Celebrating Pride
with Toledo Pride®
Pride in Toledo vs. Toledo Pride®
We LOVE seeing Pride celebrated throughout Toledo. Host the parties, plan the events, decorate your businesses and bring people together. Celebrate WITH us. The more our community shows up for Pride, the better.
However, there is an important distinction we need everyone to understand: a Pride event happening in Toledo is not automatically a Toledo Pride® event.
This year, we’ve seen an increase in events and promotions using the Toledo Pride name that are not affiliated with the official Toledo Pride event. While that may seem like a small distinction, the confusion it creates has very real consequences for our organization and for the event our community looks forward to every year.
Why it matters.
Toledo Pride has grown into a large public event with a lot happening behind the scenes. Our name and reputation are connected to our insurance, park and event planning, sponsors, attendance, vendors, permits and public safety, and the many requirements that come with producing an event of this size.
When an unaffiliated event is promoted as “Toledo Pride,” people naturally assume it is ours. Attendees may think we organized it. Businesses may think we partnered with it. Sponsors may believe it is part of the event they are supporting.
And unfortunately, this year that confusion has gone beyond branding. It has created significant issues with our insurance and event planning, and we are currently having to rework portions of this year’s event because of it. That process has caused delays and has the potential to impact what we are able to provide our community.
That is why we’re asking everyone to help us protect the Toledo Pride name.
Celebrate with us!
We are absolutely not asking businesses and organizations to stop hosting Pride events. We want you to host them! Just give your event its own name:
We need our community to stay Pride all the way through the end of Toledo Pride. When our community shows up for the official event and supports the businesses and organizations that invest in it, it helps us continue building Toledo Pride year after year.
What we ask is simple: please don’t call an unaffiliated event Toledo Pride® or use the official Toledo Pride name or logo in a way that makes it appear to be part of our event.
Partner with Toledo Pride®
Official use of the Toledo Pride name and logo is reserved for authorized sponsors and partners of the official event.
If your business or organization wants to be officially involved, as a sponsor, a partner, or a coordinated event host, we would love to hear from you. Partnership puts you inside the event our community shows up for, with the recognition and reach that comes with it.
Looking ahead
to 2027.
We don’t want this conversation to end with what you can’t do. We want it to start a conversation about what we can do together.
business meeting.
Toledo Pride will host a meeting for organizations, businesses and community partners interested in being part of what comes next. We’ll share our plans for next year, talk about how to officially partner with Toledo Pride, and work together to better coordinate events and celebrations throughout the community.
There is room for all of us. Let’s throw more parties. Let’s create more spaces. Let’s celebrate Pride throughout Toledo and Northwest Ohio. We just need to be clear about what’s Toledo Pride® and what’s Pride happening in Toledo.
TOLEDO PRIDE® is a federally registered service mark, U.S. Registration No. 3,942,423. The name and official branding may not be used in a manner that falsely suggests affiliation with, sponsorship by, or endorsement by the official Toledo Pride event.
The absence of the ® symbol in any particular use of the TOLEDO PRIDE name does not constitute a waiver, abandonment, or limitation of the rights associated with the federally registered mark.