In the Shadow of the White House, the World Celebrates Pride in D.C.

Even before Washington was formally chosen as this year’s host city for one of the largest L.G.B.T.Q. pride events in the world, “the election was the biggest question,” said Ryan Bos, the executive director of Capital Pride Alliance.

At the time, the 2024 election was still two years away, but international Pride groups were nervously asking: What would it be like to hold the event, WorldPride, in the U.S. capital if there were an administration in the White House that sought to limit the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. communities? 

In many ways, WorldPride has unfolded as the global celebration it is meant to be. D.C. is festooned with rainbow flags, and scores of music performances, art shows, sports events, conferences and house parties have been taking place across the city, with concerts and a music festival this weekend as well as a big parade scheduled on Saturday and a rally and march on Sunday.

But since he returned to the White House, President Trump has loomed over it all.

He issued executive orders that bar transgender people from serving in the military and that restrict gender identities on travel documents. Private companies scaled back or shut down diversity programs. State lawmakers introduced and, in some places, passed resolutions calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the ruling allowing same-sex marriage, reflecting the views of a growing majority of Republicans.

Just this week, Mr. Trump’s secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered the Navy to review the 2021 decision to name a ship after Harvey Milk, a Navy veteran and champion of gay rights.

“I knew that there was going to be a shift,” said Ashley Smith, the president of the board of Capital Pride Alliance. “I don’t think most of us probably thought it was going to happen so quickly, and that it would appear to be OK with so many people.”

President Trump has not spoken publicly in recent days about the Pride events unfolding in Washington. Asked about the president’s position on World Pride, Harrison Fields, a spokesman for the White House, said that President Trump was “fostering a sense of national pride that should be celebrated daily” and that he was “honored to serve all Americans.”

Some longtime corporate sponsors of D.C. Pride steered clear this year, as companies have from Pride events nationwide. Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading contractor for the federal government, pulled its financial support for the D.C. event, saying in a statement at the time that the decision did “not reflect any pullback of support to this community.” Some other large companies, simply did not renew past funding commitments.

Mr. Bos said that corporate fund-raising for WorldPride reached about half of the goal organizers had set. Some of the companies that continued to fund the festival, he said, asked that their logos not be prominently displayed.

The international momentum to show up for WorldPride began to wobble almost immediately after the inauguration. Some international L.G.B.T.Q. groups said they would not attend, while individual travelers grew concerned about possible trouble entering or leaving the United States. Mr. Smith said he had also heard more worry than in the past from people locally, who fear repercussions at their jobs if they are seen at Pride events.

Early estimates that as many as three million visitors would come to D.C. for WorldPride began looking out of reach as the event approached. While an imperfect measurement of attendance, hotel bookings for this weekend are about 4 percent below the same weekend last year.

“We’re disappointed the numbers aren’t where we anticipated they would be,” said Elliott Ferguson, the president of Destination DC, the city’s marketing organization. Still, he emphasized that the actual attendance numbers would not be known until after WorldPride ends on June 8.

Organizers have adjusted. They raised more money than initially planned from individual donors; moved events from the Kennedy Center — which Mr. Trump has taken over, promising “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS” — to other local venues; and supported a “March For All” initiative that encourages people to march in the name of others who cannot participate.