La Fiesta: The Official Latinx Pride Party was held at Bunker on Thursday, May 29. The event was hosted by Lady J Monroe and featured performances by Mia Carlisle, Stefon Royce, Evry Pleasure and Alexis Carter St. James.

(Washington Blade photos by Robert Rapanut)

The U.S. Park Service released an official statement on June 5 announcing it has decided to close Dupont Circle Park for the WorldPride weekend from 5 a.m. Friday, June 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 8.

While not saying so directly, the statement rejects a request by D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith to rescind her earlier request last week to close Dupont Circle Park for the WorldPride weekend after hearing from members of the community objecting to the closure.

After receiving Smith’s initial request to close the park, the National Park Service issued an earlier statement saying it agreed with Smith’s request and that the U.S. Park Police concurred with the closure request. But up until it released its latest statement on June 5, the Park Service did not publicly state whether it would agree to keep the Dupont Circle Park open at Chief Smith’s request.

Park service workers began installing metal fencing enclosing the park at 5 a.m. Friday, according to Park Service spokesperson Mike Litterst, who sent the Washington Blade the closure statement at 5 a.m. Friday.

“This closure comes at the request of the United States Park Police (USPP),” the statement says. “In USPP’s professional opinion this closure is necessary for the maintenance of public health and safety and protection of natural and cultural resources in Dupont Circle Park,” it says.

The statement adds, “The USPP has concluded that this temporary closure is necessary to ‘secure the park, deter potential violence, reduce the risk of destructive acts and decrease the need for extensive law enforcement presences.’”

Citing MPD Chief Smith’s earlier letter to the Park Service requesting the closure before she rescinded her request, the statement points out that “multiple instances of damage” to Dupont Circle Park, including damage to its fountain, occurred during Capital Pride weekends in 2019, 2023, and 2024.

Gay Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Vincent Slatt is among the community leaders and activists who have expressed strong objections to closing Dupont Circle Park for WorldPride weekend. Slatt and other activists have said potential damage to the park or acts of violence could be prevented by stationing police at the park rather than closing it. 

But the U.S. Park Service statement disputes that claim, saying, “Less restrictive measures will not suffice due to the security-based assessment of the USPP that this park area needs to be kept clear.” 

Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, the lead organizer of WorldPride 2025 D.C., has said no official WorldPride events were scheduled to take place in Dupont Circle Park. But Bos told the Blade that Capital Pride did not know whether other groups or individuals planned to hold an event there during WorldPride weekend.

“This temporary public use limit is not of a nature, magnitude, and duration that will result in a ‘significant alteration in the public use pattern,’” according to the National Park Service statement. “Other nearby park areas will remain open, this close will not impact any permitted events, and the closure will only last for the time that law enforcement agencies have determined is necessary to provide for public safety and resource protection,” it says. 

“It is pandemonium down here at Dupont Circle,” Slatt told the Blade in a 7 a.m. phone call on Friday. “All the news cameras are out here and they’re putting up the fences. It’s ridiculous,” Slatt said. 

“And traffic has ground to a halt,” he said, noting that Park Service work crews closed the inside street lanes surrounding Dupont Circle Park to install the fencing. “It’s a mess out here.”

David Fucillo, an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner from the Adams Morgan neighborhood, said he agrees with Slatt and others who say potential damage to Dupont Circle Park could be prevented by police presence rather than closing the park.

But Fucillo said the National Park Service’s decision to close the park for WorldPride weekend after having not closed it for previous Capital Pride weekends when they claimed damage to the park took place appears to be they are singling out WorldPride for biased treatment.

“It would seem they are trying to make a statement during WorldPride and Pride month,” he said. “It’s a shame they decided to do that this year as opposed to previous years.”

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer announced the members of a new LGBTQ commission on the first day of Pride month. 

The members include representatives from all three counties: Chair Cora Castle, Dwayne Bensing, Noah Duckett, and Mark Purpura of New Castle County; Vice Chair Vienna Cavazos, Leslie Ledogar, and John Kane of Sussex County; and Daniel Lopez of Kent County. They will serve three-year terms without monetary compensation. 

The commission was created by an executive order from previous Gov. Bethany Hall-Long in January. It will work to “strengthen ties between the government and LGBTQ+ organizations, help remove barriers to societal participation for LGBTQ+ people and improve the delivery of services to the community in Delaware in areas such as employment, equality, education, mental health, social services, health, and housing.

“The commission will advise the governor, the governor’s Cabinet, the General Assembly, and other policymakers on the effects of policies and laws on the “unique challenges and needs of LGBTQ+ people.”

Commission Chair Cora Castle is president of OmniPotential Energy Partners, executive director of the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance, secretary of Sierra Club Delaware, and the vice chair of the New Castle County Board of Adjustment. She said it is “extremely humbling” to be included in this group of people. 

“Having the opportunity to serve and be out here and help Gov. Meyer and help everybody across the state is again just so humbling,” Castle told the Washington Blade. “I love doing work on policy, I love having the opportunity to lead and this is something where I think I can make a difference and I think that my voice matters.”

Castle said it’s important that everyone understands that the commission is here to serve all of Delaware. 

Vienna Cavazos is the commission’s vice-chair and youngest member at 19. They moved to Delaware from Texas in 2022 and have a background in youth advocacy and organizing. 

“I am beyond grateful to have been asked to serve not only this governor but this state,” Cavazos said. “I appreciate the work that has been done in years prior and I’m excited to do the work that we need to do to bring us back to the 21st century.”

Leslie Ledogar, board president of CAMP Rehoboth, is also a member of the commission. She said it is a “huge honor” to be included. 

“I believe that the commission will be a safe space in which we can discuss those issues and make sure that, in Delaware, we are not erased,” Ledogar said. “We do still have power at the state level, notwithstanding federal actions in the opposite and very very disturbing and dangerous direction.” 

The commission will begin meeting soon. A major topic will be developing policies to protect health care for LGBTQ Delawareans. 

“This commission will be critical as we work to protect the rights of all Delawareans, and I want to thank each of these individuals for their willingness to serve,” Gov. Meyer wrote in a Facebook post. “Together, we will ensure Delaware remains a welcoming state and a beacon of hope to all LGBTQ+ Americans.”