A group that promotes LGBTQ rights in Africa has called for a boycott of WorldPride in D.C.

The African Human Rights Coalition in a press release it issued on Monday said it is “calling on LGBTQI+ Africans and LGBTQI+ people worldwide to refrain from attending WorldPride in the United States of America, because the event is being held in a venue, Washington D.C., the USA, governed now by an antagonistic fascist regime which presents distinct dangers to foreign LGBTQI+ attendees.”

“While commending WorldPride, Capital Pride Alliance, and InterPride for all the hard work, over several years, to put this event together, no one could have predicted the current state of the USA, and the organizations must revisit this contextuality and with deep concern,” said the African Human Rights Coalition.

The group acknowledged it is “probably impossible to hold (WorldPride) elsewhere at such late notice.” The African Human Rights Coalition nevertheless said WorldPride “must consider withdrawing the event from the USA, and come out with a strong statement condemning the U.S. for the dangerous environment it presents to LGBTQI+ people entering the country, the current human rights infractions, and the decimation of democracy, trans rights and the general attack on LGBTQI+ communities, in the U.S. and around the world.”

“This is not business as usual and not a time for celebration, but rather the time for resistance,” said the African Human Rights Coalition.

WorldPride is scheduled to take place in D.C. from May 17-June 8.

President Donald Trump’s anti-transgender executive orders have sparked growing concern among governments and advocacy groups around the world.

Germany’s Federal Foreign Office on March 5 issued a travel advisory for trans and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S. It specifically notes Trump’s executive order that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers.

InterPride, the organization that coordinates WorldPride events, last week issued its own advisory for trans and nonbinary people who want to travel to the U.S. for WorldPride. Egale Canada, one of Canada’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations, in February announced its members will not attend WorldPride and any other event in the U.S. because of the Trump-Vance administration’s policies.

The African Human Rights Coalition said it has “reached out to” WorldPride. Capital Pride on Monday told the Washington Blade it was “not aware” of the boycott call, but is “working on a response and doing more digging on this.”

Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a Republican who long championed LGBTQ rights, died on Friday at age 93.

After serving in the Senate from 1979 to 1997, including a stint as the GOP whip from 1985 to 1995, Simpson continued to maintain an active role in American politics for decades. Much of his work on behalf of LGBTQ issues came through his appointment as honorary chair of the Republican Unity Coalition, gay-straight alliance group within the party, starting in 2001.

The former lawmaker spoke with the Washington Blade’s Lou Chibbaro Jr. for an interview in 2013 about how he was able to reconcile his work in Republican politics with his support for expanding rights and protections for LGBTQ people.

“All I know is we have made great strides for gays and lesbians and transvestites,” he said when asked if he thought Congress would soon approve the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, a bill calling for banning job discrimination against LGBT people.

The legislation did not ultimately pass, but at the time Simpson said he was hopeful the effort would overcome obstruction from some corners of the Republican conference because “other people know these people and they love them.”

“And I’m very pleased,” the former senator added. “Anyone who is on the side of justice and freedom and caring about fellow human beings is pleased about what’s going on.”

Simpson explained that his approach to LGBTQ rights was informed by his commitment to fairness and equality for everyone, telling the Blade that he shares these convictions with his wife of (then) 59 years, Ann Schroll Simpson, who survives him.

The couple had come to know gay people over the years, he said. “I had a gay cousin who was a war hero in World War II — a wonderful man.”

Asked whether he has received flak from some fellow Republicans and others over his support for LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, Simpson said, “Everything I’ve done has had flak. I’m 82 now and I’ve effectively pissed off everyone in America. So yeah, but I just say we’re all God’s children. We’re all human beings.”

After leaving the Senate, Simpson’s advocacy for LGBTQ people included helping to convince former President Gerald Ford to join a gay rights organization, a first for a U.S. president; signing on to amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in support cases that that led to the overturning of state sodomy laws and established marriage equality as the law of the land; supporting the movement to overturn the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law; writing to the late former Rev. Fred Phelps in objection to his protests of gay events, including funerals of gay people; and supporting creative works about the anti-gay advocacy of the late former U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the hate crime against murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard.

An obituary published Friday in The New York Times notes Simpson’s work on behalf of immigration reform and reproductive rights including abortion in addition to his stances on LGBTQ issues including his longtime support for same-sex marriage.

Simpson in 2017 published an opinion piece in the paper objecting to efforts by “fringe-right groups and raging extremists” to convince President Donald Trump to sign an executive order “that would allow discrimination against gays, women and religious minorities.”

In 2022, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Joe Biden.

The Capital Pride Alliance announced last week that Doechii will perform at the closing concert for WorldPride weekend.

Doechii, born Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, is a 26-year-old rapper and singer from Tampa, Fla. Since her emergence on the music scene in 2023, she has had five songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Beginning with “What It Is (Block Boy),” she has quickly risen into the upper ranks of the rap and music industries.

The Capital Pride Alliance, the nonprofit that organizes Washington’s official Pride events and is overseeing the upcoming WorldPride celebration in June, announced on Instagram that the “Alligator Bites Never Heal” performer will headline WorldPride’s free Street Festival & Closing Concert on Sunday, June 8.

This announcement comes just over a month after the self-proclaimed “Swamp Princess” won her first Grammy for Best Rap Album. Her win marks only the third time in history that a woman has won the award—following Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. She also became only the second rapper to be named Billboard’s Woman of the Year earlier this year.

Doechii is bisexual and has spoken about the challenges of being a Black queer woman in the music industry.

“I’m a Black woman from the South, so it’s different,” Doechii told Pink News in an interview last year. “There’s a lot of racism and homophobia, so it’s hard, it’s very, very hard. Even though I was aware, I didn’t feel as comfortable until I started surrounding myself with more gay friends.”

Doechii’s bold, genre-blending style and unapologetic presence have made her a favorite among LGBTQ fans, who have embraced her music as anthems of self-expression and resilience.

Despite being fairly new to the mainstream music game, Doechii is no stranger to Washington. In June 2024, Doechii performed a special set at D.C.’s gay bar Trade as part of her SWAMP BALL TOUR. That night, a line of fans stretched down 14th Street and around the corner, eager to see the rising star in an intimate setting.

For more information about WorldPride concerts, events, and celebrations, visit worldpridedc.org.