The Progress Pride-designed crosswalk installed in Washington, DC in June 2020.
The Trump-controlled Kennedy Center has cancelled all of its 2025 WorldPride events, the Associated Press reports. The Capital Pride Alliance confirmed that it has been forced to cancel parts of its Tapestry of Pride program, originally scheduled to take place from June 5 through 8 at the historic arts institution, and relocate some to the WorldPride Welcome Center.
“We are a resilient community, and we have found other avenues to celebrate,” June Crenshaw, deputy director of the Capital Pride Alliance, told the Associated Press. “We are finding another path to the celebration … but the fact that we have to maneuver in this way is disappointing.”
Related:
Events that have found new venues include a performance by the International Pride Orchestra, a display of parts of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and a drag story time.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Michael Roest, founder and director of the International Pride Orchestra, told the AP that after months of planning their performance, the Kennedy Center went silent after Donald Trump announced he was taking over as its chair.
“They went from very eager to host to nothing,” he said. “We have not since heard a word from anybody at the Kennedy Center, but that’s not going to stop us.”
Trump announced in February that he intended to fire members of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees and install himself as chairman, citing the center’s recent drag programming. Days later, Trump named Richard Grenell – an out gay man currently serving in the newly created role of “Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions” – as the Kennedy Center’s interim head.
“Ric shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture, and will be overseeing the daily operations of the Center. NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST. RIC, WELCOME TO SHOW BUSINESS!” Trump wrote in a February 10 Truth Social post.
After Trump took over, the Kennedy Center began quietly canceling LGBTQ+ programming, including a planned Pride performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC and a touring production of Finn, a children’s musical commissioned by the center about a shark who “wants to let out his inner fish.”
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.
