WTOP is marking Pride Month by showcasing the people, places and important issues in the LGBTQ+ communities in the D.C. area. Check back all throughout June as we share these stories, on air and online.
On the last day of the festival, WTOP spoke to both D.C.-area residents and people who traveled to the District to be a part of only the second WorldPride in the U.S.
“I’m loving it here!,” said Angel Creek, a first-time WorldPride attendee. The Chicago native was joined by fellow Howard University student Venus Burrell.
Creek said her favorite parts of WorldPride were the outfits, the amount of color and the small businesses who had tents at the festival.
One D.C. business that once again was turning heads at the festival was Jimmy Trendy. Owner Jaime Quintero told WTOP that as a local business owner, he felt a duty to support the community and be there.
“This year has been amazing, because it’s WorldPride,” Quintero said.
The three week festival has been two-and-a-half years in the making thanks to the work from the Capitol Pride Alliance, which produced WorldPride.
Ashley Smith, board president of Capital Pride Alliance, told WTOP that 500 volunteers helped with the three week festival.
“The volunteers, the staff, the board, the whole nine, really trying to pull all this together, and our partners, that’s the only way we were able to do it,” Smith said Saturday.
One of the partners was the Mayor’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Affairs and its director, Japer Bowles.
Social media influencer Jose Romero, known as @DCHomos, who’s also marketing executive producer for Capital Pride Alliance, said he was impressed with the D.C.-area’s LGBTQ+ community, who lent a helping hand.
“The new volunteers, so many people that haven’t volunteered before, are here, welcoming the world and making this happen,” Romero said.
One of those welcomed was Devin Plant, who traveled with friends to join the celebration in D.C.
“You don’t have anything like this in Maine,” Plant said. “I think we have one singular gay bar in the whole state.
Plant joked that there are so few gay people in his hometown Bangor, that if he opens a dating app, he knows everyone on it.
This was Plant’s first trip to D.C. since he was in middle school.
“This historic event is probably something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Plant said.
Another thing Plant said he won’t forget for a while is the sunburn he received during the parade, joking that there isn’t as much sun in Maine.
One of the most impressive displays during the parade, which had 300 groups marching, was a 1,000-foot Pride Flag — said to be the world’s largest.
D.C.-area resident Allison Moody, who helped carry the giant Pride Flag, said it was stitched by the original creator of the Pride Flag, Gilbert Baker.
So, how big was the parade’s crowd size?
Smith said he had received estimates of 1.5 million attendees observing the parade as it moved along 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The streets are much bigger than the traditional route though D.C.’s Dupont neighborhood.
Last year, the parade used the same route as a test run for this year’s WorldPride — and it seems like this new pride route is permanent.
“There may be some changes to it slightly, but we’ll try to keep it the same route as much as
we can,” Smith said.
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