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D.C. selected to host WorldPride 2025

Global event to coincide with Capital Pride’s 50th anniversary

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The 2022 Capital Pride Parade. D.C. will host WorldPride 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

InterPride, a global organization representing more than 400 Pride organizations in at least 70 countries, announced on Thursday it has selected D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance to host WorldPride 2025 in D.C.

The international Pride event, which is usually held every two years, draws thousands of participants from throughout the world to the host city.

Capital Pride Alliance submitted a bid to host WorldPride 2025 in September 2021 but lost the bid to an LGBTQ organization in Taiwan that proposed holding the event in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung.

But in a surprise development, the Taiwanese group Kaohsiung Pride announced in August of this year that it withdrew its bid and abruptly cancelled its plans for hosting the event in Taiwan.

That immediately raised the question of whether InterPride would reopen the bidding process or select D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance, which was the runner up group in the 2021 bidding.

In its Thursday announcement, InterPride said the question of what to do about WorldPride 2025 was discussed at great length at its Annual General Meeting and World Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, held Oct. 27-30.

“The membership was asked to decide whether the event should not take place in 2025, or if it should be awarded to the first runner-up, the Capital Pride Alliance (CPA) from Washington, D.C., U.S.A.,” the InterPride announcement says.

“Seventy-four percent (74 percent) of the membership voted to award WorldPride 2025 to CPA, while 19 percent voted not to hold World Pride in 2025 and 7 percent abstained,” according to the announcement.

“The Capital Pride Alliance is thrilled and honored to have been awarded the privilege of hosting World Pride 2025,” Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan Bos said in a statement. “We thank InterPride for this wonderful opportunity to share the best of the Washington region with our friends from around the globe and to have them participate with us on the 50th anniversary of Pride in D.C.,” Bos said.

In a separate statement, InterPride Co-Presidents Linda DeMarco and Hadi Damien congratulated Capital Pride Alliance for being named host of WorldPride 2025.

“We are glad the Capital Pride Alliance was still willing to host WorldPride 2025, and we welcome the vote of confidence the membership put in them,” the two said. “We all trust the Capital Pride Alliance has what it takes to deliver a robust WorldPride.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who expressed strong support for the Capital Pride Alliance’s 2021 bid to host WorldPride, told the Washington Blade in a statement on Thursday that she looks forward to WorldPride being held in D.C.

“Pride in D.C. is a manifestation of our DC values — an opportunity for people to celebrate themselves & the diversity of our community,” the mayor said. “What better way to celebrate 50 years of Pride in D.C. than with the largest LGBTQ+ event in the world. See you at the pride of our lifetime in 2025.”

In its statement announcing D.C. had been selected to host WorldPride 2025, InterPride also announced a WorldPride would be held in 2026 and its members voted by a margin of 59 percent to 37 percent to select Amsterdam in the Netherlands over Orlando, Fla., to be the host city. The announcement says the two competing groups were Pride Amsterdam and Come Out with Pride of Orlando. 

An official with Pride Amsterdam says in the statement that, among its activities planned for WorldPride 2026, will be a commemoration honoring the victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando, in which 49 mostly LGBTQ people were shot and killed by a lone gunman who targeted the gay nightclub. 

Police shot and killed the gunman. 

Bos has said that among the events planned for WorldPride 2025 will be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of D.C.’s first LGBTQ Pride event in 1975, which began as a block party near Dupont Circle. 

In a statement released on Friday, Capital Pride Alliance says the proposed dates for WorldPride 2025 are May 22 through June 8.

“WorldPride DC 2025 will feature a vibrant and innovative slate of cultural programs that highlight the best that Washington, D.C. has to offer,” the statement says. “It will include a human rights conference, in partnership with the 34th annual D.C. Black Pride,” it says.  

“We would like to thank the members of our team who put in countless hours to advocate on behalf of Washington, D.C., in addition to our many local and national LGBTQ+ organizations, local businesses, government agencies, and our corporate advocates who provided support for the bid,” said Ashley Smith, president of the Capital Pride Alliance board of directors.

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District of Columbia

Activists protest outside Hungarian Embassy in DC

Budapest Pride scheduled to take place Saturday, despite ban

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Activists on the eve of Budapest Pride protest outside the Hungarian Embassy in D.C. on June 27, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

More than two dozen activists gathered in front of the Hungarian Embassy in D.C. on Friday to protest the country’s ban on Budapest Pride and other LGBTQ-specific events.

Amnesty International USA Executive Director Paul O’Brien read a letter that Dávid Vig, executive director of Amnesty International Hungary, wrote.

“For 30 years Budapest Pride has been a celebration of hope, courage, and love,” said Vig in the letter that O’Brien read. “Each march through the streets of Budapest has been a powerful testament to the resilience of those who dare to demand equality, but a new law threatens to erase Pride and silence everyone who demands equal rights for LGBTI people.”

“The Hungarian government’s relentless campaign against LGBTI rights represents a worrying trend that can spread normalizing division and hatred,” added Vig. “Thank you for standing with us when we refuse to be intimidated.”

Council for Global Equality Chair Mark Bromley and two of his colleagues — Stephen Leonelli and Keifer Buckingham — also spoke. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell and Chloe Schwenke, a political appointee in the Obama-Biden administration who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Planned Parenthood staffers are among those who attended the protest.

(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)

Hungarian lawmakers in March passed a bill that bans Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs in April amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.

Budapest Pride is scheduled to take place on Saturday, despite the ban. Hundreds of European lawmakers are expected to participate.

“Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love,” said David Pressman, the gay former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, on Friday on social media.

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District of Columbia

Man sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug deal that killed two DC gay men 

Prosecutors asked for 210 month sentence

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Brandon Román and Robbie Barletta (Photo via Instagram)

On Thursday Jevaughn Mark, 33, of D.C., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for running what prosecutors called a “prolific drug delivery service” that led to the fentanyl overdose deaths of two men in D.C.’s gay community.

The 15-year sentence comes three months after Mark, aka “Ledo,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. As part of the plea deal, Mark accepted responsibility for causing the deaths of Brandon Román and Robert “Robbie” Barletta. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan also ordered five years of supervised release following his prison term.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia argued that Mark knowingly sold fentanyl and was at least partially responsible for the men’s deaths. The office had asked the court for a 210-month sentence.

On Dec. 27, 2023, Román, 38, and Barletta, 28, were found unconscious in their Northwest Washington home after a 911 call brought police and emergency responders to the scene. A police investigation later revealed that Román had purchased what he believed was ketamine from Mark. DEA testing of the remaining drugs found no ketamine — only fentanyl, xylazine, and caffeine.

Friends and family members wore rainbow ribbons in solidarity with Román, a prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Barletta, a historic preservation expert and home renovation business owner — both of whom were active members of Washington’s gay community.

“There is no good outcome here,” Chutkan said from the bench before issuing the sentence. “These people didn’t deserve to die.”

While noting Mark’s “long record,” Chutkan opted for a sentence shorter than what the government had requested, citing what she believed to be genuine remorse.

“I believe Mr. Mark when he wishes he could take it back,” she said.

Following the sentencing, the Washington Blade spoke with Jeanine Pirro, the recently appointed U.S. Attorney for D.C., who echoed the judge’s compassion, but stood by her office’s push for a longer sentence.

“We had asked for more time,” Pirro said. “He’s a felon in possession, and there’s the fentanyl. But he’s got a prior record. There are various other crimes. This guy’s been operating with impunity.”

“My job is to make sure we recognize both Brandon and Robbie with dignity,” she added. “They are two very special human beings who should not have died — and they died as a result of not only someone else’s criminal behavior, but someone else’s reckless behavior in ignoring what he should not have ignored.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar Mian emphasized the broader dangers of the drug trade in a written statement.

“The drug market is characterized by the illegal availability of polydrug mixtures, many of which have lethal amounts of fentanyl,” Mian said. “Criminals like Mr. Mark pose a deadly threat by selling drugs with fentanyl, which users unknowingly consume, often leading to their deaths. Illegal drug distribution affects the very foundations of our families and communities, so every time we take criminals like Mr. Mark off the streets, lives are saved.”

Mian also credited the DEA teams, USAO-DC litigators, and local and state partners for their work in investigating and removing “illegal drugs from this individual who was involved in violent activities.”

Asked whether she had a message for the LGBTQ community — statistically more vulnerable to substance use disorders than the general population — Pirro was direct about her commitment to equal justice.

“The only thing I can say to the LGBT community is that there is a level playing field here,” Pirro said. “Everybody gets the same justice. You have a problem, you have an issue, you come to me. I have a long history of fighting for equal rights for everyone. Everyone deserves dignity, everyone deserves protection, and everyone deserves justice — and you’re gonna get that from me.”

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District of Columbia

GLAA issues ratings in Ward 8 D.C. Council special election

Declines to rate ousted Council member Trayon White who’s seeking re-election

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Trayon White is seeking re-election after being expelled from the Council following his arrest on a federal bribery charge. (Washington Blade file photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

GLAA D.C., formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, announced on June 22 its ratings for three of the four candidates running in the city’s July 15 Ward 8 D.C. Council special election, saying each of the three have records of support for the LGBTQ community.  

The election was called earlier this year when the Ward 8 seat became vacant after the Council voted unanimously to expel Ward 8 Council member Trayon White (D) following his arrest by the FBI on a federal bribery charge in August 2024.

White, who has denied any wrongdoing and was released while awaiting his trial scheduled for January 2026, is one of the four candidates running in the special election to regain his seat on the Council. Under D.C. law, he can legally run for office and serve again on the Council if he wins up until the time he is convicted of the criminal offense he is charged with.

While not mentioning White by name, in a statement accompanying its candidate ratings GLAA said it has a policy of not rating any candidates expelled or who resign from an elected position for ethics violations, including “malfeasance.”

The three candidates it rated – Sheila Bunn, Mike Austin, and Salim Adofo – are longtime Ward 8 community advocates who have been involved in local government affairs for many years and, according to LGBTQ activists who know them, have been supportive of LGBTQ rights. All three are running as Democrats.

White also has a record of supporting LGBTQ issues while serving on the Council since 2017.

GLAA rates candidates on a scale of -10, the lowest possible rating, to +10, its highest rating. Since it began candidate ratings in the 1970s it has based the ratings mostly on LGBTQ-related issues.

But in recent years, it has shifted gears to base the ratings mostly on non-LGBTQ specific issues, saying those issues — such as housing, healthcare, and a call for decriminalizing sex work — impact the LGBTQ community as well as all D.C. residents.

The following are the GLAA D.C. ratings for the three Ward 8 candidates it rated:

Sheila Bunn – 7.5

Mike Austin – 6.5

Salim Adofo – 4.5

Bunn is a former staff member for D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and has worked for former D.C. Mayor and later D.C. Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), a longtime strong supporter of the LGBTQ community.

Austin, an attorney, is a former chair of one of the Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, served as chief of staff in the office of the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, and worked on the staff of former Ward 7 Council member LaRuby May (D).

Adofo has served as a Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner since 2018 and chair of his ANC since 2021. His campaign biographical information shows he  has been an advocate for affordable housing, improved health care and lower health costs in Ward 8. He is the only one of the Ward 8 special election candidates on the July 15 ballot to express support for LGBTQ rights on his campaign website.

“At the heart of our platform is a steadfast commitment to uplifting LGBTQ+ communities, ensuring that policy is shaped not just for them, but with them,” a statement on his website says.

As of early this week, White did not have a campaign website. He has won re-election for the Ward 8 Council seat in every election since 2017, including the November 2024 election following his August 2024 arrest.

The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, which for many years has endorsed candidates running for public office in D.C., decided not to make an endorsement in the Ward 8 special election, according to the group’s president, Howard Garrett.

“We thought that this is best because this is a special election and in these unfamiliar times, we decided not to take a stand,” Garrett told the Washington Blade. But he said his group partnered with the Ward 8 Democrats organization in holding a candidate forum in which the Ward 8 candidates were asked questions “that related to our community.”

Longtime Ward 8 gay Democratic activist Phil Pannell, who is supporting Adofo, said he strongly feels GLAA’s 4.5 rating for Adofo does not reflect Adofo’s strong support for the LGBTQ community.

Fellow Ward 8 gay Democratic activist David Meadows said he is supporting Bunn, who he says also has a strong record of support for the LGBTQ community.

The Blade earlier this week asked each of the four Ward 8 candidates’ campaigns to provide a statement by the candidates explaining their position on LGBTQ issues. As of the end of the business day on June 24, the candidates had not yet responded. The Blade will report on those responses when they are received.   

The GLAA ratings and the group’s statement describing the responses to its questionnaire that each of the three candidates it rated submitted can be accessed here:  

The websites of the three candidates who have campaign websites, which provide full details of their positions and background, can be accessed here:

Sheila Bunn

Bunforward8.com

Mike Austin

Mikeaustin8.com

Salim Adofo

Salimforward8.com

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