Opinions
Making sense of a dark Pride season
Trump’s attacks have deterred WorldPride visitors but we won’t be erased

WorldPride was supposed to attract up to three million visitors to the Nation’s Capital for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration that would boost all of the region’s queer-owned businesses and shine a bright light on the progressive, pro-LGBTQ city that is Washington.
Then came the 2024 election.
In an instant, the mood shifted. Then the anti-trans attacks came — eliminating “X” gender markers on passports, a trans military ban, efforts to criminalize affirming healthcare. The list goes on. Many trans people fear for their safety and those with the means are fleeing the country, as the Blade has reported.
As WorldPride drew closer, there were travel warnings from here and abroad for trans tourists and boycott calls from allied countries.
As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in D.C., it’s important to remember why we come together each June. We celebrated Pride before corporate sponsors embraced us and we will continue to celebrate and protest as our fair-weathered “allies” drop like flies amid Trump’s petty threats. We don’t need rainbow-colored Doritos and Oreos. We need safe and affirming spaces for our own to gather, celebrate, grieve, and protest the many injustices perpetrated by Trump and his toadies in Congress.
The first D.C. Pride, held on Sunday, June 22, 1975 and organized by local legend Deacon Maccubbin and the staff of Lambda Rising, sought to draw attention to New York’s Liberation Day March held that June 29 that drew thousands commemorating the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion. The D.C. City Council proclaimed June 22 as Gay Pride Day. The Blade published a crowd estimate of 2,500 for that first celebration and noted that many attendees were busy dodging NBC and Channel 7 news cameras out of fear of being outed.
Fast-forward 50 years and the city’s Pride events draw hundreds of thousands as the city embraces LGBTQ visibility and equality each June.
After so many years of progress, 2025 feels dark, as our trans community is attacked, our friends in the federal workforce face harassment and termination, immigrant communities are hunted, HIV funding is gutted, and journalists, musicians, actors, and artists are deemed enemies of the state. It’s inconceivable to many of us that Trump could defeat Kamala Harris and take our country backwards so fast, crippling an economy that was booming under Joe Biden.
In the face of all this darkness, it’s important that we show up for WorldPride. Many LGBTQ people no longer feel safe or comfortable living authentically and openly. So those of us who are more privileged have to show up and be seen and heard. The WorldPride boycott calls are disappointing and misguided. No one ever said a social justice movement would be an endless party. This is hard work filled with setbacks and heartbreaks. Many of us won’t live to see a day in this country when the work is finished but that’s the point — we show up to make things easier on the next generation. Rather than stay home, all of us, along with our straight allies, should attend the marches and parades (and fireworks displays!) and send a clear message to Trump that we will not be erased. He and his cronies have deleted scores of pages from government websites from the SBA to the Interior Department, scrubbing any mention of LGBTQ history, as if we never existed. The Blade’s 56-year archive tells another story.
It’s the story of a loving community fighting to overcome police brutality, AIDS indifference, hate crimes, legalized discrimination, racism, hate, and bigotry to forge happy and productive lives under the American promise of equality. We’re not there yet but WorldPride offers an opportunity to stand up and be seen and counted.
So I hope everyone reading this will join us at the many events scheduled to celebrate Pride. It may seem like a small thing but there is power in numbers. Help us show the world that Donald Trump has not extinguished or exhausted us. He has reinvigorated us and inspired a renewed sense of purpose and dedication to justice. See you at WorldPride.
Kevin Naff is editor of the Washington Blade. Reach him at [email protected].
Opinions
My heart goes out to trans community and their families
Supreme Court betrays the Constitution in new ruling

My heart goes out to the transgender community and their families, after the Supreme Court ruling. The court has ruled their health, and lives, are less important, and we know they are not.
The felon in the White House, and his MAGA acolytes, his cult, have done everything to make their lives hell. The rest of us can never back down until that is changed. It is not only the LGBTQ community that needs to fight this, but every decent person needs to as well. We should take to the streets and protest; yet the reality is the one sure way to stop all the madness is at the ballot box. We all need to vote, and get every decent person to do the same. I hate to say it, but right now there are apparently no ‘decent’ Republicans to vote for, because any decent Republican would be speaking out against the egregious policies of this felon and there is silence from them.
Voting for a third party because you are not happy with everything Democrats are doing, will only help Republicans. History tells us that. Don’t be fooled, you need to vote for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. Please, understand how our system works. There are only two parties today that will control the legislatures, state or federal, the governor’s office, or the White House. Third parties may try to fool you, but they have no chance at this time.
We see what Republicans have done to the country. Grocery prices are up, your rent is up, the promise to end the wars around the world on their first day in office, have failed. The felon has actually started another war, this one against Iran. We will see where that leads. They are making a mess of their promise to expel immigrants, actually trying to do it without regard for our Constitution. I am for kicking out criminals who are here illegally, but we have a way to do that. We are not a banana republic. The felon in the White House is bowing down to kiss Putin’s ass, deserting the proud people in Ukraine. His sycophants in the Republican Congress refuse to stand up to him in any way. So, we have to kick them all out.
One of the things that amazes me is how people make excuses for the felon, and the general slime he appointed to his Cabinet. Listening to Pete Hegseth at congressional hearings can literally make you sick. Then there is Marco Rubio, twisting himself into a pretzel for Trump, going against everything he once said he believed in. It’s disgusting what some people will do for a Cabinet post.
Then there are the Log Cabin Republicans, who find it OK to support someone who is a racist and homophobe, and make excuses for him. Some of them posting on Facebook how they enjoyed WorldPride, having no compunction at all being major hypocrites, when the felon in the White House they support, refused to acknowledge it. The highest-ranking gay member of his administration won’t acknowledge it; and another slimy gay man is named as acting CEO of the Kennedy Center and his first act is to cancel a gay chorus concert. When his Secretary of Defense tells us he is taking Harvey Milk’s name off a ship, and at one point says they will hide recognition of the ‘Enola Gay’ because they think it refers to the gay community. With all this, Log Cabin Republicans, I gather because of some self-hatred, or fear of losing a job, continue to support all he is doing. They won’t speak out when transgender people literally have their lives put in danger by the felon’s policies. When trans persons who have served with honor and distinction, in defense of all of our freedoms, are thrown out of the military. When veterans, including those in the LGBTQ community, are thrown out of their jobs in the federal government, and have their healthcare put at risk. They remain silent even in cases where silence = death.
One of them on Facebook asked me whether it gets tiresome speaking about these things all the time, and suggests if I don’t like the felon in the White House, it’s too bad, I will just have to work harder next time. My answer is yes; I will work harder next time. But in the meantime, I will never tire of speaking out, and making sure anyone who hears my voice, will know what the felon, racist, homophobe, misogynist, found liable for sexual assault, currently in the White House, and his supporters, are doing to screw so many decent people.
Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.
Opinions
They Are Coming for All of Us

We at the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation, along with the entire LGBTQ+ community, are justifiably devastated by the US Supreme Court’s decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care for minors. In a 6-3 ruling that will likely have major implications for the entire community’s rights going forward, the court held that the law, which prohibits certain forms of medical treatment based on the recipient’s assigned sex at birth, did not violate the US constitution’s equal protection clause.
The Skrmetti decision held that Tennessee could ban gender-affirming care to minors based on medical diagnosis (gender dysphoria, gender incongruence or gender identity disorder) without violating the US constitution. In its analysis, the court ignored that these TGNCNBI-specific conditions were being differentiated on the basis of sex, rather than age (minority status) and/or medical diagnosis. Thus, instead of applying the “strict scrutiny” required for sex-based discrimination, the court applied a much lower “rational basis” standard to the law and allowed it to stand. The court cited “fierce scientific and policy debates” around gender-affirming care as the state’s rational basis, in spite of the vehement disagreement of all major medical associations. State laws in 24 other states are substantially similar, so this ruling could affect as many as 100,000 youth. Ironically, the ban contains an exception for nonconsensual surgeries on intersex youth.
This decision also does not bode well for people with other medical conditions that offer potential for discrimination, and may even expose people with TGNCNBI-specific conditions to future discriminatory treatment, legislation, or action. In fact, the court’s ruling has major implications for the bodily autonomy of every American.
We at the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation are more committed than ever to supporting the TGNCNBI community in their fight for equal rights and access to the healthcare they deserve. As we all know, this decision has potentially deadly consequences. As one united LGBTQ+ community, we need to make ourselves more visible than ever to show that we exist, have always existed, and will not be silenced by a political and judicial movement that is trying to erase us.
Leonard Litz is responding to this moment by increasing our support in both our TransPLUS and Advocacy initiatives. We are also reaching out to offer support to organizations that serve the needs of trans and intersex youth who are being affected by this draconian decision. Additionally, the TransPLUS Resource Center will continue to offer services to the community as its needs grow and evolve.
We appreciate everyone’s support of our TGNCNBI youth and thank you all that you do for the LGBTQ+ community!
Robyn Schlesinger is a Trustee of the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation and Director of the TransPLUS Resource Center
Opinions
A Country Worth Fighting For
Producer of Putt Across America at The Wharf through September 1, 2025

Like many Americans, I woke up the morning after election night and the words on my phone screen felt like a fever dream. The New York Times declared “TRUMP STORMS BACK”. My boyfriend and I clutched onto our dog, staying in bed as long as we could. When we finally ventured out of our apartment and into the streets of New York, disappointment felt thick in the air. How could this happen again, and what would be left of America in four years?
My team and I had already spent weeks ideating on a touring mini golf experience centered around US landmarks and landscapes. We were certain that a positive outcome – the outcome we wanted for the election – was practically guaranteed. As the weeks of processing and acceptance began to roll along, we had to make a decision – do we stay on course or do we put this project’s concept on the shelf, possibly forever?
As a young, gay CEO of an entertainment company on a mission to bring impactful experiences to cities across the US, I made a choice: this country, its spirit, and its vast diversity, both in its people and its places, is not to be taken from us. And even in our greatest moments of despair, what is hiding behind the heartbreak is hope for an America that respects, reflects, and represents us all.
So we decided to lock in and bring Putt Across America to life – in a way that celebrates the places that compose our country and the people that create them. Red, white, and blue belong to all of us, and as the country turns 250, it’s on all of us to set the stage for the next 250 years to come.

The “easy summer nostalgia” aesthetic at Putt Across America is deeply intentional and took serious work to craft. When I think back to summers as a kid, I feel a great sense of ease, calm, and peace- I think of unmitigated joy defined by experiences shared with loved ones. I know this isn’t the case for everyone, but I know it is something everyone deserves. That’s what lies at the heart of this project- a blissful summer experience that will create memories poised to last a lifetime.
Putt Across America, Courtesy of Junto Entertainment
My hope is that people have that same feeling of peace when they join us for a round of mini golf this summer. While looking across the course to see Boston on one end, The Grand Canyon on the other, and over a dozen other states in between, I hope they are reminded that this America is for all of us. While exploring our bonus enrichment for each hole, I hope they realize the act of protest and the want for better for our country started long before there even was a United States.
That no one can take this away. And that the promise of tomorrow is something we create, nurture, and pass along to the next generations.
So let’s keep up the fight and further our love for America. Through our actions, through our votes, or even through something as simple as a game of mini golf.
Chris Goodwin is the CEO Junto Entertainment.