Friday marks the closing weekend of World-Pride, an international festival held this year in Washington, D.C., with many events including concerts, human rights conferences and DC’s annual Pride Parade.

The last time the world offer was in the United States, held in New York City in 2019, with an estimated attendance rate of more than 5 million. Company sponsors include T-Mobile, L'Oréal, Delta Air Lines, JPMorgan Chase, Starbucks, NBA and WNBA.

But this year, festival organizers said attendance and funding were influenced by Trump’s administration’s policies on trans people and the rhetoric on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

In his first week of office, President Trump issued an executive order against DEI. One such order calls for the termination of the “illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility” (DEIA) mandate, policy, program, preference and activity, regardless of its name.” He also signed an order against trans people.

Then, in February, President Trump announced that he would take over the John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. World -Pride DC organizer Capital Pride Alliance has taken the initiative to set the world's offer as other locations planned for the Kennedy Center.

Additionally, the Gay Men's Choir in Washington, D.C. was told that May concerts planned with the National Symphony Orchestra will not go as planned.

The band told NPR that the decision was made before leadership changes due to financial and planning reasons, but it caught the attention of people in the LGBTQ community.

Decline of attendance

People usually travel from the world to the world's advantage. Past festivals were held in Copenhagen, London and Sydney. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Local Pride Festival in Washington, D.C., but it is the first time the city has hosted an international event.

Organizer, Capital Pride Alliance plans to plan more than 300 events in the three weeks starting in mid-May, including dance parties, movies, drag stories, activities of LGBTQ military personnel, and one of the key features of the advantages of the past world, Human Rights Conference. The big closing ceremony this weekend includes a parade and concert with a large lineup of performers, including a "Global Ball" with Jennifer Lopez, and another concert, as well as concerts by Cynthia Erivo and Doechii.

“We expect bookings to be higher at this time and do know that internationally, the climate that people traveling to the United States are concerned about is real,” said Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance.

The Gay Men's Choir in Washington, D.C. said some choirs from abroad choose to stay at home rather than attending their international choir festivals for the World Offer.

Singhzak said the Trump administration’s “anti-deal and anti-queer policies have made many people, especially those abroad, feel that they are not welcome here.”

Some local attendees may also stay away.

As a city with a large number of military personnel, DC's pride always includes activities targeting members of LGBTQ service. But Boss fears some of them might be afraid of public celebrations.

"Many of our service members are forced to go back to the closet because they are afraid to be their job. It's really frustrating," he said.

The company is in a "hard place"

Past DC Pride sponsors, including Booz Allen Hamilton, Comcast and Deloitte, refused to support this year's international edition. Both companies did not respond to NPR's request for comment.

A recent survey conducted by Gravity Research found that more than one-third of the 200 top 1,000 companies plan to reduce support for this year’s Pride event.

"The company is in a very tough position overall," said Luke Hartig, the company's president.

Hatig said companies that operate with the administration are particularly alert because Trump has signed an executive order banning what he calls “illegal DEI” initiative.

“When it comes to pride, federal contractors are in a particularly volatile position because pride is so closely integrated into the broader DEI efforts,” Hatig said. “And I think that for many companies celebrating pride, the government may be targeting it more broadly too close to the danger zone of DEI.”

Pride begins with protest marchs, and Pride Festival continues to be political. They celebrated, too. This weekend in Washington, DC, there is a parade on Saturday and a parade and rally on Sunday. Baptiste Fruchart participated in many Pride festivals. He said this year, he was in "fighting mode."

"I think for the first time in many years, I didn't parade, I was parade," he said. "It was the first time in a long time that it was a completely different approach. Now, everything is under threat."

Jennifer Vanasco edited the audio and digital version of the story.