With feathers, sequins, booty shorts, and plenty of rainbows, the WorldPride Parade traveled down 14th Street NW to 919 Pennsylvania Ave. NW on Saturday afternoon. The bustling sidewalks were filled with fanfare, defiance, and an overwhelming sense of Pride buzzing from the participants and paradegoers. Though attendance for the international celebration was lower than the originally expected 3 million attendees, the LGBTQIA community did what it always does and radiated queer excellence even in such close proximity to the White House.
Arriving in D.C. for the first time since its 2000 inception in Rome, the three-week celebration of WorldPride coincided with the city’s 50th anniversary of its first Pride celebration held outside Deacon Maccubbin’s gay bookstore, Lambda Rising, in 1975. At 82, Maccubbin was one of three parade grand marshals, joining actor Laverne Cox and pop star Reneé Rapp.
As a former Dupont Circle landmark, Lambda Rising helped make the neighborhood a haven for the LGBTQIA community. That history was front and center over the past week as the city, Metropolitan Police Department, and the National Park Service clashed over whether to close Dupont Circle Park to Pride revelers. On Friday, after rescinding its decision to close the park earlier last week, NPS and the US Park Police said the park would close to the public from 5 a.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday. Anti-scaling fencing was erected. But on Saturday morning, shortly before the parade started, NPS and Mayor Muriel Bowser released a joint statement announcing the park’s reopening. In updating the public of the decision to dismantle the fencing, Ward 5 councilmember Zachary Parker shared on social media, “This is a win for all of us—especially for the LGBTQ+ community—and a powerful reminder of what speaking truth to power can accomplish.”
Staff photographer Darrow Montgomery was in the streets on Saturday, June 7, to capture the scene. —Sarah Marloff
