(Bloomberg) -- Staff at some City of London banks are pushing their firms to distance themselves from this year’s Pride in London parade over concerns about allegations of racism at the organization that came to light last year. 

Employees at lenders including Citigroup Inc. and Barclays Plc have been in private, joint discussions over whether to sponsor or otherwise support the event, according to people familiar with the matter. The July parade, which supports LGBTQ+ communities, will be the first in-person event since the pandemic and marks the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march in the U.K.

Citigroup has decided not to sponsor the march this year having supported the event in various forms since 2013. Barclays, which has been a sponsor in the past including in 2020, is currently missing from the raft of firms named as 2022 partners on Pride’s website. 

Pride’s entire community advisory board resigned in protest last year alleging a “hostile culture” within the organization towards people of color, according to a March 2021 statement. The advisory board’s 2021 statement alleged a failure by senior leadership to respond to complaints on racism and bullying, and criticized Pride’s rejection of the board’s recommendation to ban London’s police service from marching in the main parade. 

After the allegations came to light, Pride apologized and promised an overhaul, including a pledge to have at least half its leadership team come from minority and ethnic backgrounds.

But some staff at finance firms are underwhelmed by the changes Pride has made so far, the people said. Representatives for Citigroup and Barclays declined to comment. The finance industry has itself long struggled with diversity and discrimination allegations.

“We are fortunate this year to be partnering with some major organizations,” a spokesperson for Pride said in a statement, noting the organization partners with less than a quarter of sponsorship enquiries. “We make sure that our potential partners are authentic and they have genuine reasoning behind a desire to partner with Pride in London.”

The Pride allegations came to light after protests against racial injustice during the summer of 2020, with some members urging the group to exclude the Metropolitan Police. This year’s parade will call on the U.K. government to ban conversion therapy for all LGBTQ+ people, after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson backtracked on including transgender people in a ban on the discredited practice.

“Following the criticism and allegations that Pride in London received in March of last year, we set out and put to the public our ‘Proud of Pride’ plan which sets out clear and fundamental steps that the organization is taking based on feedback from our past and present members of our community,” Chris Joell-Deshields, executive director of Pride in London, said in a recent interview. 

“We want to ensure that we do better and deliver an event that is diverse and inclusive for everyone.”

Corporate sponsors typically contribute approximately 90% of the Pride march’s total cost and the organization said it has received over 40,000 applications from companies, charities and community groups. Sponsors this year include BT Group Plc, London Stock Exchange Group Plc and the U.K.’s biggest LGBTQ+ broadcaster Gaydio. More than 1.5 million people are expected to attend.

“Gaydio is a proud partner of Pride in London on the 50th anniversary of the event,” said Gaydio Business Director Ian Wallace, in a statement. “We acknowledge the issues that Pride in London has had previously and the steps they are taking to address this. Our desire is to work with them to create an event that’s truly welcoming to everyone.”

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