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U.S.|In the Shadow of the White House, the World Celebrates Pride in D.C.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/us/worldpride-parade-dc-trump.html
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Washington is hosting WorldPride, a global celebration of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, but the event has been made more difficult by shifts in U.S. policy.
June 6, 2025, 6:07 p.m. ET
Even before Washington was formally chosen as this year’s host city for one of the largest L.G.B.T.Q. pride events in the world, “the election was the biggest question,” said Ryan Bos, the executive director of Capital Pride Alliance.
At the time, the 2024 election was still two years away, but international Pride groups were nervously asking: What would it be like to hold the event, WorldPride, in the U.S. capital if there were an administration in the White House that sought to limit the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. communities?
In many ways, WorldPride has unfolded as the global celebration it is meant to be. D.C. is festooned with rainbow flags, and scores of music performances, art shows, sports events, conferences and house parties have been taking place across the city, with concerts and a music festival this weekend as well as a big parade scheduled on Saturday and a rally and march on Sunday.
But since he returned to the White House, President Trump has loomed over it all.
He issued executive orders that bar transgender people from serving in the military and that restrict gender identities on travel documents. Private companies scaled back or shut down diversity programs. State lawmakers introduced and, in some places, passed resolutions calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the ruling allowing same-sex marriage, reflecting the views of a growing majority of Republicans.
Just this week, Mr. Trump’s secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered the Navy to review the 2021 decision to name a ship after Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran and champion of gay rights.
“I knew that there was going to be a shift,” said Ashley Smith, the president of the board of Capital Pride Alliance. “I don’t think most of us probably thought it was going to happen so quickly, and that it would appear to be OK with so many people.”
