On a cloudy June afternoon along 14th Street in Washington, baton-twirling marchers strutted in thigh-high boots and rainbow fans clacked and snapped in revelers’ hands.
Hundreds of thousands had flocked to the nation’s capital — or, as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently boasted, the “gayest city in the world.”
Welcome to WorldPride, where for several days in June there was a clear message of love for LGBTQ communities. Hovering in the background of the celebrations about a mile away was President Donald Trump, who for months has targeted LGBTQ rights. Still, this fraught political climate didn’t discourage crowds across the D.C. region — which includes parts of Maryland and Northern Virginia — from using the season to affirm that LGBTQ people matter.
Trump has signed executive orders restricting gender-affirming care for youth, prohibiting transgender troops from serving in the military, and banning transgender women and girls from playing in women’s sports. These actions took a toll on WorldPride attendance and sponsorship; some companies withheld support, fearing that they would be seen as backing diversity, equity, and inclusion measures.
Still, after months of mass firings that echoed the McCarthyist anti-gay purge of the 1950s, marchers held signs declaring that they’re “proud gay federal workers” and that they ought to be able to serve their country just like everyone else.
“Pride isn’t just a time for us to be bold, to be out, to be unapologetic. It’s also a time for us to reflect on the work that we still need to do,” state Del. Gabriel Acevero, who in 2018 became the first openly gay man of Afro-Latino descent elected to the Maryland General Assembly, told Capital B. “We have to be vigilant — because the progress we’ve made over the years has been rolled back, or there are attempts to roll it back.”
Acevero’s district covers portions of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is involved in an ongoing dispute over the presence of LGBTQ-inclusive books in school curricula.
Take a look at some of the moments that capture the joy and tension of this year’s WorldPride festival, where people crowded onto streets, sidewalks, and rooftops to cheer and make their voices heard.
