District of Columbia
Organizers expect nearly half a million people for D.C. Pride
March for Our Lives rally coincides with resumption of in-person parade, festival
Organizers of D.C.’s Capital Pride Parade and Festival, the two largest events of the city’s annual Pride celebration in June, say they are expecting a record turnout for the two events, which will resume this year after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.
The parade, which is scheduled for Saturday, June 11, and the festival, scheduled for Sunday, June 12, have attracted hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators in past years, many of whom travel to D.C. from up and down the mid-Atlantic region as well as other parts of the country.
Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s Pride events, announced earlier this year that it had changed the parade route so that it will begin where it had ended in past years but will retain mostly the same route. The group says the parade was scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. at 14th and T streets, N.W., and travel south on 14th Street to Rhode Island Avenue, where it will turn right and travel to Massachusetts Avenue.
From there it will turn onto the section of 17th Street where LGBTQ-friendly restaurants, bars, and other businesses are located. An all-day Capital Pride Block Party will be held that same day on a two-block section of 17th Street next to the section of 17th Street where the parade will travel.
After traveling just two blocks on 17th Street the parade will turn left on P Street and travel to Dupont Circle, where it will proceed halfway around the circle and continue on P Street, where it will end at 22nd and P streets.
Like past years, organizers expect thousands of people to line the streets along the parade route observing the dozens of parade contingents, which will include floats from organizations and LGBTQ supportive businesses as well as individual LGBTQ people and their supporters marching in the parade.
Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride executive director, said among those organizing parade contingents this year will be candidates running for public office in the city’s June 21 primary election, including D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and her lead primary opponent, D.C. Council member Robert White (D-At-Large).
“Be prepared to experience one of the largest Pride Parades to ever take place in the United States Capital,” a statement released by Capital Pride says. “In 2022, a modified route will honor our history and acknowledge the evolution of the LGBTQ+ neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., while respecting the origins and importance of taking to the streets in our fight for equality,” the statement says.
Bos said Capital Pride organizers have also learned that LGBTQ people and their allies expected to come to D.C. on June 11 for the March for Our Lives protest against gun violence, which is scheduled to take place on the grounds of the Washington Monument from 12-2 p.m., were planning to join or turn out as observers of the Capital Pride parade.
March for Our Lives is an organization founded by student survivors of the 2018 high school shooting incident in Parkland, Fla., that took the lives of 14 students and three staff members. Hundreds of thousands participated in the group’s first protest in D.C. later that year. As of early this week, organizers stated on the group’s website that the event would be limited to the Washington Monument rally.
Also scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 11 from 2-9 p.m. is the 3rd Annual Pride on the Pier event at the Wharf, the city’s bustling Southwest waterfront entertainment district. The event, organized by the Washington Blade in partnership with LURe DC and The Wharf, will include entertainment, DJs, dancing and the Pride on the Pier Fireworks Show at 9 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for purchase. Local DJs Eletrox, Jai Syncere and Sean Morris will perform throughout the event, with the entertainment and dancing taking place on the District Pier. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older. Further details, including information about the VIP area and tickets can be viewed at PrideOnThePierDC.com.
On Sunday, June 12, the day following the parade and Pride On The Pier, the Capital Pride Festival and Concert will return to a four-block section of Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., with the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop for the first time since 2019. Capital Pride officials say they expect one of the largest turnouts ever for the festival as it returns after the two-year break due to COVID restrictions.
On its website providing details of the festival and concert, which is held at the site of the festival, Capital Pride predicts “nearly a half million people” were expected to attend the festival, which begins at noon and lasts until 10 p.m. It will take place on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. between 3rd Street and 7th Street as well as on sections 4th Street and 6th Street and Constitution Avenue that intersect with Pennsylvania Avenue.
“Join the LGBTQ+ community on America’s Mainstreet, historic Pennsylvania Avenue, for the return of the Capital Pride Festival,” the group says on its website. “Enjoy a full day of entertainment on three stages, food, drink, and advocacy with over 300 exhibitors,” a statement on the website says. “The Festival is the largest annual event in the national capital region and continues to be free to the public,” it says.
According to the statement, more than 300 exhibitors that will be located in covered booths along both sides of the street will include service organizations, social groups, businesses, amateur sports leagues, faith-based groups, educational institutions, government agencies, artists, consultants, potential employers and “much more.”
The concert part of the festival will take place on three stages and continue until 10 p.m., information on the Capital Pride website says. The headline entertainers, scheduled to perform on the main Capital Stage, will include the nationally acclaimed U.S. dance-rock band called DNCE consisting of its lead singer Joe Jonas, drummer Jack Lawless, and guitarist JinJoo Lee.
“Joining DNCE will be this year’s winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race, Willow Pill, and season 13 winner, Symone,” a statement on the Capital Pride website says. The statement says other entertainers performing on the other two stages will include some of the “best local and regional LGBTQ+ talent.”
After the exhibitor booths shut down at 7 p.m. and when the concert ends at 8 p.m. a Sunset Dance Party with music played by DJs will take place in front of the main stage between 8-10 p.m., Capital Pride organizers have announced.
In addition to the parade and festival along with the Pride on the Pier events, many additional Pride events were scheduled that began Friday, June 3, with the Capital Pride Honors party at the Penn Social nightclub in downtown D.C. OUTspoken: A Night of Queer Expression took place Monday night, June 6, at the Busboys and Poets restaurant in the city’s Brookland neighborhood.
A Pride related Drag Underground show sponsored jointly by the Blade and the Dupont Underground, the entertainment space located in the former trolly station underneath Dupont Circle, was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 10. Also sponsored by the Blade and Dupont Underground at that space is an exhibition consisting of works of 35 local artists called “The Gender Within: The Art of Identity,” which is open and free to the public each weekend in June.
The Capital Pride Official Opening Party was scheduled for Friday, June 10, at 9 p.m. at Echostage nightclub; a Trans Pride Pool Party was scheduled for Saturday, June 11 at 7 p.m. at the VIDA Penthouse Pool & Lounge on U Street, N.W.; and Capital Pride’s Official Saturday Party was set to take place from 9 p.m.-3:30 a.m. at the City Winery.
Further details of these and other events set to take place over the Pride weekend can be accessed at capitalpride.org and prideonthepierdc.com.
District of Columbia
D.C. Black Pride theme, performers announced at ‘Speakeasy’
Durand Bernarr to headline 2026 programming
The Center for Black Equity held its 2026 DC Black Pride Theme Reveal event at Union Stage on Monday. The evening, a “Speakeasy Happy Hour,” was hosted by Anthony Oakes and featured performances by Lolita Leopard and Keith Angelo. The Center for Black Equity organizes DC Black Pride.
Kenya Hutton, Center for Black Equity president and CEO, spoke following the performances by Leopard and Angelo. Hutton announced this year’s theme for DC Black Pride: “New Black Renaissance.”
Performers for 2026 DC Black Pride were announced to be Bang Garcon, Be Steadwell, Jay Columbus, Bennu Byrd, Rue Pratt and Akeem Woods.
Singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr was announced as the headliner for the 2026 festivities. Bernerr gave brief remarks through a video played on the screen at the stage.
DC Black Pride is scheduled for May 22-25. For more information on DC Black Pride, visit dcblackpride.org.
In an official statement released at the reveal event Capital Pride Alliance described its just announced 2026 Pride theme of “Exist, Resist, Have the Audacity” as a “bold declaration affirming the presence, resilience, and courage of LGBTQ+ people around the world.”
The statement adds, “Grounded in the undeniable truth that our existence is not up for debate, this year’s theme calls on the community to live loudly and proudly, stand firm against injustice and erasure, and embody the collective strength that has always defined the LGBTQ+ community.”
In a reference to the impact of the hostile political climate, the statement says, “In a time when LGBTQ+ rights and history continue to face challenges, especially in our Nation’s Capital, where policy and public discourse shape the future of our country, together, we must ensure that our voices are visible, heard, and unapologetically centered.”
The statement also quotes Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President Ryan Bos’s message at the Reveal event: “This year’s theme is both a declaration and a demand,” Bos said. “Exist, Resist, Have Audacity! reflects the resilience of our community and our responsibility to protect the progress we’ve made. As we look toward our nation’s 250th anniversary, we affirm that LGBTQ+ people have always been and always will be part of the United States’s history, and we will continue shaping its future with strength and resolve,” he concluded.
District of Columbia
Capital Pride board member resigns, alleges failure to address ‘sexual misconduct’
In startling letter, Taylor Chandler says board’s inaction protected ‘sexual predator’
Taylor Lianne Chandler, a member of the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors since 2019 who most recently served as the board’s secretary, submitted a letter of resignation on Feb. 24 that alleges the board has failed to address instances of “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization.
The Washington Blade received a copy of Chandler’s resignation letter one day after she submitted it from an anonymous source. Chandler, who identifies as transgender and intersex, said in an interview that she did not send the letter to the Blade, but she suspected someone associated with Capital Pride, which organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, “wants it out in the open.”
“It is with a heavy heart, but with absolute clarity, that I submit my resignation from the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors effective immediately,” Chandler states in her letter. “I have devoted nearly ten years of my life to this organization,” she wrote, pointing to her initial involvement as a volunteer and later as a producer of events as chair of the organization’s Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex Committee.
“Capital Pride once meant something profound to me – a space of safety, visibility, and community for people who have often been denied all three,” her letter continues. “That is no longer the organization I am part of today.”
“I, along with other board members, brought forward credible concerns regarding sexual misconduct – a pattern of behavior spanning years – to the attention of this board,” Chandler states in the letter. “What followed was not accountability. What followed was retaliation. Rather than addressing the substance of what was reported, officers and fellow board members chose to chastise those of us who came forward.”
The letter adds, “This board has made its priorities clear through its actions: protecting a sexual predator matters more than protecting the people who had the courage to come forward. … I have been targeted, bullied, and made to feel like an outsider for doing what any person of integrity would do – telling the truth.”
In response to a request from the Blade for comment, Anna Jinkerson, who serves as chair of the Capital Pride board, sent the Blade a statement praising Taylor Chandler’s efforts as a Capital Pride volunteer and board member but did not specifically address the issue of alleged sexual misconduct.
“We’re also aware that her resignation letter has been shared with the media and has listed concerns,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” she said.
“As we continue to grow our organization, we’re proactively strengthening the policies and procedures that shape our systems, our infrastructure, and the support we provide to our team and partners,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “We’re doing this because the community’s experience with CPA must always be safe, affirming, empowering, and inclusive,” she added.
In an interview with the Blade, Chandler said she was not the target of the alleged sexual harassment.
She said a Capital Pride investigation identified one individual implicated in a “pattern” of sexual harassment related behavior over a period of time. But she said she was bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that applies to all board members and she cannot disclose the name of the person implicated in alleged sexual misconduct or those who came forward to complain about it.
“It was one individual, but there was a pattern and a history,” Chandler said, noting that was the extent of what she can disclose.
“And I’ll say this,” she added. “In my opinion, with gay culture sometimes the touchy feely-ness that goes on seems to be like just part of the culture, not necessarily the same as a sexual assault or whatever. But at the same time, if someone does not want those advances and they’re saying no and trying to push you away and trying to avoid you, then it makes it that way regardless of the culture.”
When asked about when the allegations of sexual harassment first surfaced, Chandler said, “In the past year is when the allegation came forward from one individual. But in the course of this all happening, other individuals came forward and talked about instances – several which showed a pattern.”
Chandler’s resignation comes about five months after Capital Pride Alliance announced in a statement released in October 2025 that its then board president, Ashley Smith, resigned from his position on Oct. 18 after Capital Pride became aware of a “claim” regarding Smith. The statement said the group retained an independent firm to investigate the matter, but it released no further details since that time. Smith has declined to comment on the matter.
When asked by the Blade if the Smith resignation could be linked in some way to allegations of sexual misconduct, Chandler said, “I can’t make a comment one way or the other on that.”
Chandler’s resignation and allegations come after Capital Pride Alliance has been credited with playing the lead role in organizing the World Pride celebration hosted by D.C. in which dozens of LGBTQ-related Pride events were held from May through June of 2025.
The letter of resignation also came just days before Capital Pride Alliance’s annual “Reveal” event scheduled for Feb. 26 at the Hamilton Hotel in which the theme for D.C.’s June 2026 LGBTQ Pride events was to be announced along with other Pride plans.
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