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By Marni Rose McFall
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Levi Strauss & Co. unveiled its 2025 Pride collection shortly after a decisive shareholder vote to retain the company's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Levi for comment.
Why It Matters
Pride month is observed in June each year, coinciding with the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a series of protests for gay liberation. This year's Pride month comes at a critical time for LGBTQIA+ people; President Donald Trump has taken multiple steps to unravel protections for transgender people since returning to the White House.
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Trump also moved to dismantle DEI initiatives shortly after his inauguration. He has described such initiatives as "radical" and "wasteful."
What To Know
The collection, titled "Meet You In the Park," is described by Levi's as "celebrating queer joy through self-expression," and is inspired by "LGBTQIA+ rodeo culture from the '70s to today." Levi's makes an annual donation to Outright International, a global organization that supports LGBTQIA+ people worldwide.
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The collection features denim items, such as jackets and shorts, as well as wardrobe basics like sweatshirts and t-shirts. The staple items feature LGBTQIA+ symbols, including a rainbow and an upside-down pink triangle.
The inverted pink triangle is an important symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community. It was originally a Nazi-era symbol sewn on the uniforms of gay detainees in concentration camps. It was later reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community and reappropriated as a positive symbol of self-identity.
Michael Bronski, Professor of the Practice in Activism and Media in the Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University told Newsweek by email: "Amidst all of the attacks on DEI programs," Levi's should be "commended for their resistance."
"This is true especially when many companies have caved into this illegal pressure (since when does the government/ federal or state administration get to interfere with commercial business decisions) as we have seen with the number of companies who have withdrawn their support from LGBT Pride marches this year," he said. "DEI and outreaches to these events (a form of advertising) is just good business."
In April 2025, less than 1 percent of Levi's shareholders supported a proposal to abolish the company's DEI programs, per ESG Dive. The move comes after the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a conservative Washington-based think tank, submitted a proposal calling for Levi's to halt diversity programs, employee resource groups, and any consideration of race or gender in hiring or promotion.
Levi's management firmly recommended voting against the measure, stating that DEI supports business performance and employee wellbeing and that removing DEI programs would not be in the best interest of shareholders.
Following the re-election of Trump, something that was interpreted by some as a rejection of the DEI and "woke" policies adopted by much of the corporate world over the past few years, companies including Walmart, Bud Light and Target have walked back their DEI policies.
However, other companies, including Goldman Sachs, Costco, and Apple, have decided to continue with their DEI initiatives.
What People Are Saying
Levi's, on their website, describing their collection: "Inspired by queer liberation iconography, our collection pays homage to the history of San Francisco, an LGBTQIA+ mecca and home to Levi's."
Academic and writer Michael Bronski told Newsweek by email: "Levi's—in this current culture very brave—decision to promote LGBTQ identity and pride is highly commendable. But is this also a sign of how deep this campaign of erasure and censoring is—and yes, clearly a case of cancel culture, of which the right keeps accusing the left—that we need to praise a private commercial company for simply standing up and doing what they consider to be good business? LGBTQ people's public and private dignity should not have to rest on a savvy advertising campaign. But that is where we are today."
What's Next
Pride month will last for the whole of June, with multiple celebrations taking place across the world.
Update 05/30/25 06:48 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Professor Michael Bronski.
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