WorldPride organizers say Trump policies may impact attendance in DC
Trump policies may cause decreased attendance for DC WorldPride
Right now, preparations are underway in downtown D.C. for this weekend's WorldPride Parade and concerts. Thousands of people are in the District for the global festival celebrating the LGBTQ community but attendance could fall short of expectations and organizers say the Trump administration is to blame.
WASHINGTON - Right now, preparations are underway in downtown D.C. for this weekend's WorldPride Parade and concerts.
Thousands of people are in the District for the global festival celebrating the LGBTQ community but attendance could fall short of expectations and organizers say the Trump administration is to blame.
What we know:
This weekend's parade marks D.C. Pride's 50th year but it’s the first time that the city is hosting WorldPride. In the past, it's been in places like London, Sydney, and the last time it was in the U.S. was in 2019 with about five million attendees in New York City.
They were initially projecting something like three million people to be in D.C. but now, it seems likely those numbers could be quite a bit lower.
"People are afraid and have fear but regardless, D.C. is ready. We are welcoming," said Ryan Bos, Executive Director of Capital Pride Alliance. "The conference started today and we've already had two weeks of world pride programming."
Some big-name corporate sponsors who have supported D.C. pride in the past declined to support the international version this year and festival organizers say it's all because of the climate in D.C. right now, due to the Trump administration and its policies—specifically concerning DEI.
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What they're saying:
"It's been all around the media that corporations are being skittish around this fake DEI campaign to discredit diversity, equity and inclusion and that has impacted corporate support financially—not just for pride events around the country, but also many nonprofit organizations doing extremely important and critical life-saving work," Bos said.
Data from travel-click shows hotel bookings for the closing ceremony weekend are down by about four percent from this time last year.
According to Destination D.C. though, more hotels have opened since last year, with supply increasing by about four percent year over year. In fact, outside of the inauguration this January, hotel occupancy has been trending below last year's numbers.
Looking ahead:
There are more than 350 events scheduled across all eight wards of the city for WorldPride and a lot of big names will be in town this weekend, including J-Lo, Doechii and Cynthia Erivo, just to name a few.
The parade is this Saturday at 2 p.m., starting at 14th and T Streets, NW, and the street festival and concerts are on Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 3rd Streets from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.