Despite hostile politics and sponsor retreat, WorldPride forges ahead

WorldPride officially kicked off Saturday, marking the start of three weeks of parties, performances, and community events across the District that culminate in the annual Pride parade as well as a march to the U.S. Capitol. But for organizers and local advocates, the path to this moment has been marked by mounting obstacles.

The celebration, which rotates among global cities and is being held in Washington for the first time, arrives at a moment of growing political hostility toward LGBTQ+ communities in the United States, where a wave of federal actions and shifting corporate priorities have reshaped both the tone and the scale of the event. That climate has had tangible consequences for organizers: Capital Pride Alliance and its partners have faced shrinking budgets, withdrawn corporate sponsorships, international travel concerns, and heightened security demands.

“There's been some bumps in the road, some delays, but we are picking up and back on track,” Kenya Hutton, president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity, which organizes D.C. Black Pride, told The 51st. Some past funders chose not to support the group at all, while others waffled “until literally this week,” he said, “which does make planning a bit difficult.” 

The biannual event is taking place amid a major rollback of LGBTQ+ rights and protections. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump’s administration has issued executive orders banning transgender people from military service, cutting off federal funding for gender-affirming care for minors, scrapping diversity and inclusion programs, and rolling back federal recognition of trans and nonbinary identities.

In that same period, dozens of major corporations, including Target, Walmart, and Deloitte, have scaled back or quietly abandoned DEI initiatives and LGBTQ+ campaigns, in what many advocates see as a retreat under mounting political pressure.

For organizers on the ground, the shift is impossible to ignore: as federal protections are stripped away, support from the private sector is slipping, too. They say this climate has made WorldPride more urgent — and more meaningful — than ever. But it has also made the event much more challenging to organize. 

Capital Pride Alliance, which was awarded the bid to host WorldPride in 2021, faced significant financial setbacks. The organization initially budgeted about $20 million for the event, but had to scale that back by about 25% after several major corporate sponsors pulled or reduced their support, according to board president Ashley Smith, who noted that much of the retreat occurred after the new administration took office. (Booz Allen was among the companies that pulled its support, saying they worried it would put the company out of compliance with Trump’s DEI order, according to Politico.) 

That shift is also being felt across the broader Pride network. Hutton said his team experienced a roughly 60% cut in funding from corporate sponsors this year. “They, of course, don't tell you why they're unable to support us… But we know why,” he said, adding that some just simply stopped responding to emails. “We try to make sure that anybody, regardless of your financial status, can enjoy D.C. Black Pride… [The] cutback in funding has made that difficult.”

The Alliance has had to lean more heavily on community fundraising, D.C. government support, and local partnerships to fill the gaps.

“We have definitely been challenged with having to pivot from that dollar amount, which is probably what it would take to really … put on something of this nature,” Smith said.

Those cuts have tangible effects: fewer ASL interpreters, reduced stipends for community performers, and heavier reliance on volunteers and city-provided services to pull off programming.

But while some programming has been scaled back or adjusted to reflect the reduced budget, Smith said the core elements of the celebration remain intact.

The political climate didn’t just scramble the finances, though. The Capital Pride Alliance is no longer holding events at the Kennedy Center, despite early plans to include the venue in the WorldPride lineup. Smith said the decision came from the Alliance, not the Kennedy Center, and reflected concerns that the space “wasn’t going to be inclusive of all communities” in light of the recent leadership shakeup, where Trump is now at the helm of the federally funded cultural institution.

And international attendees have expressed reservations about attending. At least six European countries have issued travel advisories for trans and non-binary travelers, and Egale Canada, one of Canada’s largest LGBTQ advocacy groups, has opted out of participation altogether. Smith said that while many friends and organizations still plan to attend from abroad, others are staying home.

“We have had those individuals who said, ‘We do not feel safe. We do not feel comfortable. So we're going to sit this one out,’ and I have to respect that,” Smith said.Up to three million people were expected to attend WorldPride, according to the city’s tourism agency, but turnout appears likely to fall short of those projections.

InterPride Co-President Rahul Upadhyay said the organization, which licenses and oversees WorldPride, facilitated informal conversations among its 400-plus member organizations (from over 70 countries) about whether to cancel or relocate. Most ultimately agreed that holding WorldPride in the U.S. capital was not only important, but necessary, according to Upadhyay.

“We received pushback that we should cancel it. But then there have also been people who have been very supportive to keep continuing this, because this is the moment that is going to stand out. This is the moment to come together, in person or in spirit, to say that enough is enough…. They are denying our existence,” they said. “So there have been both the narratives and, of course, the latter one is far louder than the former.”

While no credible threats have been reported, Smith says Capital Pride has worked closely with MPD, the mayor's office and the city’s special events teams to implement additional security measures. That includes fencing and bag checks at large events and real-time alerts through the city’s emergency text system and the WorldPride mobile app.

The Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that it worked with local, state, and federal partners to prepare: "As with any other events in the District, it is our priority to ensure the safety and security of District residents and visitors.” 

Despite the headwinds, local organizers say they are doing everything they can to create a space of celebration and protest that honors Pride’s roots.

"None of us are backing down of who we are and who we serve, and that is, on one hand, scary, and then on the other hand, important," said Georgia Katinas, general manager of Annie's Paramount Steakhouse, a long-time LGBTQ+ institution in Dupont Circle. Katinas, whose grandfather founded Annie’s and whose father now owns it, helped lead planning for the street's official WorldPride block party—a two-day event starting June 6 featuring drag shows, DJs, and extended hours at local bars and restaurants.

In anticipation of the large crowds, Katinas said Annie’s and other local businesses have coordinated directly with Capital Pride and the mayor’s office of LGBTQ affairs to ensure their events are included in city safety plans. She also emphasized the importance of visibility and community in the face of political uncertainty.

"Annie's has been around for 76 years, and we've seen a lot of gay history,” she said. “We've seen a lot of D.C. history, and we're hopeful that this next month is an amazing example of what the city can do when it pulls together, and what our community can show the world.”

Kicking off the final stretch of programming, the WorldPride Human Rights Conference will run June 4–6, followed by the Capital Pride Festival and Concert on Saturday, June 7, and the International Rally and March on Washington for Freedom on Sunday, June 8, which will begin at the Lincoln Memorial and conclude at the Capitol.

Smith said that even with the political and financial challenges, the community has stepped up in powerful ways, and the focus remains on creating something meaningful for those who choose to show up.

He urged attendees to carry that energy into Sunday’s rally, which he called a defining moment of the celebration.

“Make your voice heard… so people know that we exist and we are there, and we're not going to go down ever,” Smith said. “If somebody is going to try to come after us, we're going to come back with a fight, and we're going to stand up for ourselves — for all of us as one community.”