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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
As DC welcomes the world for Pride, marchers spotlight rollbacks of | |
LGBTQ rights in US | |
By Julia Benbrook, Alison Main and Aileen Graef, CNN | |
Updated: | |
6:02 PM EDT, Sun June 8, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
Even with a theme of reaching people around the world, US politics took | |
center stage as Washington, DC, hosted World Pride 2025, an | |
international festival celebrating the LGBTQ community. | |
The celebrations throughout the weekend, which included a parade, free | |
concerts featuring artists Cynthia Erivo and Doechii plus a march on | |
Sunday, marked the 50th anniversary of Pride celebrations in the | |
nation’s capital. Organizers described the as a moment to | |
“celebrate, educate, support, and inspire” the global LGBTQ | |
community. | |
“World Pride is occurring at a crucial time, bringing together voices | |
from around the world to support the LGBTQ+ community’s ongoing fight | |
for equality, visibility, and justice,” the event’s website notes, | |
describing this year’s festival as a “historic moment.” | |
Attendees at Sunday’s march, which traveled along the National Mall | |
and ended steps from the US Capitol, said the stakes of protecting the | |
LGBTQ community amid recent actions by the Trump administration hung | |
over the celebrations. The Trump administration has broadly pressured , | |
taken steps to from serving in the military and for young people. | |
Liz Bauer, a first-grade teacher in DC, said she’s “really | |
worried” about the message the administration is sending to | |
transgender children, including those who she has taught in her | |
classroom. | |
“It’s really important that we continue to push back, even in small | |
ways, to find inclusive things that we can do for students, including | |
just giving them voices and giving them space,” Bauer said, “and | |
protecting every time that someone tries to change their ability to | |
exist because they’re still going to exist.” | |
Bauer said she hopes World Pride sends a message that “even though, | |
right now, decisions are being made that aren’t supporting everyone | |
and aren’t inclusive of everyone, that we’re still here.” | |
“We’re not going anywhere. We’re standing strong,” Bauer said. | |
“And even people who can’t speak for themselves, we’re going to | |
speak for them.” | |
The White House did not issue a proclamation recognizing Pride month | |
this year, a tradition first established by former President Bill | |
Clinton, who designated June as “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month” in . | |
Jay Abbit, who traveled from Hollywood, Florida, told CNN on Sunday | |
he’s concerned about the broader implications of Trump not | |
acknowledging Pride month. | |
“It’s just a microaggression and a dog whistle to his supporters, | |
and we need to push back against that,” Abbit said. “It’s not a | |
big thing, but it is a microaggression, and we need to talk, have these | |
conversations.” | |
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, appeared in a video at | |
Sunday’s rally, telling attendees Pride is a time to “celebrate the | |
progress we have made and recommit to the work still ahead.” | |
“In this moment, as you gather with friends and allies from across | |
the world, let us be clear, no one should be made to fight alone,” | |
Harris said. “We are all in this together.” | |
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