Kennedy Center cancels LGBTQ+ Pride events, sparking backlash and broken ties
A slate of events celebrating LGBTQ+ communities at this summer's World Pride festival in Washington, D.C., has been quietly canceled by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, prompting public outcry and a severed partnership with the city's Capital Pride Alliance.
The four-day series, titled Tapestry of Pride, was scheduled for early June and included performances by the International Pride Orchestra, drag story times and AIDS Memorial Quilt displays.
Many of those events are now being relocated to alternate venues after organizers say communication with the Kennedy Center abruptly stopped following a major leadership overhaul.
'We are a resilient community, and we have found other avenues to celebrate,' said June Crenshaw, deputy director of the alliance. 'We are finding another path to the celebration. But the fact that we have to maneuver in this way is disappointing.'
The cancellations come in the wake of President Donald Trump's February takeover of the Kennedy Center's board. He dismissed long-standing leadership, installed loyalists — including Second Lady Usha Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino — and appointed himself chairman, promising to end 'woke' programming.
Since then, over 20 performances have been scrapped, and artists say they've been stonewalled.
'They went from very eager to host to nothing,' he said. 'We have not since heard a word from anybody at the Kennedy Center, but that's not going to stop us.'
Crenshaw said other events, including a drag story time and a display of parts of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, would be moved to the World Pride welcome center in Chinatown.
Monica Alford, a veteran arts and culture journalist and event planner, was scheduled to organize an event on June 8 as part of Tapestry of Pride, but said she also saw communication abruptly end within days of Trump's takeover.
'We're doing our community a disservice — not just the queer community but the entire community,' she said.
Washington-based musician Yasmin Williams recently posted a tense email exchange with interim director Richard Grenell, who accused artists of boycotting Republicans and dismissed diversity programs as 'DEI bullshit.'
Many prominent artists, including 'Grey's Anatomy' creator Shonda Rhimes, 'Insecure' creator and star Issa Rae and Pulitzer Prize-winning singer Rhiannon Giddens, have distanced themselves from the Kennedy Center.
Others, such as Oakland playwright Jonathan Spector and the San Francisco nonprofit International Pride Orchestra, also saw their scheduled performances abruptly scrapped.
Former Kennedy Center Vice President Marc Bamuthi Joseph, who was fired last month, described a 'toxic' environment marked by 'moral injury' and a shrinking cultural vision.
'The Kennedy Center, like any other performing arts institution, thrives when artists feel safe,' he said. 'I would say that the general attitude, or the kind of general feeling, is one of vulnerability and impending violence within a landscape that is supposed to be a sanctuary for free thought and expression.'
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