World Pride comes to Washington in the shadow of the Trump administration

World Pride, a biannual international event, typically draws more than a million visitors from around the world and across the LGBTQ spectrum.

WASHINGTON — The World Pride 2025 welcome concert, with pop icon Shakira performing at Nationals Stadium, isn’t until May 31. But for host city Washington, D.C., the festivities started with a string of localized Pride events on Saturday, including Trans Pride.

Hundreds of LGBTQ rallies, seminars, parties, after-parties and after-after-parties are planned for the next three weeks across the nation’s capital, including Black Pride and Latin Pride. It all culminates in a two-day closing festival on June 7 and 8 with a parade, rally and concerts on Pennsylvania Avenue by Cynthia Erivo and Doechii.

The biannual international event typically draws more than a million visitors from around the world and across the LGBTQ spectrum. But this year’s events will carry both a special resonance and a particular sense of community-wide anxiety due to the policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Trump’s public antipathy for trans protections and drag shows has already prompted two international LGBTQ organizations, Egale Canada and the African Human Rights Coalition, to issue warnings against traveling to the U.S. at all. The primary concern is that trans or nonbinary individuals will face trouble entering the country if passport control officers enforce the administration’s strict binary view of gender status.

“I think it’s a fair assumption that the international numbers won’t be as high due to the climate and the uncertainties,” said Ryan Bos, executive director of the Capital Pride Alliance. “At the same time we know that there’s an urgency and importance to showing up and making sure we remain visible and seen and protect our freedoms.”