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TimesLIVE
09-06-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
With rage and humour, WorldPride rally takes aim at Trump in Washington
LGBTQ+ people and their allies gathered on Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, site of Martin Luther King's 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech, to rally for preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under US President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of the capital, the rally, one of the main events of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, turned more overtly political. Taking place in cities around the globe every two years, WorldPride is occurring in Washington at a time of high tension over LGBTQ+ rights in the US Speakers evoked outrage, humour and upbeat messages, criticising Trump for issuing executive orders limiting transgender rights, banning transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinding anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQ+ people. They also had an eye on demonstrations taking place on the other side of the country in Los Angeles, where the Trump administration has summoned the national guard to confront protesters who have opposed federal raids detaining immigrants. 'LGBTQI+ people are under siege, specially our trans siblings, who are being targeted by legislation, rhetoric and violence in every region, and immigrants, refugees and undocumented folks living in fear of deportation,' Ashley Smith, president of the Capital Pride Alliance board and a WorldPride organiser, told the crowd of several hundred people. Comedian Mimi Gonzalez sent up Trump and his one-time billionaire ally Elon Musk with a rewritten version of the song, adding the pronouns uniting the movement were 'we, us, ours'. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes, calling DEI a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence Trump aims to serve all Americans. Bianca Sprague, executive director of Trans Pride Washington DC, denounced what she called 'an unprecedented assault on trans rights', referring to myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender healthcare services for minors. Backers of the laws said they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. 'The attacks are not just legislative, they are deeply personal, inflicting harm, fear and despair on our community,' Sprague told the rally. The Lincoln Memorial is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 'When Dr King marched on Washington in 1963 here on these steps, he wasn't only speaking for one group, he was planting a seed for all of us,' Smith said. The crowd, however, was sparse compared to the multitudes who gathered there 62 years ago. Event organisers had no immediate statement on the turnout.
Irish Independent
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
WorldPride rally in Washington, DC takes aim at Donald Trump's ‘deeply personal attacks' on LGBTQ+ community
Today at 21:30 LGBTQ+ people and their allies gathered yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC – the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech – to rally for preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under US president Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of the capital, the rally, one of the main events of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, turned more overtly political.
The Advertiser
08-06-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Rally for gay rights to convene at historic US site
LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rally for gay rights to convene at historic US site
LGBTQI people will gather at the site of Martin Luther King's 1963 I Have a Dream speech for a political rally aimed at preserving decades of progress while protesting setbacks under President Donald Trump. After the festive nature of a parade on Saturday through the streets of Washington DC, the political demonstration could be the main event of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, which moves around the globe every two years. It occurs at the Lincoln Memorial at a time of high tension over LGBTQI rights in the US. Speakers are certain to rail against Trump, who has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banned transgender people from serving in the armed forces and rescinded anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQI people. We are keeping the vibes high as we get closer to the WorldPride Festival on Pennsylvania Avenue! #WorldPride2025 #PolicingWithPurpose 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈 — DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) June 7, 2025 The White House has defended its dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework a form of discrimination, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. The Trump administration has also touted its appointment of a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts and judgeships as evidence that Trump aims to serve all Americans. Before the main rally, transgender supporters will hold their march to protest Trump's rhetoric and myriad state laws around the country that ban transgender health care services for minors. Backers of those laws say they are attempting to protect minors from starting on a path they may later regret. The transgender rally will march from the offices of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQI organisation in the US, toward the Lincoln Memorial, which is considered hallowed ground in the US civil rights movement as the site of the King speech and the March on Washington that preceded historic legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
AsiaOne
08-06-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
WorldPride parade-goers march through Washington in defiance of Trump, World News
WASHINGTON -LGBTQ+ people and supporters from around the world marched through the streets of Washington on Saturday (June 7) with a mixture of joyful celebration and a show of defiance in the face of President Donald Trump's rollback of queer rights. The parade route passed within one block of the White House grounds in one of the final main events of the weeks-long WorldPride celebration, as revelers waved rainbow flags, including one stretching several blocks long, and danced to pulsating beats. On Sunday a more political event, dubbed a rally and march, will convene at the Lincoln Memorial, a revered space in the US civil rights movement as the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Since returning to office in January, Trump has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights, banning transgender people from serving in the armed forces, and rescinding anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQ+ people as part of a campaign to repeal diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Thousands lined the parade route, marched or gathered for a festival on Pennsylvania Avenue with the US Capitol in the background. Neither parade organizers nor police in the District of Columbia estimated the size of the crowd. Parade-goers pledged to preserve remaining rights and fight the Republican president's agenda. "We're going backwards," said Patricia Johnson, 70, who works for a nonprofit group supporting seniors in Washington. "But never give up hope." As the Pride Month of June began, the US Navy took steps to rename an oil tanker that had been named after slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, in the Pentagon's latest measure against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "That pissed me off more than anything. Harvey Milk is one of our heroes," said Mike Brubaker, a retired business analyst from Long Beach, California. While proponents of DEI consider it necessary to correct historic inequities, the White House has described it as a form of discrimination based on race or gender, and said its transgender policy protects women by keeping transgender women out of shared spaces. Moreover, the White House said it has appointed a number of openly gay people to cabinet posts or judgeships, and noted that the Trump administration took steps to decriminalize homosexuality globally, and that its 2019 initiative "Ending the HIV Epidemic" aimed to cut HIV infections by 90 per cent by 2030. "The President is honoured to serve all Americans," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement. 'Let them serve' Parade organizers gave prominent space near the head of the parade to displays of patriotism including military veterans with the banner "Operation Resist" and a group carrying flags for each branch of the armed forces with signs reading, "Let them serve." Washington's Metropolitan Police Department had its own contingent marching in the parade, as did the district's fire department, carrying a sign that said, "Fire doesn't discriminate. Neither do we." [[nid:687591]] The parade route was lined with members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies like Carrie Blanton, a 58-year-old school teacher from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, who was attending her first event for LGBTQ+ rights, saying her religious beliefs previously kept her from showing support. "I wanted to grow as a Christian and realised my own hard-heartedness. This is a way to give back to the community for having been so cold-hearted in the past. God is here for everyone," said Blanton, who voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election and for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in 2020. Lisa Tusick, 62, an accounting clerk from Delaware, said she feared how far Trump may go. "He started with trans kids and he's going to keep going until he gets rid of gay marriage," Tusick said. "We don't want to think about it too much. We just want to enjoy the day."
