{"id":1434294,"date":"2025-06-06T18:13:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaytimes.com\/?p=1434294"},"modified":"2025-06-06T18:13:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T17:13:29","slug":"as-worldpride-dc-begins-a-look-back-at-the-eight-cities-that-led-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaytimes.com\/uncloseted\/as-worldpride-dc-begins-a-look-back-at-the-eight-cities-that-led-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"As WorldPride DC Begins, A Look Back at the Eight Cities that Led the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Uncloseted Media interviews attendees from each WorldPride event through history, from London to Madrid.<\/p>\n

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WORDS SAM DONNDELINGER, HOPE PISONI, EMMA PAIDRA<\/strong><\/p>\n

ADDITIONAL REPORTING SOPH KRISTEN AND NICO DIALESSANDRO<\/strong><\/p>\n

FACT-CHECKING AMANDA DONNDELINGER<\/strong><\/p>\n

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WorldPride DC, which is expected to bring as many as 3 million visitors<\/a> and $700 million <\/a>to the city\u2019s economy, began on May 17 and will culminate on June 8<\/a> with a march.<\/p>\n

This is the ninth WorldPride and has already garnered controversy as it takes place in America\u2019s capital city, where the Trump administration has dismantled LGBTQ rights <\/a>and made relentless attacks against the queer community. Many countries have issued travel advisories<\/a> for trans people visiting the U.S., and WorldPride organisers have cautioned<\/a> international trans folks from attending. Despite this, hundreds of thousands of people will celebrate and protest over the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

The eight WorldPride events that have taken place over the last 25 years have all included challenges and triumphs. Here\u2019s a look at each of them through the lens of attendees who experienced it.<\/p>\n

The first WorldPride was held in Rome, the capital of Italy and home of the Vatican. The location was important: Italy was\u2014and still is\u2014among the weakest countries in Western Europe for LGBTQ rights, with gay marriage<\/a> and non-binary gender markers<\/a> still unrecognised today.<\/p>\n

The weeklong Pride was held in July during the Catholic Church\u2019s Great Jubilee. Pope John Paul II was outraged, calling<\/a> it an \u201coffence to the Christian values of a city that is so dear to the hearts of Catholics throughout the world\u201d and adding that homosexual attendees are \u201cintrinsically disordered.\u201d The Vatican even convinced the city government to withdraw<\/a> its promise of $200,000 in financial support<\/a> for the event. While the money was eventually returned due to backlash, the city still removed all of its official branding.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the event was a huge success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was beautiful,\u201d Renato Sabbadini, who helped organise the event, told Uncloseted Media<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sabbadini, who was in his twenties when he helped organise the event, says that while previous Rome Prides drew 10,000-20,000 people, WorldPride brought in 700,000 people\u2014so many that they couldn\u2019t all fit into the march\u2019s destination, the ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium known as Circo Massimo.<\/p>\n

Sabbadini was a board member for the Italian LGBTQ rights group Arcigay and had helped draft the initial proposal for WorldPride. He was proud of what his work accomplished, both in size and in impact. He was most emotional seeing the sheer number of non-LGBTQ people who turned up to show that Italy was ready for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Italian population, for the first time, wanted somehow to assert the fact that Italy was no longer a country that could be considered simply as a sort of colony of the Vatican, but it was a secular country with its own consciousness and values,\u201d Sabbadini says.<\/p>\n

Six years later, the second WorldPride was held in Jerusalem. The location\u2014a holy site for Judaism, Christianity and Islam\u2014was once again chosen by WorldPride\u2019s international and official organisers to protest religious and state discrimination against the LGBTQ community. The region was also a controversial choice.<\/p>\n

While Israel is seen as the most progressive country for LGBTQ rights in this region, the Middle East is still home to many hostile countries<\/a>, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen, where you can be killed if found engaging in \u201chomosexual acts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The march was postponed twice, first due to Israel\u2019s 2005 disengagement from Gaza and later because of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War. Leaders of all three major Abrahamic religions opposed the event, saying that it would create the impression that homosexuality is acceptable. “They are creating a deep and terrible sorrow that is unbearable,” Shlomo Amar, Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi, said in a news conference.<\/p>\n

Abdel Aziz Bukhari, a Sufi sheik, added, “We can’t permit anybody to come and make the Holy City dirty. This is very ugly and very nasty to have these people come to Jerusalem.”<\/p>\n

While the event eventually took place in November, it was boycotted<\/a> by many LGBTQ rights organisations in protest of Israel\u2019s occupation in Palestine and invasion of Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Deeg Gold, a boycott organiser, says that the attention garnered by the boycott helped spread awareness about LGBTQ Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activism. They say it also helped popularise the term \u201cpinkwashing,\u201d which is now frequently used to describe the practice of using LGBTQ-friendly aesthetics for profit without actually supporting the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brought, for the first time, an international awareness that there are a lot of queers in Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

At London\u2019s WorldPride in 2012, the global LGBTQ community was still facing significant legal and social challenges. 40% of UN Member States still criminalised same-sex sexual acts<\/a>. The event, which featured a march with 25,000 participants<\/a>, aimed to confront these injustices by celebrating progress and highlighting the work still left to do.<\/p>\n

The event also opened new doors for inclusivity, including for 42-year-old mathematician Michael Dor\u00e9, who organised the first-ever Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) Conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been attempts before at having big events, but WorldPride really [made it happen],\u201d Dor\u00e9 told Uncloseted Media<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The one-day conference brought together roughly 100 attendees from across the globe and included a keynote titled “Asexuality BC (Before Cake),” which traced the early development of the asexual (ACE) movement and highlighted the intersections between asexuality and non-binary identities.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe usual argument is that ACEs are not really oppressed,\u201d says Dor\u00e9. \u201cACE is just about not wanting to have sex or not wanting a relationship. I disagree with it. A lot of what ACEs go through is actually similar to the wider LGBTQ movement \u2026 [such as] feeling broken and feeling the orientation is not going to live up to other people’s expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dor\u00e9 says the conference was \u201cjust extraordinary.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

She hugged the other organiser and said, \u201cYou are the first other asexual person I’ve met in my life!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was so excited to be there, and said it was the one day in her life she felt she could be herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building off the momentum from London, WorldPride returned just two years later to Toronto, which is seen as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly<\/a> cities in the world. It\u2019s also the largest city in Canada, one of the strongest countries<\/a> in the world for LGBTQ rights.<\/p>\n

Kalyn Heffernan, the 38-year-old frontwoman for the queer and disabled hip-hop group Wheelchair Sports Camp, performed at the march alongside Tangled Arts, an organisation that promotes disabled artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big deal to \u2026 get to play at WorldPride in Toronto\u2014pretty amazing,\u201d Heffernan told Uncloseted Media<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Heffernan lives with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a disease where bones break easily. She actively advocates for queer disabled folks\u2014who, she notes, were integral to the origins of Pride<\/a>. She says the fight for LGBTQ rights must also include accessibility, intersectionality and justice for all bodies and identities.<\/p>\n

She adds that she doesn\u2019t feel like Pride represents the disabled community like it has in the past, in part because of all \u201cthe corporate backing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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While Heffernan had some mixed feelings about Toronto\u2019s WorldPride, like for the large police presence at the march\u2014which she finds \u201cantithetical\u201d to the LGBTQ movement\u2019s radical history\u2014she says she was grateful for the opportunity and for what Pride represents, especially as LGBTQ rights continue to be under attack.<\/p>\n

Three years later, under the banner of \u201cViva la Vida,\u201d or \u201cLive Life\u201d for non-Spanish speakers, WorldPride Madrid brought an estimated 3 million people into the heart of Chueca, the city\u2019s historic LGBTQ neighborhood.<\/p>\n

From early grassroots activism to becoming one of the first countries to legalise same-sex marriage in 2005,<\/a> Spain has emerged as one of the world\u2019s most progressive nations<\/a> when it comes to LGBTQ rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very fun, very cool environment,\u201d says Justin Seymour, a straight man and staunch ally from Lafayette, Indiana.<\/p>\n

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Seymour, who was in Spain to visit his then-partner\u2019s family, says his first Pride experience was unexpectedly welcoming. \u201cOne guy I spoke with was like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re straight?\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Yeah.\u2019 And he goes, \u2018Well, that\u2019s too bad.\u2019 So, I felt very welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

What stood out to him most was the atmosphere of inclusivity, one that he had never seen in his conservative hometown. \u201cThere were small details. \u2026 They changed the lights to be two women walking. That was totally unnecessary but very cool,\u201d he says. \u201cOne of the major buildings in Madrid had the pride flag draped over it. Everybody seemed really supportive and [to be] having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that straight people have something to learn from Pride.<\/p>\n

Seymour also thinks straight people should embrace any discomfort they feel around Pride. \u201cBeing a straight white guy, you kind of get to do whatever you want. You’re welcome anywhere,\u201d he says. \u201cBeing in the minority, that’s not normal [for us] and can be uncomfortable. But it\u2019s important to lean into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seymour recommends that everyone go to Pride. \u201cGetting a little uncomfortable and trying to get to know people and ask questions is crucial,\u201d he says, referring to the fact that studies<\/a> show how interacting with members of different groups can reduce prejudice and lead to more empathy and understanding. \u201cIt\u2019s educating yourself. It\u2019s a good way of getting rid of your ignorance, and getting familiar with the community in and of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, WorldPride 2019 took place in New York City.<\/p>\n

The 1969 riots were a notable turning point for LGBTQ rights. They began as a protest in response to police raids at the Stonewall Inn, a historic gay bar in New York\u2019s Greenwich Village. One year later, the first Pride marches<\/a> would be held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to commemorate the riots.<\/p>\n

Due to the grassroots nature of the riots, the commercialisation of WorldPride was a source of tension. As a result, the Reclaim Pride Coalition organised the Queer Liberation March, an alternative Pride that rejected corporate sponsorship and police presence. While the Queer Liberation March was initially made up of 8,000 people,<\/a> it grew to 45,000<\/a> that same day.<\/p>\n

Stacy Lentz, the co-owner of The Stonewall Inn, says WorldPride\u2019s \u201cenergy and emotion was one of resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lentz, a lesbian originally from Kansas, says that many attendees were touched by the event’s historical significance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was so much unity,\u201d she says. \u201cThere was everyone together, everyone celebrating, millions of people. \u2026 The city was just electrified that year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lentz says the energy inside Stonewall was palpable. \u201cWe had Taylor Swift come and perform at the bar, singing \u2018Shake It Off\u2019 with Jesse Tyler Ferguson. \u2026 I joked that I couldn\u2019t even get into my own bar that weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flash forward two years to Copenhagen and Malm\u00f6\u2019s joint Pride in 2021. The theme, \u201c#YouAreIncluded<\/a>,\u201d took place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasised human rights for all people, regardless of \u201csexuality, gender identity, race, religion, appearance, economic status, nationality, refugee status, health, HIV status\u2014or any other factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCopenhagen really rolled out the red carpet for Pride. I’ve never seen so many rainbow flags in my life,\u201d Victor Yates, a writer and educator, told Uncloseted Media<\/em>. \u201cNot only did I feel safe, but I felt welcomed to the city. It was such a beautiful experience because even people who weren’t participating in Pride wanted to experience what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denmark is recognised<\/a> as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries on earth and was the first<\/a> to grant the right for same-sex couples to enter into registered partnerships in 1989.<\/p>\n

Yates, a Black gay man, grew up in Florida, where he was afraid of attending Pride events. \u201cIn Jacksonville, I never saw representations of positive queer images. There were always billboards about not having an abortion and that being gay is a sin. \u2026 And because of this, I grew up not wanting to attend Pride events.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remembers riding the bus in the early 2000s and passing a Pride event in the park. \u201cThe bus driver commented, \u2018Where’s the police when you need them?\u2019 And it just took me aback,\u201d he says. \u201cThis isn’t the 60s, this isn’t the 50s. We’re living in a modern time where we have modern ideas, but there are still some people who believe that queer people should be arrested for just living their life authentically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yates\u2019 experience in Copenhagen transformed his understanding of what Pride could be. \u201cI was like, \u2018This is magical,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Yates says part of the unity he felt was because of the planning that went into the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were active conversations about how to welcome people to Copenhagen Pride. And I felt like every building, every organisation, participated. Every encounter that I had with someone who was local was pleasant. I didn’t feel othered while I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, Sydney, Australia hosted WorldPride, after the country released a \u201crainbow birth certificate<\/a>\u201d in 2022, where citizens could opt to not list their gender.<\/p>\n

But despite these political advances, there was controversy around high ticket prices<\/a>, with the Sydney WorldPride organisation receiving backlash for the whopping $1,497 they charged for three-day passes.<\/p>\n

Alan Maurice, a South-Asian gay man living in Sydney, has fond memories of marching across the Sydney Harbor Bridge. \u201cWe don’t often get an opportunity here in Sydney to close off a main artery and turn it into this big rainbow march,\u201d he told Uncloseted Media<\/em>. \u201cThere were queers and allies and all kinds of people went and crossed. And so that was a wonderful feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Maurice enjoyed his time at WorldPride, he felt there was a lack of South-Asian representation at the event. \u201cThe Indian subcontinent’s got billions of people, so there’s a pretty large percentage of queer people. Not a single person was invited to present or speak during the Human Rights part of it \u2026 so that was really disappointing,\u201d he says. Despite this, Maurice left WorldPride feeling the event had strengthened the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n

If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:<\/em><\/h4>\n

Donate to Uncloseted Media<\/a><\/h4>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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