World Pride comes to Washington in the shadow of, and in defiance of,
the Trump administration
[May 17, 2025]
By ASHRAF KHALIL
WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Pride 2025 welcome concert, with pop icon
Shakira performing at Nationals Stadium, isn't until May 31. But for
host city Washington D.C., the festivities start with a string of
localized Pride events beginning with Trans Pride on Saturday.
Hundreds of LGBTQ+ rallies, seminars, parties, after-parties and
after-after-parties are planned for the next three weeks across the
nation's capital, including Black Pride and Latin Pride. It all
culminates in a two-day closing festival on June 7 and 8 with a parade,
rally and concerts on Pennsylvania Avenue by Cynthia Erivo and Doechii.
The biannual international event typically draws more than a million
visitors from around the world and across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. But this
year's events will carry both a special resonance and a particular sense
of community-wide anxiety due to the policies of President Donald
Trump’s administration.
Trump's public antipathy for trans protections and drag shows has
already prompted two international LGBTQ+ organizations, Egale Canada
and the African Human Rights Coalition, to issue warnings against
travelling to the U.S. at all. The primary concern is that trans or
non-binary individuals will face trouble entering the country if
passport control officers enforce the administration's strict binary
view of gender status.
“I think it’s a fair assumption that the international numbers won’t be
as high due to the climate and the uncertainties,” said Ryan Bos,
executive director of the Capital Pride Alliance. “At the same time we
know that there’s an urgency and importance to showing up and making
sure we remain visible and seen and protect our freedoms."
There's major anxiety over Trump's approach to LGBTQ+ rights
Opposition to transgender rights was a key point for Trump’s
presidential campaign last year and he’s been following through since
returning to the White House in January, with orders to recognize people
as being only male or female, keep transgender girls and women out of
sports competitions for females, oust transgender military troops,
restrict federal funding for gender-affirming care for transgender
people under age 19 and threaten research funding for institutions that
provide the care.
All the efforts are being challenged in court; judges have put some
policies on hold but are currently letting the push to remove
transgender service members move forward. An Associated Press-NORC
Center for Public Affairs Research poll found support for some of his
efforts.
In February, Trump launched a takeover at the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts, publicly promising to purge drag shows from the
institution's stages. Within days of that takeover, the Kennedy Center
abruptly pulled out of plans to host the International Pride Orchestra
as part of a week-long series of World Pride crossover events entitled
Tapestry of Pride. In the wake of that cancellation, the Capital Pride
Alliance cancelled the entire week and moved some of the Tapestry events
to alternate venues.
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Some potential international participants have already announced
plans to skip this year's events, either out of fear of harassment
or as a boycott against Trump's policies. But others have called for
a mobilization to flood the capital, arguing that establishing a
presence in potentially hostile spaces is the precise and proud
history of the community.
“We’ve been here before. There is nothing new under the sun," said
D.C. Council Member Zachary Parker, who is gay. “While this is
uncharted territory … a fight for humanity is not new to those in
the LGBTQ+ community.”
Supporters say showing up would carry symbolic weight
A recent editorial in the The Blade by Argentinian activist Mariano
Ruiz argued for “the symbolic weight of showing up anyway,” despite
the legitimate concerns.
“If we set the precedent that global LGBTQI+ events cannot happen
under right-wing or anti-LGBTQI+ governments, we will effectively
disqualify a growing list of countries from hosting,” Ruiz wrote.
“To those who say attending World Pride in D.C. normalizes Trump’s
policies, I say: What greater statement than queer, trans, intersex,
and nonbinary people from around the world gathering defiantly in
his capital? What more powerful declaration than standing visible
where he would rather we vanish?”
The last World Pride, in 2023, drew more than 1 million visitors to
Sydney, Australia, according to estimates. It's too early to tell
whether the numbers this year will match those, but organizers admit
they are expecting international attendance to be impacted.
Destination D.C., which tracks hotel booking numbers, estimated that
bookings for this year during World Pride are about 10% behind the
same period in 2024, but the organization notes in a statement that
the numbers may be skewed by a “major citywide convention” last year
that coincided with what would be the final week of World Pride this
year.
Still, as the date approaches, organizers and advocates are
predicting a memorable party. If international participation is
measurably down this year, as many are predicting, the hope is that
domestic participants will make a point of attending.
“The revolution is now,” said Parker, the D.C. council member.
“There is no greater demonstration of resistance than being present
and being you, and that is what World Pride is going to represent
for millions of folks.”
___
Associated Press reporter Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New
Jersey, contributed to this report.
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