Local
LGBT activist group plans dance protest outside Stephen Miller’s house
#WERKNotWalls supports migrants and refugees


(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Local LGBT activist group WERK for Peace has scheduled a dance protest on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in support of migrants and refugees starting with a rally on the North Side of the White House and ending with a parade to White House advisor Stephen Miller’s house.
The protest is part of the group’s new campaign #WERKNotWalls which is “about celebrating queer and trans migrants’ and refugees’ existence and resilience.”
“From the egregious response to the migrant and refugee caravan to the Muslim ban, Stephen Miller is Donald Trump’s right hand when it comes to immigration policy. That’s why he is going to love it when a parade of hip-bumping, salsa-dancing, debke-stomping, booty-shaking queer and trans migrants and refugees [and allies] show up at his house to celebrate our existence and demand that the US #LetThemIn, #AbolishIce, and WERK for migrants and refugees, not against them,” reads the Facebook’s event page. “We are going to send a loud and clear message: when migrants and refugees arrive at our border, we should be throwing biodegradable rainbow confetti – not tear gas.”
Participants are encouraged to wear traditional attire from their heritage. The soundtrack for the protest will include music “from Palestine to Mexico.”
There will be water, hand-warmers, speakers, biodegradable confetti, glitter and rainbow paraphernalia, according to the Facebook event page.
Firas Nasr, founding organizer of WERK for Peace, said in a statement: “The US government is denying dignity and respect to queer and trans individuals fleeing violence in their country of origin, much of which is the direct result of US imperialism. We are here to send a counter message to our brothers, sisters, and non-binary/GNC siblings – we see you, we respect you, and we will WERK to insure you are able to live in a world free from violence.”
As part of #WERKNotWalls, WERK for Peace has launched a video campaign asking dancers and activists to create videos to bring attention to the maltreatment of migrants and refugees.
WERK for Peace was founded in response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting. The group uses dance as a form of protest to speak out on issues such as climate change, immigration, LGBT issues and more.

The 2025 Capital Pride Honors awards ceremony and gala reception was held at the National Building Museum on Thursday, June 5. Honorees included Cathy Renna, Jerry St. Louis, Ernest Hopkins, Lamar Braithwaite, Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol, Kriston Pumphrey, Gia Martinez, Kraig Williams and SMYAL. Presenters and speakers included U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Amber Ruffin, Raven-Symoné and Paul Wharton.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)




































La Fiesta: The Official Latinx Pride Party was held at Bunker on Thursday, May 29. The event was hosted by Lady J Monroe and featured performances by Mia Carlisle, Stefon Royce, Evry Pleasure and Alexis Carter St. James.
(Washington Blade photos by Robert Rapanut)











World Pride 2025
U.S. Park Service closes Dupont Circle Park for WorldPride weekend
Shutdown order rejects D.C. police chief’s request to keep park open

The U.S. Park Service released an official statement on June 5 announcing it has decided to close Dupont Circle Park for the WorldPride weekend from 5 a.m. Friday, June 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 8.
While not saying so directly, the statement rejects a request by D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith to rescind her earlier request last week to close Dupont Circle Park for the WorldPride weekend after hearing from members of the community objecting to the closure.
After receiving Smith’s initial request to close the park, the National Park Service issued an earlier statement saying it agreed with Smith’s request and that the U.S. Park Police concurred with the closure request. But up until it released its latest statement on June 5, the Park Service did not publicly state whether it would agree to keep the Dupont Circle Park open at Chief Smith’s request.
Park service workers began installing metal fencing enclosing the park at 5 a.m. Friday, according to Park Service spokesperson Mike Litterst, who sent the Washington Blade the closure statement at 5 a.m. Friday.
“This closure comes at the request of the United States Park Police (USPP),” the statement says. “In USPP’s professional opinion this closure is necessary for the maintenance of public health and safety and protection of natural and cultural resources in Dupont Circle Park,” it says.
The statement adds, “The USPP has concluded that this temporary closure is necessary to ‘secure the park, deter potential violence, reduce the risk of destructive acts and decrease the need for extensive law enforcement presences.’”
Citing MPD Chief Smith’s earlier letter to the Park Service requesting the closure before she rescinded her request, the statement points out that “multiple instances of damage” to Dupont Circle Park, including damage to its fountain, occurred during Capital Pride weekends in 2019, 2023, and 2024.
Gay Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Vincent Slatt is among the community leaders and activists who have expressed strong objections to closing Dupont Circle Park for WorldPride weekend. Slatt and other activists have said potential damage to the park or acts of violence could be prevented by stationing police at the park rather than closing it.
But the U.S. Park Service statement disputes that claim, saying, “Less restrictive measures will not suffice due to the security-based assessment of the USPP that this park area needs to be kept clear.”
Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, the lead organizer of WorldPride 2025 D.C., has said no official WorldPride events were scheduled to take place in Dupont Circle Park. But Bos told the Blade that Capital Pride did not know whether other groups or individuals planned to hold an event there during WorldPride weekend.
“This temporary public use limit is not of a nature, magnitude, and duration that will result in a ‘significant alteration in the public use pattern,’” according to the National Park Service statement. “Other nearby park areas will remain open, this close will not impact any permitted events, and the closure will only last for the time that law enforcement agencies have determined is necessary to provide for public safety and resource protection,” it says.
“It is pandemonium down here at Dupont Circle,” Slatt told the Blade in a 7 a.m. phone call on Friday. “All the news cameras are out here and they’re putting up the fences. It’s ridiculous,” Slatt said.
“And traffic has ground to a halt,” he said, noting that Park Service work crews closed the inside street lanes surrounding Dupont Circle Park to install the fencing. “It’s a mess out here.”
David Fucillo, an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner from the Adams Morgan neighborhood, said he agrees with Slatt and others who say potential damage to Dupont Circle Park could be prevented by police presence rather than closing the park.
But Fucillo said the National Park Service’s decision to close the park for WorldPride weekend after having not closed it for previous Capital Pride weekends when they claimed damage to the park took place appears to be they are singling out WorldPride for biased treatment.
“It would seem they are trying to make a statement during WorldPride and Pride month,” he said. “It’s a shame they decided to do that this year as opposed to previous years.”
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