As D.C. prepares to welcome the world for the biggest Pride celebration of the year, “America’s Metro system” is encouraging visitors and locals alike to take the Metro to WorldPride events.

On May 24, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority unveiled a series of specially wrapped vehicles in honor of the upcoming WorldPride celebration. The colorful fleet — featuring a set of train cars, a bus, and a Metro operations vehicle — is decked out in vibrant rainbow stripes alongside the message: “Metro proudly welcomes the world.”

Riders can track the WorldPride-themed train and bus in real time by visiting wmata.com/live and clicking on the “Special Edition” option.

To accommodate the estimated two to three million visitors expected in the D.C. area, WMATA is also boosting rail service from June 6-8. Service enhancements include the extended operation of the Yellow Line to Greenbelt Station — typically the end of the Green Line — on both Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8, in an effort to ease crowding on Metro lines serving WorldPride events.

Metro is also expanding hours that weekend to help Pride-goers get to and from celebrations:

• Friday, June 6: Metro service extended by one hour, closing at 2 a.m.
  
• Saturday, June 7: Metro opens one hour earlier at 6 a.m. and closes at 2 a.m.
  
• Sunday, June 8: Metro opens at 6 a.m. and closes at midnight
  

Keep in mind that last train times vary by station. To avoid missing the final train, check the “Stations” page on the WMATA website or app. Metrobus will continue to operate several 24-hour routes throughout D.C.

During daytime hours, trains arrive every 4–6 minutes at most central stations, with service every 8–12 minutes at stations further out.

“Washington D.C. is a city of major international events and WorldPride is no different,” said Metro General Manager Randy Clarke. “Metro is the best way to get around, and we are making it even easier with a new seamless way to pay for fares coming soon, our new MetroPulse app to help navigate the system, and increased service on WorldPride’s closing weekend.”

One of the biggest updates ahead of WorldPride is the launch of Metro’s new “Tap. Ride. Go.” fare payment system. Beginning Wednesday, riders can enter the Metrorail system simply by tapping a credit card, debit card, or mobile wallet at fare gates — eliminating the need to purchase a physical SmarTrip card. Riders must use the same card to tap in and out, and should note that transfer discounts will not apply when using this payment method. The feature will expand to Metrobus and Metro-operated parking facilities at a later date.

For full details on all Metro updates related to WorldPride, visit wmata.com.

Beneath the optimistic press releases from WorldPride D.C. organizers lies a disappointing reality: Predictions of up to three million visitors traveling to the region for the events are not materializing. 

Indeed, a quick look at hotel occupancy rates reveals wide open availability across D.C. for the June 6-9 weekend with many hotels offering discounted rates.

LGBTQ activists from Europe, Mexico, Canada, and other parts of the U.S. have announced they decided not to come to Washington, D.C. for WorldPride because of the hostile, anti-LGBTQ policies of President Donald Trump and his administration. The activists indicating they would not come to WorldPride D.C. have said they were especially concerned over the Trump administration’s anti-transgender policies.

Kyle Deckelbaum, an official with Destination D.C., an organization that promotes tourism and large-scale events, and that has been supporting WorldPride D.C. for at least two years, said his group has received differing reports about the attendance at WorldPride.

He said that as of May 21, the most recent data show that hotel bookings for the WorldPride opening ceremony weekend of May 30-June 1, and for the closing ceremony weekend of June 6-8, are down by 3 percent compared to the same two weekends in 2024. D.C.’s regularly scheduled annual Capital Pride Festival and Parade took place the second weekend of June 2024.

But Deckelbaum points out that the 3 percent lower bookings are for D.C. hotels only, not those in the surrounding Virginia and Maryland counties, where many WorldPride participants are expected to stay. He also notes that bookings do not reflect the full “occupancy” of a hotel room, saying it is common that two or more visitors can share a hotel room.

“The way to look at hotel booking pace is it is a kind of indicator of travel, but it does not necessarily indicate occupancy, nor would it indicate attendance,” he said, referring to the overall attendance at WorldPride.

Deckelbaum said another factor is that there are more hotels that have opened in D.C. since last year, increasing the supply of rooms, which could account for a slightly lower booking rate.

“And there are a lot of factors at play outside of WorldPride, where occupancy has been tracking just below last year every weekend this year because there is a decrease in international visitation,” he said. “That’s overall to the U.S., that’s not D.C. specific.”

On the optimistic side, Deckelbaum notes that a “surge in positive op-ed articles from around the world” have appeared recently in support of WorldPride D.C. in newspapers in countries such as United Kingdom and Canada.

“We are seeing an uptick in op-ed submissions from international markets that explain people’s reasons for coming,” he said.

Last month, Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination D.C., told the Blade he could not predict whether as many as 2 million or more visitors would come as WorldPride organizers had predicted earlier this year.

 “So, as we talk to hotels, we would have liked to see the city fully sold out at this point,” he said.

The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based group serving as lead organizer of WorldPride D.C., has pointed out that the local D.C. government has a longtime strong record of support for the LGBTQ community. They have also argued that LGBTQ activists should come to WorldPride as a form of protest against the Trump administration, among other things, by joining the planned LGBTQ and allied March on Washington for Freedom, set to take place June 8 and travel from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol.

Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, said the group doesn’t believe media reports of lower hotel bookings are predictive of the actual number of people that will turn out for WorldPride D.C. Although he did not offer a prediction of the size of the turnout, he said the enthusiasm and large number of people who turned out for the first week of WorldPride events was impressive.  

“The energy and respect among each other were energizing and continued as other events popped up through Latinx Pride and API [Asian Pacific Islander] Pride and this past weekend with D.C. Black Pride, which was a huge success,” he said.

“People understand this is an historic moment, how important it is that our community supports each other, that every LGBTQ business, organization, social group that we rally together to ensure that our community shows up,” Bos told the Blade in a May 27 phone interview.

“Celebration is a form of protest,” he said. “So, protest is defiance, resilience and joy. And it’s not just about WorldPride,” Bos continued. “This is about us ensuring that we can persevere and be resilient across our country and around the world. And to ensure that all of our Prides continue to take place and that we do not go back in the closet.”

He added, “We have nearly 300 events between the ones Capital Pride Alliance is organizing to all the amazing partners in the community to have something for everybody, and we are excited to welcome so many who deserve to be seen so they can experience the D.C. that isn’t the federal government, that is part of this fabric of freedom, this community, these neighborhoods that make D.C. such a great place to live.” 

A statement released on May 27 by WorldPride D.C. 2025 organizers says the events that began May 17 and dozens more set to take place through June 8 represent a “celebration of LGBTQ+ culture, identity, and unity.”

The statement adds that the events make up a “packed calendar of festivals, sports, concerts, and cultural experiences marking 50 years of Pride in D.C.” 

It points out that this week’s highlights included the start of the WorldPride Film Festival, scheduled for May 27-29, the annual Pride Flag Raising ceremony organized by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which was set for May 29, and the kickoff of the Capital Cup Sports Festival set for May 30-June 4.

As if that were not enough, the organizers’ statement notes that the WorldPride Welcome Ceremony and Concert set for Saturday, May 31, at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium with headliner Shakira performing and welcoming remarks by key dignitaries would set the pace for the remainder of the WorldPride events.

But while indicating all is going according to plans, the statement does not respond to multiple media reports that earlier predictions that WorldPride D.C. would attract between two and three million visitors does not appear to be happening.

 WorldPride organizers announced last week that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade set for June 7.

“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”

“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.

On Thursday, shattered glass, broken doors, and homophobic slurs were discovered in the entryway of Adams Morgan queer bar Sinners and Saints (2309 18th St. N.W.) Images of the destruction were posted to the bar’s Instagram, and news of the break-in began to spread.

The Washington Blade sat down with one of the co-partners and general manager of Sinners and Saints, Blair Nixon, to discuss the break-in and the overwhelming response from the LGBTQ community.

“Our door was broken-so the glass was shattered,” Nixon told the Blade when describing the damage done to the space. “They wrote a slur on our wall, and unfortunately-we’re not sure to the extent that it was, but there’s a bunch of inventory missing from our liquor closet. It does seem like it was targeted because of what they wrote on the wall.”

Nixon, who has been with Washington’s only QTBIPOC (queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of color) bar since its opening last August, explained that upon learning of the break-in, fear was his first reaction.

“It was really scary,” Nixon said. “To know that somebody was in our space, vandalizing it-it was very scary and honestly, devastating.”

He went on to say that if it weren’t for the restaurant above Sinners and Saints, La Grotta, they wouldn’t have known until hours later.

“We found out because of the restaurant upstairs that we’re partnered with,” he said. “The electricity to the entire building was turned off-including apartments and the restaurant above us. Whoever broke in went into the closet that’s outside of the building and turned the electricity off to the entire building. When the restaurant owners got there, they tried to figure out why there wasn’t any electricity. They went downstairs and saw the shattered glass, the door broken, and the slur on the wall.”

Once Sinners and Saints staff arrived to survey the damage, they posted the images to their Instagram and called the Metropolitan Police Department. Nixon was grateful for both MPD and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs’s quick reaction.

“We were really happy with the response,” Nixon said. “The mayor’s office reached out relatively quickly, and I had a conversation with them, and the police came shortly afterwards, and they did a really good job. So we’re very appreciative of the response. They took a statement, they looked at the damage, took photos of everything, and made a report.”

“They actually sent, like, the entire department,” he added. “There were multiple police officers, multiple detectives, and the LGBTQ liaison came a little bit later. In general, I just really appreciated the response overall.”

The Blade obtained a copy of the filed police report, which described the break-in as a felony-more specifically, MPD considered it a second-degree burglary. MPD’s report also classified the break-in and subsequent graffiti as having “a hate bias or motivation” against sexual minorities who own and frequent the bar.

Unfortunately, there were no cameras on the premises at the time of the break-in, which MPD estimates happened sometime between 2-6 p.m., but Sinners and Saints were able to obtain footage from nearby businesses.

“We did have some camera footage from the hostel next door, and we submitted that to law enforcement,” he said. “We’re just going to let them do their investigation, and I don’t want to make any suppositions about what might have happened.”

When asked what he believed motivated the assailant(s), Nixon didn’t offer a definitive answer. He suggested it was likely someone hostile to LGBTQ businesses in Washington but assured the Blade that Sinners and Saints would not back down-and that the LGBTQ community stands firmly behind them.

“I don’t want to make any statements about what we think happened. We’re going to let the police do their job. But, as the only QTBIPOC bar in D.C., I think it’s important to note that we’re still here. We’re not going to close. We appreciate the support of our community, and I think that overall, it’s really important that we’re a safe space for the underserved and marginalized communities in D.C. Given that D.C. has, you know, one of the largest queer populations-but there aren’t very many spaces for the communities that we serve-we’re very proud to serve those communities. And we aren’t going to stop.”

Nixon had one critique for MPD, but was overall with their quick response.

“We hope that law enforcement would have a greater presence in Adams Morgan,” he said. “I think that, especially from talking to other establishment owners and bar owners, there’s definitely been some increased issues in Adams Morgan, and we hope that that doesn’t continue. We talked to the Mayor’s Office about it and to the police when they came-to have a greater presence in Adams Morgan.”

Since its opening, Nixon said the support from the QTBIPOC and broader LGBTQ community felt strong-but now, after the break-in, that connection has only grown stronger.

“We opened in August of last year, and we think that D.C. in general has really responded to our mission, and the community has really shown up for us-just like the same way that we’ve shown up for them.”

That community support for Sinners and Saints, Nixon said, extends past the diverse group of QTBIPOC people buying shots and tipping 20 percent nightly. Some of the city’s LGBTQ organizations showed up, offering to help. One of those community members who reached out owns a popular gay bar just up 18th Street.

“The response has been really strong, and we definitely appreciate the support. A few of the other LGBT bar owners in Adams Morgan actually stopped by in person. We really appreciated that Dave Perruzza from Pitchers came by, and just in general that the community has been rallying around us.”

On Thursday night, Sinners and Saints opened as planned and hosted their “Sapphic Sailor Moon” party. Despite the break-in, the LGBTQ community came out to support them.

“I was working-actually bartending,” Nixon said. “I wasn’t originally supposed to be working, but I thought it was important for all the partners to be there. So everyone that’s involved in Sinners and Saints’ leadership team came out. Obviously, we were dealing with the incident, but being there the entire night, we thought that the response from the community was really strong. We wanted to make sure that we posted on social media the fact that we were still open, because a lot of people were contacting us and asking if we were going to be continuing on, if we were going to close. We thought it was really important to make sure that we were there and still open and still available.”

That community, Nixon said, includes members of the LGBTQ population who are often overlooked-which makes the attack on a space intentionally dedicated to them-particularly trans people and people of color-even more painful.

“I think that DC in general, as one of the cities with the biggest queer populations, has adopted the LGBT community in general-and it’s great. However, the adoption of people of color and the overall QTBIPOC community, you know, our trans community, hasn’t been the same. It’s super important to us to make sure that that community is protected and that there are safe spaces for them, and that’s what our core mission is. We never want that to stop. The most important thing is that the safe space for those marginalized and underrepresented communities continues. And I would hope that the acceptance of the community that we serve continues-and is just as important as the acceptance of the LGBT community as a whole.”

If you have any information about the break in, please contact MPD at (202) 727-9099. Sinners and Saints has set up a GoFundMe page for repairs. It can be accessed here.