Amid federal efforts to reverse and eradicate LGBTQ+ rights, WorldPride is coinciding with the District’s 50th anniversary Pride celebrations, prompting the local queer community to reflect on the past in order to push forward into an uncertain future.
Events kicked off in the nation’s capital on May 17, beginning a three-week celebration of panels, exhibits, rallies and parties, all culminating with a closing concert featuring headliners Cynthia Erivo and Doechii.
Hosted by InterPride and Capital Pride Alliance, this year’s theme is “The Fabric of Freedom,” communicating a message of unity amid nationwide attacks on LGBTQ+ culture and identities.
“The theme carries different meanings for everyone, but is intended to recognize the intricacies of fabric and how it has historically been used as a symbol that communities use to identify themselves and others,” Capital Pride Alliance told The Informer. “Fabric is used often as forms of resistance – as flags or clothing. The strings woven together make the fabric stronger, and like our community, we are stronger together.”
Through events, art exhibits and more programming, this year’s WorldPride and DC Pride offers attendees an opportunity to uplift the LGBTQ+ community, while also working to combat national and worldwide hate to promote equity and justice for all.
“Right now our rights are under attack,” said Alex Fraioli, a board member of the Rainbow History Project. “We’ve already seen major changes, specifically with the transgender community. There’s more to come and we should not take that as a threat, to be quiet and hide, we should continue to fight.”
Trump’s Executive Orders and Anti-Trans Legislation
This year’s Pride comes as conservative politicians across federal, state and local levels lead efforts to limit expressions of transgender identity and culture.
Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has issued a series of executive orders regarding the legal rights and recognition of transgender Americans.
The administration has: attempted to ban transgender people from the U.S. military; block schools from using federal funding to support trans students and promoting trans-inclusivity in their curriculum; designate “gender ideology” as a form of child abuse; restrict gender-affirming medical care for Americans under 19; and scrubbed LGBTQ+ and HIV-related resources from federal websites.
“There’s a very huge connection between what’s political and what’s personal, because they are the same. They are very much intersectional and intertwined in the way that we move on this Earth as human beings, but it’s different for us as queer and trans people because it’s our existence that is under attack,” said indigenous trans activist Amasai Jeke during an API Pride panel on Saturday.
Further, there’s a rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation more generally, with a growing number of bills targeting transgender access to healthcare, education, artistic expression and legal recognition.
Last year, more than 700 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across the country, and 51 were passed. This year, over 910 bills have already been introduced, and more than 100 passed, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker.
“As queer and trans people, we seem to be very resilient in the face of adversity and this political climate that we’re in, but it’s still that always having to check the boxes to see whether we’re safe, to see whether we still have access to resources, and just being able to move around,” Jeke said. “We’re the most wanted people in this kind of movie act that we’re in, that we’re constantly under attack simply for just living our truth. To me, that’s become very problematic.”
D.C. Community Pushes Back Against Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric
Some Washingtonians view WorldPride as a time to reflect on LGBTQ+ history and political struggles, but also an opportunity to celebrate queer expression and control representations of their own stories.
Rainbow History Project’s exhibition “Pickets, Protests and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington” is one event working to unite the past and present of queer activism in D.C. It opened to the public in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 22 and will be open through July 6 at Freedom Plaza.
“This is an exhibit of fighting for 60 years and we’re going to keep fighting for another 60,” Fraioli told The Informer. “We haven’t won every battle along the way, but we’ve at least tried to. I think this is our reminder to people that they should not be afraid to share who they are and what their story is and we should continue to tell these histories, regardless of what the government says, especially being here on Pennsylvania Avenue.”
The exhibit chronicles D.C.’s extensive LGBTQ+ history, beginning with the one of the nation’s earliest gay rights organizations, The Mattachine Society, and its White House pickets and uprisings of the 1960s. It concludes with vibrant celebrations of queer pride in the 2020s, documenting the ways in which local advocates used pride celebrations to advance civil rights and visibility. Much of the source material comes from people directly involved in these actions.
“I came to D.C. not really knowing who I was, and there was a lot of parts of my story that have been revealed since,” said Fraioli. “The concept of a gay person was kind of far-fetched for me growing up. Being able to identify with people that existed long before I existed on planet Earth is a big deal. Honoring them is telling their story–pieces of these things have been told, but not as a full conclusion.”
Other attendees echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of leveraging historical storytelling in pride festivities as a “reminder” to contextualize the struggles of the community today.
“What was done here had an impact across the entire country from the federal branch, and the spectrum of community is so large and vast here that it’s amazing to dive into and provide some context,” said Zach Patalingjug, D.C. resident and owner of Beyond the Landmarks Walking Tours, an official WorldPride event partner. “I was reading about the Mattachine Society, which a lot of people don’t know, and the fact that that’s 20 years before Stonewall. This is a period of very hard working, very brave people coming out and fighting every possible odd and a lot of good things [came] from that.”
Outside of WorldPride, local organizations and LGBTQ+ performers continue this legacy of advocacy by working to fight against efforts of censorship on queer and trans culture.
Blaq Dynamite, D.C.-based drag king and president of Qommittee, called out some of the local and national violent uptick that have plagued the queer community, and notably targeted drag and trans individuals.
Venues like Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida and Club Q in Colorado, both clubs renowned in uplifting LGBTQ+ individuals, both gained national coverage after instances of violent attacks. Locally, Sinners and Saints Bar in Northwest D.C., which serves as a safe space for queer and transgender people of color, was broken into and vandalized on Friday, the first day of D.C. Black Pride.
Thus, Qommittee, a nationwide network of drag performers, attorneys and organizers, has been steadfast in the protections of queer and trans art. In March, the coalition led a march and rally at the Kennedy Center in protest of Trump’s controversial self-appointment as chairman of the Kennedy Center Board.
Now, the group is working on a Drag Defense Handbook, set to release on May 29, which compiles information and lessons from elder queer activists to serve as a resource for those getting into advocacy work.
Other features of the handbook will include first-hand recounts of doxing, bomb threats, and worker discrimination.
“It became evident to me that there are a lot of people who have never had to fight in this way before. Some of our members are older, like myself, but some of [them] are kids, and some…have never had to deal with violent threats and…with legal threat,” said Dynamite. “[It’s] informative in a very strategic way and systematic way, but it’s also informative in a very caring way. It’s telling people, ‘Hey, we’ve been through this and we can help you through it as well.’”
Dynamite further encouraged D.C. WorldPride visitors to engage with the local queer community on a deeper level.
“The experience I want them to take away is one that is of a collective that watches out for each other. Whatever people see on the news [or] online about D.C., that’s not the real D.C. and that’s especially not the real D.C. queer community,” he told The Informer. “When you come down here, come talk to us. Don’t assume because you’re in the nation’s capital that we’re going to be some specific kind of way; you may miss out on the opportunity to have an eye-opening conversation with someone here.”
Programming for WorldPride
WorldPride is offering a wide range of programming for all ages, communities and orientations, including weeks of events honoring Asian and Pacific Islander Pride, Latinx Pride, Silver Pride and Youth Pride, in addition to the DC Black Pride celebrations that commenced May 23-26.
On Thursday, CulturalDC unveiled its newest interactive art exhibit titled “Mighty Mighty: The Barbershop Project,” held in its mobile art gallery outside of MLK Library.
Artist Devan Shimoyama explores themes of masculinity, queerness, Blackness and belonging through a number of creations that depict fictional Black barbershop patrons utilizing the barbershop as a space to decompress and tap into emotional vulnerability.
“It felt like a way for me to use fiction as a tool to explore an ideal version of the barbershop where I could feel at peace with the version of masculinity that I might want to present in a space [that] normally may be quite discomforting,” said Shimoyama. “We can all open ourselves to this conversation and be more upfront about it…welcoming and accepting each other for who we are and be strengthened as a community at large.”
Gallery attendant and artist Autumn Spears underscored the value of showcasing Black queer identity during WorldPride.
“When you think about queerness, in general, I feel like Blackness is at the center of that – when you think about the culture it originates from, how it’s evolved,” Spears told The Informer. “Having a space to honor that legacy but also push forward these narratives of visibility, acceptance and beauty is important.”
Other notable events included Saturday’s Capital House Music Festival at Alethia Tanner Park in Northeast D.C., where the cultural contributions of Black and queer musicians were celebrated in a daylong tribute to the life, music and legacy of house music DJ Sam “The Man” Burns.
Organized by Capital House Music Festival and the Sam “The Man” Burns Legacy Foundation, the event revered Black and LGBTQ+ cultures as a bridge between the respective communities, featuring food trucks, vendors and a large dance floor.
“House music is built not only by Black people, but also the LGBTQ community,” said Mason Burns, son of the celebrated DJ and a volunteer at the event. “I want the message to be this genre is vastly different from all other genres and people coming together, having a good time, enjoying each other and coming together as one.”
Some local residents touted appreciation for WorldPride coming to D.C., highlighting an opportunity for visibility and unity among queer communities.
Musician and D.C. native Kokayi Walker highlighted the celebration as a direct confrontation to “all of the fascism and homophobia that’s happening with the current administration.” Similarly, attendee Alanna Bellfield, 19, noted the importance of utilizing WorldPride to uphold the resilience and strength of the queer community.
“Celebrating is basically saying, ‘We’re still here.’” You can do all you want to shut us down or close everything, but we still exist and we’re not going to stop existing,” Bellfield told The Informer. “We’re still going to be celebrating who we are.”
