WorldPride DC on Sunday, June 8, 2025 – Photo: Randy Shulman / Metro Weekly

Interviewed on Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, 2025, at the WorldPride Street Festival, Parade, and March for Freedom.

Nic Ashe
Los Angeles, Ca.
Queer, He/Him

Why did you come to WorldPride?

I’ve been following WorldPride through the lens of Black queerness, namely with a focus on Christianity and religion. Early in my life, when I think about the first times that I was learning that queer may be a pejorative or that being gay was “not good,” it was through my church upbringing. So I was very curious to find if there were examples in 2025 of those two oxymoronic opposing forces existing in harmony.

What LGBTQ issues matter most to you?

Trans rights. I think that what’s happening is a door is being held for everyone behind us, and it isn’t until we’re all in that we can collectively move forward. Sometimes I feel that sub-communities are created, but I think that we need to look around and realize that LGBTQIA+ has to include every single facet of that. We’re stronger in numbers.

What would you say to someone about why having Pride still matters?

It always will. A lot of my work is Afrofuturism. I’m looking ahead. We’re celebrating 50 years [of Capital Pride]. And when I think about a hundred years of Pride, I don’t want us to necessarily be grappling or contending with the same issues, but we should absolutely hold space for what it took to get us there at that century celebration. So, as much as we are marching forward, we are also remembering the shoulders on which we stand.

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Cameron Bayley
Melbourne, Australia
Gay, He/Him

Why did you come to WorldPride?

I’m living in New York at the moment, and my partner’s a journalist and came here to report on it. I thought I’d come and check it out. I was in Sydney for WorldPride in 2023 and really loved it, so I’m happy to come and check it out again.

What message are you sending by being here?

It doesn’t get more potent and more important to be here right now than to have it on the doorstep of the White House with everything that’s going on in American politics.

Did you have any reservations about coming?

There’s always a bit of public safety concern, but you just have to not let it worry you too much. Otherwise, we would never leave our houses.

How do you feel about corporations that used to sponsor Pride but are now backing out?

I think it’s important to vote with your hard-earned cash and to not support them, especially if they were using it really just to Pinkwash their brand. And clearly, there are a lot of companies that are showing who they really are. I think it’s very sad, and yeah, I think we shouldn’t support them.

What LGBTQ issues matter most to you right now?

In America, I’m really worried about the trans community. I feel like they’re being singled out and unfairly punished and bullied and singled out. We need to make sure the trans community is protected. They stood up for gay people way back in the early days of Stonewall. So I think the gay community really needs to do their part and support them.

What makes you proud to be LGBTQ?

I do like that we rally around things and we can get things done if we try. We support each other and we can jump on things — the response to mpox was really amazing. So I think there is a strength there, but sometimes I think we can get a bit fractured.

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Hank Blum
San Diego, Ca.
Gay, He/Him

Why did you come to WorldPride?

It’s our third World Pride. We did Madrid Pride in 2017 and then New York in 2019. And when I heard this was in D.C. — and I love coming to D.C. — there was no reason not to. I mean, it just seemed like the thing to do.

Being here is all about showing our visibility, our solidarity, and, I think most importantly, about showing our love for ourselves and our community despite all of the voices of hate that are being directed toward us.

How do you think this WorldPride compares to the others you’ve attended?

European WorldPrides are really, really different from U.S. WorldPrides. There isn’t the same festival content. I don’t want to say it’s more of a party, but it was kind of more of a free-for-all at Madrid. It’s beautiful. It’s just down all of the big boulevards and in front of the museums and things like that. I don’t feel like there was as much entertainment content there as here. Here, there’s a lot more structure to the entertainment. Our festival grounds themselves are massive. A lot of really relevant booths and information.

What LGBTQ issues matter most to you?

States are enacting laws that are trying to silence simple things like the voices of drag queens and that are trying to prevent parents from protecting their own young trans children. There’s too much progress in trying to take away freedoms that we’ve already earned.

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Mike Griffin
Delaware, Md.
Queer, He/Him

Why did you come to WorldPride?

Well, for us right now, it’s important to be visible and to just be as loud and proud as we can. Honestly, it’s just about who we are, how we represent, and what it means. Especially in a time like now.

What message are you sending by being here?

That we can’t be erased, especially at a time when all our history is being erased, and speech is being limited. When people are being overshadowed, it’s important to just be out and be seen. We’re in the nation’s capital right now, just walking and embracing all it means to be gay, to be pansexual, to be somewhere on the queer spectrum.

Did you have any reservations about coming?

Oh, always. This is an easy event for people to be bigoted and ignorant towards [the LGBTQ community]. We see it all the time in the media, so that’s always crossed our mind. Is this event going to be safe? Is somebody going to run a car through this street? Obviously a lot of it is fear-mongering, but it does always lead to a possibility. A lot of us are not appreciated in the world.

How do you feel about corporations that used to sponsor Pride but are now backing out?

Why are we buying there? Why are we shopping there? They don’t get my coin.

What makes you proud to be LGBTQ?

Knowing that I had to show up. And I show up every single day. Continuing to choose to. A lot of people can hide certain things. I’m a Black man — I can’t hide being Black. I’m a queer man. People always look for, “Oh, I found that in you.” So, honestly, it’s just showing up as me and deflecting any type of opinions or perceptions that may not align with who I am.

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Marina McCaney
Baltimore, Md.
Queer, She/Her

Why did you come to WorldPride?

I’m here because I want to see Cynthia Erivo tonight. I’m here with my girlfriend. She’s very excited to come for that reason as well. We just want to hang out with all of our beautiful friends and dance and have fun.

And I feel like we need to show that we literally are proud. There are so many people that want us to feel ashamed of who we are. It’s also important for everyone to feel like they have a huge community that maybe they don’t have in their everyday lives.

What message are you sending by being here?

It’s important to show that we’re not going to back down and that we have a right to do everything that we want to do, and no one can take that away from us. The second you acquiesce to the hateful people who don’t want you to exist, then you lose all of your power as a community.

How do you feel about corporations that used to sponsor Pride but are now backing out?

We used to always say, “Oh, D.C. Pride has gotten so corporate, it’s all about sponsorships and stuff,” and it is a noticeable difference that there are fewer sponsorships [this year]. And now I kind of understand why it was important to have that in the first place.

I definitely think that corporate sponsorships are not the most important part of Pride, but it still is scary to have powerful companies pull out of it. Because if they’re the ones that have all the power and money and they’re afraid to stand behind something, it’s like we’re losing a source of support that’s important in this capitalist hellscape.

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Darlene Moak
Charleston, South Carolina
Lesbian, She/Her

Why did you come to WorldPride?

When they took that TQ out of the LGBTQ on the Stonewall page for the National Park Service, I went crazy and I started looking for something I could come to and make a statement, and that’s how I ended up here.

What LGBTQ issues matter most to you?

All of them. I am concerned about same-sex marriage being abolished. I’m worried that people are going to start disappearing. If they can take Rumeysa Ozturk off the streets in Boston, they can take any of us off the streets. This is a bad time.

What would you say to somebody about why Pride still matters?

Pride will always matter. There will always be people I believe in this country who are afraid of us and disguise that as hatred. And we need to always stand up for who we are and for all of us. Trans, plus. We are a community, and we need to stand up for each other.

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Shawn Morris
Washington, D.C.
Gay, He/Him

Why did you come to WorldPride?

I come to Pride every year because it’s important to celebrate the work that we’ve done over the years. I’m here this year because it’s even more important with the attacks that are coming consistently from the Right. It’s always been about showing up. The very first Pride was a riot, and that riot was people showing up to speak up and to stand up against the oppression that they were fighting against.

Visibility shows courage. Visibility shows strength. It’s when we show up in the uncomfortable times that shows them that you cannot just push us back. You can’t roll back the fight that we have been fighting for however long. You just can’t roll it back.

How do you feel about corporations that used to sponsor Pride but are now backing out?

You want my honest answer? I think they’re a bunch of bitches. I think they paid because their support was a ploy to try to get us to buy their products, but they didn’t follow through with that support consistently. It’s like when your family doesn’t love you unconditionally. These corporations are the same. So fucking leave them alone — don’t buy their products, don’t read their articles, don’t go into their stores.

What LGBTQ issues matter most to you?

Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind is the attack on our trans siblings. It is not only egregious, but it’s very, very targeted. And we, as gay people, have to stand up for our trans siblings.

What makes you proud to be LGBTQ?

The community — the way that we show up for each other — it’s literally like a family. Every family has that cousin who gets on your nerves, but you love them. And I can talk about that cousin, but if anybody else does, I will throw hands. And that’s the thing about the gay community that really stands out to me — we can fight amongst ourselves, or we can argue, and we can disagree, but at the end of the day, we show up for each other.

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Ohotuowo
Toronto, Canada
Pansexual, She/Her

Why did you come to WorldPride?

Because of the attacks on LGBTQI people everywhere, I felt like it was really important to show up and march for people who cannot. I can be here, so why not?

Did you have any reservations about coming?

Of course. But I felt I should be here in solidarity. People who cannot come might not come in, but I also feel like we should have to show up regardless. So that’s why I’m here. It’s bigger than Trump, bigger than any of the people and politicians who are trying to stop us from being who we are.

I want to show that we are different, we’re diverse, and these spaces can be very inclusive. And Pride is not just for one kind of individual — it’s for all of us. And whether we are from Uganda or we are from Nigeria or Toronto or Hungary, wherever we are from, Pride is for all of us. And being here in this international space, that’s what makes it even richer to show who we are.

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Philip Rafshoon
Atlanta, Ga.
Gay, He/Him

Why did you come to WorldPride?

Lots of reasons. A good party, a good celebration, and I think now more than ever, it’s important to be out and visible and support these events.

How do you feel about corporations that used to sponsor Pride but are now backing out?

Really disappointing, but not incredibly surprising in today’s environment. I think in the long run, it’ll hurt them in hiring practices. Being supportive of the LGBTQ community shows that you support us and attract top LGBTQ talent.

What LGBTQ issues matter most to you?

Every one of them. But I think number one is healthcare, particularly with RFK Jr. heading up the health department and [encouraging] doing away with vaccines, I think it’s just an incredibly horrifying time. I’ve lived through three pandemics, AIDS, COVID and Monkeypox, and can’t imagine how we would be prepared for the next things that come up. And we know the federal government under the GOP and Trump will turn a blind eye towards our community.

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Sel
Baltimore, Md.
They/Them

Why did you come to WorldPride?

Because of everything that’s going down. It’s clear to me that whatever so-called progress we made over the past several decades is not enough, given this situation we find ourselves in now.

The people on the political Right in the U.S. have been able to make strides that they have because they’ve been better organized than those of us on the Left. They have been very patient in some ways, incrementally making steps to do something like overturn Roe v. Wade. That was a fifty-year project on their part.

So I think that we could learn from people on the Right about how to organize better. And I think that to do that on a global level is really important and really impactful for those of us in the LGBTQ community. Because numbers-wise, we are in the minority in any specific country. So I think if we can have that network, I think it’s going to be really powerful if we can really organize on that level globally.

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Jesse Wall
Washington, D.C.
Gay, He/Him

Why did you come to WorldPride?

I wanted to be at Pride today because I’m fighting for my rights in court right now. And to be fighting for those rights and not also standing up with others who are fighting for rights seems very frivolous.

What LGBTQ issues are the most concerning to you?

Most concerning is the fact that we are being murdered. Most concerning is the fact that we still have to fight this fight. Most concerning is the fact that we still have not been able to stand strong and just exist. And beyond existing — being able to actually thrive. It’s time for us to thrive, and that is what is most important.

What makes you proud to be LGBTQ?

That our community comes together and that we do stand strong. That we are one people, that we all see each other as one people and that we don’t try to negate each other, but we try to appreciate and welcome each other. That’s way different than a lot of other groups out there.

What would you say to somebody about why Pride still matters?

It still matters because we have the youth to inspire. It still matters because we still have to fight this fight. It still matters because we have people who are in offices that should not be in those offices. And I don’t even want to say that name because I don’t want to give him any paper space for such. But people like that need to be gone. And if we stand strong, we’re going to make sure that people see us and we become relevant. And not just relevant in the eyes of us, but relevant in the eyes of everyone.