National Park Service closes Dupont Circle ahead of WorldPride Parade

Dupont Circle, the iconic center of D.C.’s historic gay neighborhood and a popular weekend gathering spot, will be closed to the public starting on Friday, ahead of the WorldPride Parade set to take place on Saturday. The closure – ordered by the National Park Service – will last through Sunday.

Work crews were seen installing anti-scale fencing around the circle on Friday morning; those same types of fences have been used as a security measure around the U.S. Capitol during large-scale events since the Jan. 6 insurrection. Pedestrians making their way to work were forbidden from crossing the circle, while the closure of the inner car lane to allow for the installation of the fencing snarled rush hour traffic.

The sudden decision by the National Park Service caps off a whirlwind week when it was revealed that in late April D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith requested that the circle be closed for safety reasons – a request that she quickly rescinded this week amidst opposition from residents, advocates, and elected officials.

But in a determination dated June 4, the Park Service – which controls Dupont Circle, as it does significant swaths of public land in the city – said it was moving ahead with the closure at the behest of the U.S. Park Police. “The USPP has concluded that this closure is necessary to ‘secure the park, deter potential violence, reduce the risk of destructive acts and decrease the need for extensive law enforcement presences,” said the Park Service in the document justifying the circle’s closure.

The determination echoed Smith’s initial request for the circle’s closure, where she said there had been incidents after Pride festivities in 2019, 2023, and 2024, including gunshots near the circle, vandalism of the fountain that led to $175,000 in damage, and “large groups of juveniles” engaging in “unpermitted and illegal activities.”

A separate letter from Major Frank Hilsher of the Park Police, dated June 4, repeated the concerns over public safety and vandalism in Dupont Circle during Pride festivities, notably because “open-source intelligence reporting has identified a local DJ advertising and selling tickets to an unpermitted gathering/party in Dupont Circle.” 

The sudden news of the circle’s closure again drew criticism and condemnation from D.C.’s elected officials, who said that it misses the circle’s symbolism to the city’s gay history and community. 

"I am extremely disappointed and frustrated that Dupont Circle Park will be closed this weekend despite MPD’s commitment to keep folks safe there," said Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who worked earlier this week to convince Chief Smith to rescind her original request to close the circle. "This closure is disheartening to me and so many in our community who wanted to celebrate World Pride at this iconic symbol of our city’s historic LGBTQ+ community. I wish I had better news to share."

“Entirely unnecessary and infuriating situation,” tweeted Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker, the sole gay lawmaker on the D.C. Council. “The National Park Service's citation that this closure will not result in a ‘significant alteration in the public use pattern’ and suggestion that WorldPride attendees can use other parks misses the significance of *this* park.”

That sentiment was echoed by Vincent Slatt, a gay Dupont Circle ANC commissioner who, on Friday morning, watched as the circle was slowly fenced off.

“It’s our history,” he told The 51st. “This is the focal point for every type of movement, whether it's gay or anti-war or memorials to try to heal. This is the place that everyone naturally gravitates to. The circle is the home of the progressive movement, right? That's part of why the gays embraced this neighborhood, the anti-war movement. And we held our first AIDS vigil right here in 1983 during Pride.”

“Hard to square [Mayor Bowser’s] proclamation that D.C. is the ‘gayest city in the world’ with this image,” tweeted Ward 1 ANC Commissioner Matthew Holden. (Bowser made the statement earlier this week, as she hoisted the Pride flag in front of the Wilson Building.)

The D.C. Dyke March, which was set to take place this evening, similarly weighed in against the circle's sudden closure.

"This year’s theme, Dykes Against Fascism, speaks directly to the importance of accessible, inclusive public space. We chose this theme to signify our fight against the current rise in fascism and to uplift the importance of mutual aid and community support. Sudden closures like this not only limit our community’s ability to gather and engage with local queer history—they also contribute to the ongoing criminalization of public space, particularly for unhoused individuals who may rely on the park," said the group.

The closure comes amidst a changed political environment for D.C., where President Trump and Republicans have threatened to “take over” the city – and Mayor Muriel Bowser has carefully attempted to acquiesce to some of their demands to prevent a larger-scale crackdown on home rule. In March, she suddenly ordered that Black Lives Matter Plaza be deconstructed, and more recently, she has proposed repealing the city’s “sanctuary city” law that limits cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. 

Speaking on WAMU 88.5's "The Politics Hour" on Friday afternoon, Bowser herself called the closure an "unfortunate error."

"The Park Service, of course, maintains the circle and many other circles and properties in the District. And it looks like at this stage, they're going to proceed with the closure, though we continue talks. And as we speak, we're working on an alternative to that site," she said.

In late March, Trump issued an executive order targeting D.C. that ordered the deployment of a “more robust Federal law enforcement presence and coordinating with local law enforcement” to crack down on “graffiti and other vandalism, unpermitted disturbances and demonstrations, noise, trespassing, public intoxication, [and] drug possession, sale, and use.”

“What it comes down to is I think that this was led by the Trump administration,” said Jeffrey Rueckgauer, another Dupont Circle ANC commissioner. “I think somebody there in [the Department of] Interior reached out to the D.C. government and said, ‘Hey, could you, could you help us?’ It’s total BS.”

The closure comes a week before Trump's planned military parade down Constitution Avenue, which is could cost up to $45 million – and may well damage the roadway as tanks and other military equipment roll down it.

Slatt calls the closure of Dupont Circle “overkill,” a sentiment echoed by one commenter on social media: “That feels like closing the Tidal Basin during peak bloom.”