brands, the risk of engaging with Pride campaigns this year is twofold. On one hand, they’re scared of rightful criticisms about rainbow-washing without providing full-throated support throughout the year. On the other, they’re scared of facing a similar conservative backlash as Bud Light.

As Sway Group CEO Danielle Wiley put it, adland is living in a post-Mulvaney world where brands want “vanilla” creators whose political stances, including their existences as queer people, are muted.

“There’s a ton of fear and queer creators are suffering as a result of that,” she said. “A post that might just be a person kissing their partner would have been totally fine a year and a half ago, and now that’s seen as risky or political.”

This view is common across brand categories, especially among those in the Fortune 100, Wiley said, noting that Sway Group has seen a falloff in Pride marketing. In the beverage industry, the Mulvaney effect hangs so strongly that brands are cautious about working with any influencers at all.

Wiley recommends clients work with creators who align with their brand values and reminds them that it’s okay for brands to take stances. But when a brand is nervous about taking a stance, she said there’s little she can do.

“We have to go by what the client wants to do,” she said. “We can share that we think someone would be a great choice for them to work with, but at the end of the day, we can’t force them to spend their money that way.”

As much as brands want to appear apolitical, consumers don’t see them that way, nor do they want to. According to Edelman’s latest Trust Barometer, more than 75% of global consumers feel that brands are acting politically and more than 70% feel brands must take a side on controversial issues.

At Cannes, Cummings, fellow drag performer Miss Peppermint and Interpublic Group spoke about how a total walk-back of LGBTQIA+ support isn’t the right response to fear. Instead, to avoid rainbow-washing, brands should provide year-round support in addition to their Pride campaigns. 

“What financial resources are they providing to marginalized communities throughout the year?” Cummings said. “What speakers are they bringing in to talk to their employees? As we see DE&I rolled back at a lot of companies, what are they doing to counter that? What are their hiring policies?”

Countering conservative backlash is more difficult, but Cummings maintained that brands can’t back down from providing LGBTQIA+ support for that reason.

“What does that say to their employees who are part of the community that they’re backing down?” they said. “Sell that merchandise and have a portion of those proceeds go to whatever community they’re selling it to … don’t run away from the issue, which is what they’re doing.”

This article originally appeared on Campaign US.