WorldPride moving events from Kennedy Center
WorldPride organizers said celebrations initially set to take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., would be held elsewhere, suggesting the change of venue was because of President Trump's recent takeover of the institution.
June Crenshaw, deputy director of D.C.'s Capital Pride Alliance, said the group 'proactively relocated' events slated for the Kennedy Center 'to ensure our entire LGBTQ+ community will be welcome.'
'These events have not been canceled,' Crenshaw said in an emailed statement. Rather, they have been moved to the WorldPride Welcome Center in downtown Washington, she said.
'WorldPride is happening, and it is essential to our community both in the US and around the world that we continue to be seen and our voices heard,' Crenshaw said.
The announcement comes after The Associated Press reported last week that WorldPride organizers and the Kennedy Center had canceled a week's worth of events amid a shift in priorities at the cultural institution. Artists and producers involved in the center's Tapestry of Pride schedule, which had been planned for June 5-8, told the AP that their events were abruptly canceled or moved to other venues.
Crenshaw said the AP's reporting is accurate, 'but to be clear, not all of the Tapestry of Pride events were canceled by the Kennedy Center.'
The Kennedy Center did not immediately return a request for comment.
Massive changes at the Kennedy Center have been underway since February, when Trump purged the center's board of trustees and installed himself as chair, a decision seemingly driven at least in part by a drag performance held there last year. ''NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA – ONLY THE BEST',' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that named Richard Grenell the center's executive director.
Days later, the Kennedy Center canceled a performance featuring the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, which the center said was due to financial constraints and scheduling conflicts. The group is set to perform the axed piece, 'A Peacock Among Pigeons: Celebrating 50 Years of Pride,' during WorldPride's International Choral Festival.
Stars serving in various roles at the Kennedy Center announced their departures following Trump's takeover, and performances of hot ticket shows like 'Hamilton' and 'Fellow Travelers' — based on Thomas Mallon's 2007 novel about two gay government workers who fall in love during the 1950s — were canceled or withdrawn from the institution by their creators.
Issa Rae canceled her sold-out show at the Kennedy Center shortly after Trump took over in early February. In an Instagram story post, she wrote that she canceled the show 'due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds.'
WorldPride organizers have taken additional precautions ahead of the event, which will run from May 17 to June 8 in Washington, over safety concerns driven by the Trump administration's rhetoric and policies targeting transgender rights.
An advisory issued earlier this month by Capital Pride Alliance said transgender people attending WorldPride celebrations from abroad should 'make an informed decision based on the potential risks involved,' citing a new State Department policy preventing transgender, nonbinary and intersex Americans from updating the sex designations on their passports.
The organization said it is 'actively' working with local officials in Washington 'to ensure the safety of visitors and residents planning to attend.'
'We encourage everyone in our global community, our allies and supporters, to consider participating in this historic moment in whatever way they can,' Capital Pride Alliance said in its statement.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Confusion, concern around Dupont Circle ahead of big WorldPride weekend
WASHINGTON () — There's confusion and concern swirling around Dupont Circle ahead of WorldPride festivities this weekend. The National Park Service (NPS) announced Monday evening that the neighborhood's central park and fountain , but some D.C. leaders say that plan could be reversed. The park has been home to past Pride celebrations, some of which left behind large amounts of litter and damage. DC police recinds request to close Dupont Circle park during WorldPride after pushback from DC community The NPS said the move came at the request of the DC Police Department, and in efforts to stay in line with President Donald Trump's executive order to protect D.C. landmarks and monuments. Councilmember Brooke Pinto told DC News Now she spoke with Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith Tuesday morning and changed her mind. 'We talked about some of her safety concerns and asked her to reverse the decision to make sure that the space could be opened to the public. And I'm very grateful that she agreed to do so,' said Pinto. MPD shared Smith's letter rescinding her request for non-scalable fencing and closure of the park Tuesday afternoon, though the letter acknowledges the final decision on the park's status this weekend lies with the NPS and U.S. Park Police (USPP). Man seen tearing down Dupont Circle Pride decorations; DC police investigating Confusion surrounding the Circle itself comes as D.C. Police are looking for someone who there Monday night. Video filmed Monday evening and shared with DC News Now shows a man tearing down Pride decorations in Dupont Circle. Caleb Files was on a run in the neighborhood when he noticed what the man was doing, started recording and shared the clip on social media. 'Silence is complicity. In a time like this, I really wanted to make sure that we were showing the hate that people have in their hearts. And it's sad, as we're facing WorldPride, and it's supposed to be a time for everybody to feel welcome here in the District,' said Files. Files said he told nearby police officers about what he saw and showed them the video. He said officers immediately began to search for the man and investigate. MPD told DC News Now it is investigating the incident as a destruction of property crime with hate and bias against the LGBTQ community. 'I hope that, if you have hate in your heart, that you can find something that overcomes that hate; we are not a hating people. Queer people need to be visible, especially in a time like this,' said Files. DC News Now saw crews with the Dupont Circle BID replacing the banners on Tuesday. Neighbors said their Pride celebrations and decorations will not be swayed. 'It was upsetting at first,' said one neighbor. 'As I am walking down the street, I just see joy everywhere. One little bad apple tears down one poster, a new poster is going to go up the following day.' As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the NPS had not yet confirmed the reversal of the decision to close Dupont Circle park this weekend. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘It is a whole different environment': Republicans revisit key Biden investigations with new momentum
The House Judiciary Committee is expected to interview former Hunter Biden special counsel David Weiss behind closed doors on Friday, two sources familiar with the interview told CNN, as part of a broader Republican effort to revisit previous probes into the Biden family that stalled last Congress but are gaining new momentum now that Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House. The scheduled interview, which could still be moved, would be the second time the Republican-led panel will interview Weiss about his work as Republicans continue to probe whether the investigation was hampered by political interference. Weiss has still never testified publicly about his six-year criminal probe into the president's son, which included three convictions, but was ultimately short-circuited as a result of the former president's unconditional pardon of his son. House Judiciary Republicans have long wanted to call Weiss, the Trump-appointed US attorney, back for questioning after his first closed-door interview in 2023. Committee Republicans were also able to finally secure interviews with two Department of Justice tax division prosecutors involved in the Hunter Biden probe who they had been aggressively pursuing for months, one of the sources familiar told CNN. The Justice Department is working with Weiss to provide access to documents he may need for his interview, a person briefed on the matter said. Any delays in getting access to documents would be a scheduling issue and the ability to have personnel who can oversee it, the person briefed on the matter said. It's not the only Biden investigation Republicans are reexamining that leans into a fresh political appetite with GOP control of Washington. House Oversight Chair James Comer is returning to his probe of the former president's mental fitness in an entirely new landscape after a recent book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson put Joe Biden's physical and mental decline back in the spotlight. Comer told CNN he is in the process of scheduling key interviews with Biden's White House physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, and other senior aides who had all rebuffed his efforts last Congress. Beyond the five initial interviews from Biden's orbit, the Republican Chairman told CNN he wants to look at the executive orders Biden signed in his last six months in office and use of the autopen. In the weeks immediately after Biden's disastrous 2024 debate performance that unraveled his presidential campaign and upended the Democratic party, Comer requested to interview Biden's doctor and subpoenaed three senior Biden aides to discuss their roles in the Biden White House, which never materialized. Now, Comer said in an interview with CNN, 'it is a whole different environment.' At the time of his 2024 interview requests, Comer's impeachment inquiry into the Biden family's business dealings had fallen apart and the Biden administration felt no incentive to comply with the House Oversight Committee. Probing Biden's decline now, Comer says, will be a lot easier than trying to convince his colleagues of an alleged Biden family foreign influence peddling scheme, which even Comer conceded was difficult to do, particularly in a minute or less on Fox News. Republicans failed to uncover evidence to support their core allegations against the president, and lacked the votes in their divided, narrow majority last Congress to impeach the president. 'The money laundering and the shell companies, the average American couldn't understand that. I mean, that was hard to understand,' Comer told CNN. 'You know, I did not do a good job explaining that.' But with his investigation into Biden's mental and physical decline, Comer said, 'people see a president that clearly is in decline. They saw it in the debate.' Democrats sought to dismantle the Republican-led 11 month impeachment inquiry into Biden last Congress at every turn. Comer told CNN that although those Democrats aren't jumping at the opportunity to cooperate now, he does not see them as being obstructive either. 'I take that as a step in the right direction,' he told CNN. Tapper and Thompson's book documents how Biden, his closest aides and his family forged ahead with the former president's doomed 2024 reelection bid despite signs of his physical and mental decline. In a previous statement to CNN, a Biden spokesman criticized the book, saying that evidence shows that 'he was a very effective president.' Former Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, who launched a long-shot challenge to Biden and was outspoken about his concerns over the former president's age, told CNN he did not think there needed to be an investigation on Capitol Hill at this point into Biden's fitness as president. 'This case already went to trial, the jury of American voters convicted the party of the accused, and handed out the harshest political punishment possible-losing the single most consequential election in modern history,' Phillips told CNN. Instead, Phillips called on Biden to authorize his physician to disclose his health file and condition under oath. 'Only if the former president refuses, or if questioning uncovers possible criminal activity, should an investigation be initiated,' Phillips added. Biden was recently diagnosed with an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer. CNN's Evan Perez contributed to this report.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
25K+ DC residents could lose Medicaid. Now what? Here's what you can do.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Mayor Muriel Bowser's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026 would leave more than 25,000 D.C. residents without health insurance due to Medicaid cuts. On May 2, the Bowser Administration urged Congress to maintain the District's Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, saying that changes will have severe impacts on the city's entire health care system. DC Council votes to pause July 1 wage bump under Initiative 82 Twenty days later, on May 27, cuts to Medicaid were announced during her budget presentation, with more than 25,000 residents expected to be impacted. Adults without children and adult caregivers between 138%-200% of the federal poverty level would be moved to D.C. Health Benefits Exchange, according to the mayor's presentation. The D.C. Health Benefits Exchange is expected to help around 90% of those losing access to Medicaid under the proposed eligibility changes, said Wayne Turnage, D.C. deputy mayor of health and human services. 'It won't be precisely the same benefits structure, but it will be very close,' Turnage said. See full interview with Turnage below: The Basic Health Plan is being developed by the Executive Director of the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority, Mila Kofman, in order to serve those individuals. Those eligible for the exchange program will need to apply once the program is fully up and ready in order to receive those benefits. DC police recinds request to close Dupont Circle park during WorldPride after pushback from DC community For the other 10% not covered by the program being developed, you may need to consider health insurance. Shadow Rep. Oye Owolewa (D) said these changes could potentially lead to a health care 'crisis' in the District, but he plans to take every step to ensure residents are prepared. 'As a pharmacist, an elected official, Ward 8 resident, we are reaching out to all of our residents who take or use D.C. Medicaid,' Owolewa said. 'We are trying to find them alternative strategies to get health care. We are also going to be doing a lot of men's health round tables to make sure folks who are using D.C. Medicaid, or folks who are 21 years or older, know how to get their health insurance.' Many who lose access to Medicaid may need to rely on hospitals and clinics that offer uncompensated care, said Zach Gaumer, managing principle of Health Management Associates' Washington, D.C. office. The company specializes in Medicaid and Medicare policy consulting for providers, payers, etc. 'Medicaid is often thought of as the insurance of last resort for low-income individuals,' Gaumer said. 'In a lot of cases, what happens to individuals when they lose Medicaid coverage is that they go uninsured. They have to turn to sources of care that are uncompensated.' Residents may also be able to go directly to their providers for additional resources and help on where they can get care at a reduced price or even at no cost, Gaumer said. Health care prices are the number one reason people go uninsured, he added. 'It's very expensive to insure individuals at this point in time, and it can be thousands of dollars a month to buy insurance,' Gaumer said. Republicans eye cuts to Medicaid If you become ineligible for Medicaid, there are still ways to have lower health insurance plans and pay less for premiums. The Health Insurance Marketplace allows low-income families to explore health care plans that are tailored to their income. Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Benefits and Coverage, also known as 'Obamacare,' matches individuals with health care plans with the goal of being affordable. This is offered by private health insurance companies rather than through the federal government. Register here. DC Health Link offers users the option to compare plans to see if they qualify for lower monthly premiums. To assist with premiums, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers tax credits to help cover premiums. It's a refundable tax credit for eligible individuals and families to cover premiums purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace. To get this credit, you must meet certain requirements and file a tax return with Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit (PTC). This includes not being eligible for Medicare. Click here for full eligibility requirements. Fredericksburg mother voice fears about potential Medicaid cuts D.C. Exchange has a hotline of (855) 532-5465 that's available Monday through Friday to assist with questions. PAN Foundation The organization helps with health insurance premium grants for patients being treated for various disease states. U.S. Citizenship is not a requirement, and you must have an income that falls at or below 500% of the Federal Poverty Level. The grant can help cover a portion of the premium costs for the following diseases: Fabry disease premium Hemolytic uremic syndrome premium Hemophilia premium Hypophosphatasia premium Inherited retinal disease premium Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency premium Myasthenia gravis premium Neurofibromatosis premium Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria premium Pompe disease premium Short bowel syndrome premium Additional programs can help with prescription costs, HIV/AIDS treatment and more. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
