DC's Pride Parade Marches On Down To Pennsylvania Avenue
And Dom was there!
The press credential for the 2026 Capital Pride parade and concert in Washington DC this weekend was a simple black-and-white four-by-six-inch card quoting the First Amendment of the US Constitution in a large, bold monotype font. It’s a simple, subtle message aimed squarely at the ultra-conservative, Bible-thumping theocratic nuts and fascist-sympathizing freeloaders infesting the federal government just down the road.
"Exist. Resist. Have the Audacity."
That was the theme adopted by the Capital Pride Alliance. It’s a DC region nonprofit that organizes and leads many of the city’s activities and events around Pride. Its goal is to “celebrate, educate, support, and inspire our multi-faceted communities in order to grow and preserve our history and protect our rights for current and future generations.” That includes the parade, a huge block party in DuPont Circle (DC’s gayborhood), and a music festival on Pennsylvania Avenue, directly in front of the US Capitol building.
“Fifty-one years of pride in the future 51st state, and both movements are rooted in the same belief: every person deserves to be seen, heard and fully represented,” DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said June 1 during the start of Pride celebrations. “We’re celebrating Pride Month in the gayest city in the world.” Mayor Bowser then raised a big, gay flag on the John A. Wilson building, which houses the offices of the mayor and city council.
Still, with tens of thousands of residents and tourists flooding the city, not everyone was pleased to party outside on a nice day. For better or worse, there was a noticeable lack of rainbow-washing as the bevy of corporate sponsors from previous years was absent. I saw a special operations DC cop sending a group text that mocked students marching in the Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) delegation. And as the parade made its way to Pennsylvania Avenue, a gaggle of flag-wrapped tourists bitched quietly from behind a barrier at the people dancing down 14th Street in their Pup Play leather underwear and fetish masks.
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It was a little ironic, considering that the Lovecraftian terror dome housing Donald Trump’s UFC birthday fight the week before was still visible just over the treeline on the South Lawn of the White House. Apparently, sweaty, half-naked men trapped in a cage, embracing one another while wearing brightly colored panties, is only acceptable when there are absolutely zero erections. Period. (Allegedly.)
Pride celebrations have been giving tourists flooding the city to celebrate the US’s 250th anniversary a reality check. They’re learning that the founding of the country isn’t just about exiled religious cranks, slaveowners, drunks and a newsletter publisher who screwed half the women in Paris. American freedoms exist because of people like Dr. Franklin Kameny, who was fired from the US Army Map Service for being gay, and Bayard Rustin, who helped organize Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
Because the US is the seat of government for the United States, LGBTQ+ people from all over the world live and work in the city in an official capacity for their countries. Representatives from all over the world often get their first experience with LGBTQ+ people in DC because residents have fought for their rights, and the rights of future generations. They take those experiences home, and where they tell more people that it’s okay to be different.
My favorite sign: "HAPPY ALGAE BTQ PRIDE MONTH!"
https://bsky.app/profile/hgil.bsky.social/post/3moqsgkfmqs2m
Who hoards all the wealth while wages stagnate
Who owns all the housing, utilities, and media
Who lobbies politicians to rig the system
So why is everything so bad right now
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