Maria LawsonAs a contentious presidential election looms, locals involved in World Pride are anticipating the political climate of the event in seven months.
Ed Bailey, who owns gay bars Trade and Number Nine in Logan Circle, said that he’s hoping everyone will be pleased with the election outcome if Kamala Harris is elected, but if not, the LGBTQ+ community will be able to use World Pride as a moment to make their stance known.
“Regardless of how the election goes, it could be a difficult situation, but definitely, if you think about certain scenarios with certain people being in power, there’s a definite concern on how these events could unfold and what kind of support our community might get from the federal government if certain people are in power,” Bailey said.
World Pride, which will bring a week’s worth of festivities to the District in June 2025, is expected to bring 2 to 3 million visitors to the area. Key events include the welcome concert starting on May 31, followed by a human rights conference, a parade, a street festival and a concert over the next week or so.
Capital Pride Alliance, which usually hosts D.C.’s pride event, is responsible for World Pride 2025.
“It’s going to be an elevated, crazy boom for way more than just [the gay] community,” Bailey said. “All of the businesses in all of those areas are going to be busy because there’s going to be a lot of people.”
Safety of LGBTQ+ people through heightened security and communication is top of mind for Bailey.
“In the gay community, we’ve always been in a situation where we need to be cognizant of our very existence being a problem for some people, and therefore [we’ll be] prepared to deal with things that might happen in that regard,” Bailey said.
Capital Pride Alliance executive director Ryan Bos told The Wash in an email that event planners are in discussion with local health and security agencies, the Mayor’s Special Event Task Group, Homeland Security, the mayor’s office and the D.C. government to prepare the D.C.-area for millions of visitors from around the world.
Jesus Quispe, managing partner of gay nightclub Bunker on U Street, also owns event agency Kinetic Presents, which is spearheading planning a weekend festival during World Pride.
“What we’ve been trying to do is make sure … tourists understand there’s a vibrant nightlife here for people to have fun,” Quispe said. “For World Pride, all eyes are going to be on us and we want to make sure that people see us at a very international level.”
Quispe is also involved in advocacy efforts with the mayor’s office to allow short-term rentals of vacant storefronts for events and extend liquor licenses to 24 hours, similar to the Women’s World Cup last summer.
“This is our time for small businesses to shine — restaurants, clubs, bars and lounges because we got hit very hard with COVID,” Quispe said.
Other World Pride safety measures have included partnerships with police and the District’s office of nightlife to account for road closures and added police presence as many restaurants and bars will be at or above capacity. Quispe said World Pride is also working to have a channel of communication with police and the District during the week so they know where the large events are going to be.
“That’s the beauty of it because they’re understanding that there are going to be parties everywhere,” Quispe said. “They know where they’re going to be, how big they’re going to be. They’re going to make sure that D.C. is well taken care of.”
Quispe compares D.C. hosting World Pride to hosting the Olympics.
“[We’re] investing a lot of money, time and discussion to make sure we can deliver one of the best events that’s ever happened in World Pride,” he said.
Bailey anticipates it’ll be the largest gathering of LGBTQ+ people in North America.
“It’s always exciting, and a lot of younger people haven’t always had the opportunity to get together in large numbers with our community,” Bailey said. “It’s a very powerful thing to be able to be around a huge crowd of people who accept you.”
Erika Wichmann, who’s lived in the Logan Circle area for three years, said she’s excited to see a surge in local events during World Pride, especially post-pandemic.
As far as security, she’s confident World Pride has plans to account for the influx of people.
“If anything, I would worry about violence by protestors against the LGBT+ community and attendees,” Wichmann said.
Quispe said he’s been growing with the gay community in D.C. as a longtime operator, so working in a World Pride host city “is just a dream.”
“If I would die the next year, I would die in peace and say, ‘I’ve done something so huge that I’ve been waiting my entire life for,’” he said.
Wash staff
The Wash Staff
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