With joy and resolve, paradegoers celebrate at global Pride gathering in D.C.

Boston Globe

5 hours ago

'This Pride is very much needed,' said Fred Rogers, 31, who lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia. 'We all need a chance to show the world that we are still here, and we're not going anywhere.'
Amid the joy and celebration, there was still an undercurrent of anger and worry. The parade route wound its way to less than a third of a mile from the White House, and President Donald Trump's moves to curb the rights of the LGBTQ+ community weighed heavily on some of the paradegoers and prompted other people not to attend at all.
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Ryan Bos, executive director of the nonprofit Capitol Pride Alliance, which organizes the city's annual Pride events, including this year's global one, said in an interview Saturday that planners had originally expected 3 million attendees over the three-week WorldPride festival, but the actual turnout fell short of that. Many business owners said that while the crowds were roughly normal for the city's annual Pride Parade, and the parade route itself was packed, attendance did not remotely live up to expectations for a festival that typically draws people from around the world.
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It was not clear how many people ultimately attended the festival and parade, but Bos said many people outside the country, particularly those who are transgender, feared traveling to the United States and potentially being detained. He said others stayed away out of anger with the current administration.
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'To see America rolling back human rights totally goes against the ideals of what America was founded on,' he said.
Fundraising also fell short of expectations, with some corporate sponsors pulling out and others asking that their logos not be prominently displayed. Other companies, though, did send floats along the route bearing their logos and carrying their employees in matching T-shirts.
Floats for IKEA, Amazon, Hilton Hotels and JPMorgan Chase were spotted on the route, and executives from United Airlines said they were sponsoring 10 Pride parades around the world this year.
The president has issued executive orders that bar transgender people from serving in the military, restrict gender identities on travel documents and proclaim that it is U.S. policy to 'recognize two sexes, male and female,' that are 'not changeable.'
He has tried to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, and many private companies have followed his lead. His administration is also considering removing the name of Harvey Milk from a naval ship, arguing the gay rights icon may not reflect the country's 'warrior ethos.'
All this makes it even more imperative for the entire LGBTQ+ community to remain visible and proud, said Sister Sybil Liberties, a drag queen with the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a charity and protest group of queer nuns.
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It's even more important 'to people outside of D.C. in less diverse and less queer areas, especially young people, to see this display,' she said.
WorldPride, one of the world's largest LGBTQ+ festivals, takes place in different cities every two years, and Washington was chosen before Trump was elected. It coincides with the 50th anniversary of the city's first Pride parade.
Deacon Maccubbin, 82, organized that event in 1975 outside his gay bookstore, Lambda Rising. It drew about 2,000 attendees.
On Saturday, he served as one of the parade's grand marshals and was overheard telling others not to worry that the trolley in which they were riding seemed to be running behind schedule. 'We're on gay time,' he assured them. 'Everything will start a year late.'
After days of back-and-forth discussions, federal officials said Saturday before the parade started that they would reopen Dupont Circle Park, which sits at the center of the city's historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood. They had previously fenced it off, saying the blockade would prevent criminal behavior.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the National Park Service issued a joint statement Saturday saying they had worked overnight on an agreement to reopen the park and looked forward to 'a safe and fun celebration in our nation's capital.' The mayor was also planning a disco-themed party in the park for later in the day.
DaeLyn Saint-Surin, 24, traveled to Washington from Bermuda for her first Pride parade away from home. She said the anti-gay stigma in Bermuda was intense, and she had been overcome with emotion several times already in the nation's capital.
'I have never seen so many gay people living their lives so freely and openly,' she said. 'This is really freeing.'
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