Organizers have issued new guidance to tens of thousands of international visitors planning to attend WorldPride DC next month.
The updated guidance comes due to fear that the Trump administration’s continuing purge of trans identity from the federal government will thwart entry of trans and nonbinary visitors to the United States at airports and border crossings.
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Washington, D.C., is hosting this year’s WorldPride. This might be a problem for international visitors.
The event is expected to bring two to three million visitors to the capital city over three weeks starting May 17.
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“We recommend that travelers considering entry to the United States make an informed decision based on the potential risks involved, as we, alongside advocates and partner organizations, continue to actively navigate the measures being put in place by the current federal administration,” WorldPride organizers Capital Pride Alliance posted to their website Friday.
The guidance urges all travelers — particularly those who are trans and nonbinary — to stay informed and cautious.
The Trump administration claims visitors to the event aren’t in danger of being turned away at the border and airports.
“A foreign traveler’s gender as indicated on their passport and their personal beliefs about sexuality do not render a person inadmissible. Claims to the contrary are false,” a spokesperson for Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) told The Washington Post. “Travelers must present an official government-issued travel document and be the rightful bearer of that document when seeking entry at a U.S. Port of Entry.”
That assurance isn’t enough, said Melanie Nathan, executive director of the African Human Rights Coalition, who believes official U.S. policy on acceptable travel documents can’t be trusted.
“I believe you cannot call it WorldPride when half the world is either too scared to come, won’t get visas or are in danger for coming,” she said. Her group called for a boycott of WorldPride last month. In February, Canada’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, Egale Canada, announced it would not take part in any events held in the United States, including WorldPride.
There is “a lack of human decency when it comes to how this administration wants to engage with or not engage with members of the LGBTI community,” said Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada. “I didn’t think it was safe for my staff, specifically my gender diverse staff, to go and so this is the position that we’ve taken.”
“They’re very justified in regards to their concerns and their questions around how safe it is for them to travel here, especially folks who identify as trans,” Ryan Bos, Capital Pride Alliance’s executive director, told the Post. “So it’s our responsibility to ensure folks that do travel here, especially folks who identify as trans… have the information and resources so that they can make the best decision for themselves.”
While the State Department and CBP maintain there are no restrictions currently against international visitors to the United States based on gender identity or sexuality, several countries, including Denmark, Germany, Finland and Ireland, have issued travel advisories in recent weeks alerting citizens that have an “X” gender marker on their travel documents that they could face difficulties when trying to enter the U.S.
InterPride, the coordinating organization for WorldPride, issued its own advisory in March warning those with “X” gender markers to confirm entry requirements with the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
In January,
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