PQ Media has released its inaugural edition of a forecast devoted to media ad spend for brands and advertisers seeking to lure the LGBTQ+ consumer — a segment long-known for its affluence and vigorous spending habits.
The big takeaway from the report: LGBTQ+ media spend growth in the U.S. is on the way down in 2025.
In particular, PQ Media says it will decelerate to 2.2% in 2025, to $11.7 billion.
This marks a deceleration from the 5.6% gain registered in 2024, when political campaigns targeted LGBTQ+ voters in swing states.
In fact, LGBTQ+ media accounted for 1.57% of the $746.68 billion of total ad and marketing spend in 2025, down from a 1.75% share in 2020.
What’s causing the reversal? “Brands began to pull back support for LGBTQ+ events in 2023 following the controversial boycott of Bud Light after it used a transgender actor in its Super Bowl ad,” PQ Media notes, adding that organizations that run PRIDE festivals reported significant declines in corporate sponsorships in 2023 and 2024, which weakened in 2025 due to political pressure on companies to disband their DEI programs.
“Key LGBTQ+ stakeholders” shared their views with PQ Media’s Global Opinion Leader Panel regarding the future of this market. Their outlook is not optimistic in the short-term.
“While we expected a slight acceleration in growth in 2026 due to the influx of political media buying, our Opinion Leader Panel is predicting an almost flat market until 2028,” PQ Media concludes. “This is despite the fact that the LGBTQ+ market over-indexes in purchasing cars, electronics, fashion, financial services and travel, among others. In addition, the LGBTQ+ community has favorable demographics that brands often target, such as skewing younger than the general population, more likely to be female, and be located in major metros like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.”
PQ also notes that in 2025, marketing media is the larger of the two LGBTQ+ media sectors, reaching $8.30 billion, a 70.7% share, posting a meager 1.9% growth rate. Advertising media posted stronger growth in 2025, rising 2.9% to $3.43 billion.
