A prominent LGBTQ activist who lives in the U.K. said she could not travel to D.C. for the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference because the U.S. revoked her eligibility to enter the country without a visa.

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride known as Lady Phyll, was supposed to speak at the conference’s opening plenary at the National Theater. Opoku-Gyimah instead spoke remotely.

She said the U.S. “revoked” her eligibility to participate in the Visa Waiver Program and use an Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, to enter the country without a visa because she traveled to Cuba earlier this year.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website notes the State Department on Jan. 12, 2021, designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

President Donald Trump’s first administration ended eight days after he made the designation. Then-President Joe Biden in the final days of his administration said the U.S. would move to lift the designation as part of a Vatican-brokered deal that secured the release of prisoners on the Communist island. Brenda Díaz, a transgender woman with HIV who participated in an anti-government protest in 2021, is among those who the Cuban government released from prison.

The CBP website notes that with “limited exceptions, a traveler who is found to have visited Cuba on or after this date is not eligible for travel under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) using an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and must apply for a visa to travel to the United States.”

“Additionally, a traveler who at the time of application for an ESTA holds dual nationality with both a VWP country and Cuba is not eligible for travel under the VWP using an ESTA and must apply for a visa to travel to the United States,” it reads. “If an ESTA has already been approved and it is later determined that the traveler has been present in Cuba or holds dual nationality with both a VWP country and Cuba, the ESTA will be revoked.”

“Ineligibility for an ESTA is not a bar to travel to the United States,” notes the CBP website. “Individuals who are not eligible to travel under the VWP may apply for a visa at any U.S. embassy or consulate.”

Opoku-Gyimah said she learned of the revocation “as I preparing to be with you.” Opoku-Gyimah in her remarks said she applied for a visa that would have allowed her to enter the U.S., but the first available appointment was not until later this year.

“Yet from afar, I’m here,” she said. “We don’t abandon our people.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, has yet to respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment.

D.C.’s Walker Memorial Baptist Church located on 13^th Street, N.W., just off U Street had one of its workers on June 3 remove an arrangement of Pride flags and banners displayed on the front fence of a townhouse the church owns that were put up by a gay couple who rent an apartment in the house.

Jay Richards, who along with his partner lives in a rented apartment at the house at 2014 13^th Street, N.W., said he was contacted by a rental agency working for the church a few hours after he put up the decorations on May 30 asking that the decorations be taken down.

The church is located next door to the townhouse, which has three apartments that are rented to tenants, including Richards and his partner. Richards said the tenants in the other two apartments were fully supportive of the Pride decorations.

“We kindly ask that any decorations or items be removed by Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 1:00 p.m.,” a follow-up message sent to Richards by the rental agency says. “If items are still in place after this time, our team will remove them, and please note that a fee may apply for this service,” the message said.

Richards said the rental company, EJF Real Estate Services, pointed to a provision in his apartment’s rental lease that does not allow exterior decorations to be placed on or in front of the house. He said he asked if an exception could be made to allow him to keep the Pride decorations up until Monday, June 9, the day after WorldPride 2025, ends on Sunday, June 8.

In a statement released this week to the online publication DC News Now, EJF said it was proud to support the LGBTQ community and decided to allow the tenants to keep the decorations up until June 9 as requested by Richards.

“While we remain mindful of our responsibility to both the lease and our client, we believe this is a respectful and reasonable approach,” the statement says. “EJF will not be removing the decorations ourselves and is honoring the residents’ plan, trusting they will follow through as promised,” DC News Now quotes the statement as saying.

Richards told the Washington Blade he was hopeful that the church would also allow the decorations to remain up through the end of the WorldPride festivities. “I wanted to leave them up all month for Pride month,” he said. “But we were willing to take them down on Monday, after Pride weekend.”

Much to his disappointment, Richards said the church’s custodian early Tuesday evening, May 3, came to the house and pulled down the decorations and left them next to the front steps of the house.

A photo that Richards provided for the Blade taken before they were taken down shows the decorations included several rainbow flags and banners draped over an iron fence in front of the house and two long ropes extending from the front wall of the house to the fence on which multiple small rainbow flags were suspended.

Rev. Ademuyiwa T. Bamiduro, the pastor of Walker Memorial Baptist Church, did not immediately respond to a phone message left for him by the Blade seeking comment from the church about the removal of the Pride decorations.

Richards said he and the other tenants in the house received an email message from the church Tuesday night, June 3, shortly after the decorations were removed explaining why they were taken down, which he provided to the Blade.

“Decorations on the outside of the property or common areas regardless of the event, holiday, season, occasion, or reason violate the lease terms,” the message states.

“This is not about subject matter,” the message says. “The mission of Walker Memorial Baptist Church is a prayerful congregation, walking in the spirit, bringing souls to Christ. That is our focus. We seek unity, not division, through our lease requirement that there be no decorations on the outside of the property or common areas,” the message continues.

“In doing so, we avoid arbitrary decision-making and the need to distinguish between the content or subject matter of any decorations,” it states.

Local LGBTQ rights attorney Mindy Daniels, when told by the Blade of the content of the lease in question, which bans external decorations, said it appears that the church is within its legal rights to not allow those decorations.

Daniels said the church could be in violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other categories, if it were to make an exception and not enforce its lease requirements for some types of decorations while enforcing them for others such as Pride flags.

“The email they sent me said we can’t put decorations up for any holidays,” Richards told the Blade. “But I do feel like if I had put something up for the holidays for Christmas that they wouldn’t have taken it down. But now they’re saying that no decorations can be put up.”

As Baltimore Pride celebrates 50 years of LGBTQ history in their “50 Shades of Pride” events from June 9-15, they’re focused on mobilizing and taking action. 

“When we think back to the history of Baltimore Pride, it is one of the most central pride movements of LGBT and black liberation, and so this year will be very different,” FreeState Justice Advocacy, Policy, and Partnerships Director Ronnie Taylor said. “In a time where federally, we are under attack and dealing with so much, I think this will be a really amazing way for our federal, state, and local individuals to be able to come together and be amongst the community we serve.”

Taylor said she’s excited to be part of the events leading up to the Baltimore Pride Parade that showcase the LGBTQ community. She said celebrating 50 years of history is a way for her to pay homage to her “transcestors” and ancestors who fought hard in Baltimore and Maryland to ensure equality for all. 

“For me, personally, acknowledging, and celebrating 50 Years of Baltimore pride is monumental,” Taylor said. “And knowing that we’ve only taken two years off based on COVID-19 mandates to be able to come together … is going to be really monumental.”

For Taylor, one of her personal goals for the “50 Shades of Pride” celebration in upcoming years is to have a summit or conference where Pride is not just acknowledged, but talked about regarding policies and safety agendas. 

“We need to be able to have a space to talk about legislation, and we need to be able to have a space for all to feel like (the LGBTQ community) is included in their decision-making process on the federal, state, and city-wide level,” Taylor said. “And so this will be a way for our elected officials to be able to come together and hear from community members.”

Taylor added that mobilization and activation in the community are needed now more than ever. 

“We see it on a federal level. We are not protected right now in what we have,” Taylor said. “All we have is each other. And you know, none of us should be sitting back and waiting for someone to come and save us, as we are the saviors of ourselves.”

Taylor said having a space to “break bread” and party in the streets to celebrate Pride is amazing, but Pride organizations’ initiatives go beyond that. 

FreeState Justice and the Pride Center of Maryland have created a trans advocacy care initiative that will be released and marketed to engage with community members throughout Baltimore’s Pride festival, according to Taylor. 

“We have to stop moving in cycles,” Taylor said. “(When) we’re talking about community work and mobilization and activation … we wouldn’t be here with it without it being for each other. Overall, collectively, let’s do the work and get it done.”