
Vince Micone, a gay man and longtime board member of the Capital Pride Alliance (CPA) — the non-profit organizer of Washington D.C. Pride and WorldPride 2025 — has resigned to work with the anti-LGBTQ+ administration of President Donald Trump. One of Micone’s first actions was to help Trump shut down federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, some of which advocate for inclusion of LGBTQ+ and non-white people in government programs.
Micone — who has volunteered with CPA since the 1990s, served as a board member since 2010 and recently served as vice president of operations and treasurer — recently resigned to serve as acting secretary of Trump’s Department of Labor. Micone will briefly serve in the role until the Senate confirms Trump’s pick for to lead the department, former U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), within the next couple of weeks, Advocate reported.
Related
Trump administration orders all federal DEI employees be placed on paid leave & eventually laid off
The memo called DEI programs a form of “shameful discrimination.”
On Thursday, Micone sent an email to all Labor Department staffers announcing the closure of all DEI and accessibility offices in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders, The Washington Blade reported
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“These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination,” Micone’s email stated, adding a threat of “adverse consequences” against any department employees who “disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.”
The Blade noted that, though the letter contained Micone’s name and title, the same letter was also sent to other federal agencies, suggesting that it may have been a standardized text sent by Trump Administration officials for distribution by departmental heads.
Micone came into the temporary secretarial role as a member of the federal Senior Executive Service (SES), a group of executives who lead the federal government’s civilian workforce. Members of the SES aren’t political appointees but are sometimes offered positions in various administrations to help ease transitions between leadership.
Trump has been appointing SES executives to lead areas where they have no expertise in an attempt to leave the departments without proper oversight and to force the executives to resign, The Washington Post reported.
In a public Facebook post about Micone’s resignation, CPA Board President Ashely Smith wrote that Micone “made the decision to step aside from his role on our board to avoid any conflicts,” adding, “This decision weighed very heavily on him as his passion for our community is relentless.”
“Micone’s commitment to Capital Pride has been steadfast. I am deeply grateful to him for his guidance, support, and commitment,” Smith wrote, saying that recent reporting on his Trump administration role had been “misleading.” She also noted that Micone only plans on serving until the labor secretary’s Senate confirmation is complete, as is common for SES workers who are asked to fill in.
Smith also wrote that she takes seriously CPA’s “commitment to our LGBTQ+ community,” noting “how serious the threats are to the rights, safety, and dignity of marginalized communities.”
“We are deeply alarmed by the increasing threats against the LGBTQ+ community, especially our youth, the transgender and nonbinary communities, immigrants, and Black and people of color,” Smith wrote. “We anticipated a disinvestment in diversity equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programs and the punitive measures aimed at agencies, organizations and companies that support these critical initiatives. These attacks require us to double down on our efforts to protect the most vulnerable among us and to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced for too long.”
“As we prepare to mark 50 years of celebrating Pride in the nation’s capital and with WorldPride coming to Washington, DC this summer, we recognize the profound importance of our mission,” Smith continued. “We are united in our resolve to ensure that our history is not erased, our community is not forgotten, and our fight for equality and safety continues.”
Micone helped the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area raise $732 million for charities as the campaign’s co-chairperson, his bio on the CPA website states. He also serves as a member of the mayor’s LGBT Commission and has participated in many LGBTQ+ organizations, including the DC Front Runners (a local queer jogging group) and an advocate for community HIV programming.
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