Local

D.C. Pride Walk and Rally set for June 12

Newly announced events to precede citywide Pridemobile Parade

Published

4 years ago

June 8, 2021

Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance executive director, said the group has obtained the permits to allow the Pride Walk on Saturday. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced on Monday a Capital Pride Walk will take place on Saturday, June 12, from Dupont Circle to Logan Circle before traveling south along 13th Street to Freedom Plaza at 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., where a Pride rally will be held.

“Now that it is becoming safer for us to once again come together as the District of Columbia officially reopens, the Capital Pride Alliance will bring together our intersectional LGBTQ+ community to walk, celebrate, march, be visible, and amplify the rich culture of Washington, D.C.,” the group’s announcement says.

“On Saturday, June 12, the day that would have been the date for D.C.’s most favorite parade, the Capital Pride Parade, we intend to hold a Pride Walk & Rally, that will be followed by the first Pridemobile Parade,” the announcement states.

It was referring to its previously announced Pridemobile Parade set for June 12 that will consist of a caravan of cars decorated with Pride related displays expected to travel across the city to pass by historic sites such as the U.S. Capitol as well as to drive past people’s homes and businesses that will also be decorated with Pride displays.

Although there will be a fee for organizations to enter a vehicle in the Pridemobile Parade, there will be no fee to join the Pride Walk and Rally, according to the announcement. The announcement says the Pridemobile Parade will begin at Freedom Plaza following the conclusion of the rally, but Capital Pride officials had yet to release the official route of the parade.

According to the announcement, participants in the Pride Walk are being asked to assemble inside Dupont Circle at noon on June 12. The walk will begin at 12:30, it says, and will travel along P Street to Logan Circle and then head south along 13th Street to Freedom Plaza. It says no motor vehicles will be allowed in the Pride Walk.

“If anyone is unable to meet at Dupont Circle, then please depart from your own neighborhood and make your way down to Freedom Plaza by 2 p.m.,” the announcement says. “There will be a short rally with music at Freedom Plaza as we prepare to kick off the Pridemobile Parade at 3 p.m.”

Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance executive director, said the group has obtained the necessary permits from the city to facilitate temporary street closings to allow Pride Walk participants to walk uninterrupted by traffic along the cross streets.

Information about other events scheduled for the June Pride month can be found at: capitalpride.org/celebration.

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Photos

PHOTOS: WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert

Doechii, Khalid among performers

Published

2 hours ago

June 11, 2025

Michael Key

Doechii performs at the WorldPride Closing Concert on Sunday, June 8. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Baltimore

Baltimore Trans Pride to take place Saturday

Baltimore Safe Haven hosts annual event

Published

5 hours ago

June 11, 2025

Daniela White

Baltimore Trans Pride in 2022. Baltimore Safe Haven's annual event will take place on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Linus Berggren)

Celebrating the transgender community, Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization committed to empowering LGBTQ individuals in Baltimore City, plans to host their fourth annual Baltimore Trans Pride on Saturday.

Instead of the usual parade and march, this year’s Trans Pride will be a block party on Charles Street and between 21st and 22nd Streets. The event will start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and last until 10 p.m.

Community members can go on guided tours, enjoy refreshments by local vendors, listen to presenters, and watch performances by special guests.

Sukihana, the event’s headliner, plans to take to the stage to entertain the crowd, along with a variety of local performers, according to Melissa Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven’s executive assistant to Executive Director Iya Dammons.

“Some (are) prominently known, some (are) just making a name for themselves,” Deveraux said. Iya is always making sure that community talent is showcased at all of our functions.”

In company with Pride on Saturday, Baltimore Safe Haven will be opening its new building on Friday from 1-4 p.m.

“That is sort of going to be the prelude to pride,” Lau said. “Thanks to Sen. Mary Washington and the Weinberg Foundation, we were able to purchase the building outright, and it’s going to be a community hub of administrative buildings and 12-bedroom apartments.”

Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said the planning process for Baltimore Trans Pride began in January, and putting it all together was a collaboration of multiple city agencies and organizations.

“Safe Haven is an LGBT community organization, but we service the entire community, and that’s the message we try to spread,” Lau said. “We’re not just here for the LGBT community. We’re here to spread goodwill and offer harm reduction and housing to the entire community.”

Lau said the organization’s biggest goal for the event is to gain exposure.

“(We want) to let and let people know who we are and what our community is about,” she said. “Right now, because of what’s happening in DC, there’s a lot of bad untruths going on, and the total thing is bringing out the truth.”

Deveraux said having a place of inclusivity, acceptance, and togetherness is important in today’s political climate and the current administration.

“This event will have people seeing the strength and resilience of the transgender community, showing that no matter what we are going through, we still show up,” Deveraux said. “We are here, we will not be erased.”