WASHINGTON — The celebration of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer or questioning people was originally postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, organizers scrambled to put events together when the city announced it was fully reopening on Friday.
“We’re going to be able to provide you something unique this year,” Ashley Smith, president of the Capital Pride Alliance, said.
The theme of Capital Pride 2021 is ‘COLORFUL,’ and people are being encouraged to decorate their homes, businesses, and neighborhoods with vibrant colors for the month of June.
Capital Pride has a long list of events planned between it and partner organizations, but the weekend is officially kicking off on Friday with an in-person awards ceremony to honor those doing the work to push the LGBTQ+ community forward.
The Capital Pride Honors event will be at the Compass Coffee in Ivy City at 7:00 a.m. and be followed by an opening party.
On Saturday, instead of the typical parade, there will be a Colorful Pride Walk and Rally from DuPont Circle to Freedom Plaza at noon.
A PrideMobile Car Parade will also take place on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. where participants will decorate their vehicles and drive around different parts of town.
“The walk rally will allow you to come out and be who you are, how you want to be, as colorful as you want to be. Then, those who participate in the PrideMobile will be able to go around the city and see the different aspects of the city that are doing it,” Smith explained.
Additionally, Capital Pride is hosting Taste of Pride brunch instead of its usual festival on Sunday.
The brunch will happen simultaneously at several participating restaurants in the District.
Smith told WUSA9 pulling the events together in a short amount of time was not easy, but it was necessary.
“We felt it was very important for us to come together, celebrate for those who feel comfortable and safe, celebrate life -- that we’ve made it through, to remember those who unfortunately we lost, and to really kind of deal with the fact that it is time for us to be prideful in anything and everything that we do,” he said.
CLICK HERE for more detail on each of the events from Capital Pride and its partner organizations or to learn how to donate or become a volunteer.