C8 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, JUNE 12 , 2022
there for us,” he said. “So our
community is everywhere. We’re
in the churches, we’re in the
social groups. We’re in the non-
profits, we’re in the corporations
and we’re in the government. We
all are members of the communi-
ty.”
Back along the parade route,
many of the people celebrating
said they were eager to show
their support for LGBTQ causes.
Chris Ammon, a 51-year-old
schoolteacher who lives in Falls
Church, believes that his role as
an ally of the LGBTQ community
is to support those who confide
in him, especially his students.
“I have flags like the ones you
see all around us and students
ask who they’re for,” Ammon
said. “And I tell them they’re for
everyone.”
As cheers erupted from the
crowd, Ammon admired the col-
orful sights on P Street.
“When people come out for
this, they’re dressing up for the
crowd, but also the truest version
of themselves,” Ammon said.
“When this community over-
comes hurdles, they let their
guard down and live their truest
lives.”small group yelling about sin was
drowned out by the brass band
thumping to “Shots, shots,
shots.” But most parade-goers
didn’t engage with the protest-
ers, instead ignoring or laughing
at them as they walked by.
Recent discussions on wheth-
er corporate sponsorship has a
place in Pride celebrations came
up in this year’s celebration.
Several companies, including
Target, Visa, Mastercard, Airbnb
and Lockheed Martin, had their
floats for the parade.
One parade-goer held up a
large check with “End Corporate
Pride” in rainbow lettering. Pro-
testers in 2017 disrupted the
parade and said Capital Pride
was more interested in corporate
sponsors than supporting mar-
ginalized communities.
Bos said he believes there
should be a balance and ac-
knowledgment that many of
those marching in the parade are
members of the community
working for corporations and
demanding change from within
their companies.
“At times when the govern-
ment doesn’t have our backs,
sometimes the corporations areAcross the country, the pres-
ence of law enforcement at Pride
has caused tension in many cit-
ies. In D.C., protests of the parade
in 2017 resulted in the Capitol
Pride Alliance creating a policy
than banned uniformed officers
from marching in the parade.
Ahead of this year’s parade, a
Capitol Pride spokesperson told
The Washington Post that the
policy remained in place.
“We have participated in con-
versations with law enforce-
ment expressing our desire for
them to acknowledge communi-
ty concerns about having uni-
formed officers present in the
Parade,” Marquia Parnell said in
an email.
But on Saturday, multiple
members of the D.C. police wore
their full uniforms as they
marched with the cohort sur-
rounding Mayor Muriel E. Bows-
er (D). They handed out rainbow
wristbands and beads, stopping
along the route to greet and hug
admirers. Dozens of other uni-
formed officers and D.C. police
cruisers were stationed along the
route monitoring the crowds.
The parade drew small coun-
terprotests. In Dupont Circle, aLast year, D.C. celebrated
Pride with slimmed-down
crowds along with a car caravan.
In 2020, as marches were largely
canceled, Pride organizers
around the world offered virtual
parades and events.
Saturday’s parade headlined a
slate of events from Capital Pride
this month. Joe Jonas’s band
DNCE will play the Capital Pride
festival and concert on Sunday,
along with “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
winners Willow Pill and Symone.
On Saturday, revelers wore
their Pride fashion finest: pea-
cock feather capes, studded
leather vests and fishnet crop
tops. Rainbow flags and T-shirts
were outdone by rainbow angel
wings, rainbow thigh-high boots
and rainbow crochet bikinis.
Dupont Circle was packed
with thousands of people. Bus
benches became viewing points
as watchers climbed up to cheer
on children from D.C. public
schools who twirled flags and
skipped across the asphalt. At
the end of the parade route, men
from the Mid-Atlantic Leather
competition posed for pictures
near vendors selling iced tea and
unicorn masks.their gender-affirming provider,”
she said. “I’m here to really
protect them and allow them to
get access to health care like
everyone else.”
This year marks Herrmann’s
first Pride in D.C., and compared
with events that she attended
while living in the Midwest, she
said Capital Pride feels much
more like a celebration. She said
she was excited to relax and
enjoy the parade with her wife.
“There’s just so much of a
community that’s here,” she said.
“It doesn’t feel so anxious.”
Outside a restaurant, Jackie
Segler, 40, added another rain-
bow flag to her motorcycle just
before the parade began. In its
basket sat her broken yet festive
skeleton, Che.
Segler has lived in the District
for six years and has attended
Pride in the past, but this is her
first since the pandemic began.
She was ready to experience the
energy of the celebration again.
“I feel like nobody judges you
here,” Segler said. “Pride is my
favorite holiday of the year in
D.C. I have friends coming out
that I haven’t seen in years, and it
will be great to see them again.”School in Fairfax County.
Ryan Bos, executive director
of the Capital Pride Alliance, said
legislation threatening LGBTQ
rights underscores the purpose
and value of the parade and
Pride celebrations.
“This is our voice. This is a
time for us to be visible, to be
heard,” he said. “With the threats
around, it just overemphasizes
the need for these events world-
wide.”
Members of Whitman-Walker
Health, a clinic that focuses on
LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS health
care, gathered at the start of the
parade clad in purple T-shirts
that said “We say gay.”
“We’re fortunate enough to
live in a community that can be
open about this, but not every-
one can be as loud,” said Heather
Alt, 38, who works as the clinic’s
deputy director of nursing.
Kim Herrmann, 37, a pediatri-
cian at Whitman-Walker, said it
was crucial to demonstrate the
importance of the care she pro-
vides.
“I serve the trans community
as a primary care doctor and as
PRIDE FROM C1
Pride parade returns with fully in-person celebrationMAANSI SRIVASTAVA/THE WASHINGTON POSTASTRID RIECKEN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
TOP: The hours-long parade celebrating the LGBTQ community
was spread along a 1½-mile route through the District’s Shaw,
Logan Circle and Dupont Circle neighborhoods Saturday. ABOVE:
The rainbow Pride flag was omnipresent. LEFT: Two paradegoers
enjoy the festivities.MAANSI SRIVASTAVA/THE WASHINGTON POST