SPENCER MACNAUGHTON AND E E OLIVER

WorldPride DC officially began on May 17, but the big party starts later this week and will culminate with a Parade and Street Festival on June 7 and 8. As many as three million people are expected to descend on the nation’s capital for the ninth ever WorldPride. 

The theme is The Fabric of Freedom, which some may find ironic with the backdrop of the White House and the Trump administration, which has waged unprecedented and relentless attacks against the transgender and nonbinary community.

The hostile political environment has caused several European countries, including Denmark, Finland and Germany, to issue official cautions for LGBTQ travelers visiting the U.S. Many international LGBTQ folks have decided to skip WorldPride or cancel their travel plans due to safety concerns. And in April, WorldPride organizers cautioned transgender travelers from abroad, telling them to make an “informed decision” about whether to attend. 

So should people feel safe attending WorldPride DC this year? We called up Linda Lindamood, the director of health, safety and security for the Capital Pride Alliance, to find out. 

Spencer Macnaughton: Hi everyone. I’m here today with Linda Lindamood, she’s the director of health, safety and security for WorldPride DC’s Capital Pride Alliance. Linda, thank you so much for chatting with me and Uncloseted Media today.

Linda Lindamood:  Thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity.

SM:  A lot of people are concerned about going to WorldPride in D.C. this year, with the backdrop of the Trump administration. Should people feel safe to go into WorldPride this year?

LL:  When we started this planning, we didn’t have the administration we have now. So as soon as that happened, we shifted [things] a little bit more. You know, I would say a lot of the things that we had accomplished in the previous administration, we still have in place. The Department of Homeland Security they are participating in all of our meetings and their network of individuals that are helping in the planning. 

SM: How are folks supposed to trust liaising with the Department of Homeland Security when it’s run by somebody like Kristi Noem, who’s been vitriolic toward the LGBTQ community?

LL:  I will tell you, I’ve been doing this now in the nation’s capital for 22 years, and I’ve been working with the same agencies, and believe it or not, even with this new administration, I have not seen any change in their posture. None. Public safety is their number one goal, we hear directly from the National Fusion Center, who is tied into any type of security threats.

SM: Last month, Ryan Bos, the executive director of the Capital Pride Alliance, told regional leaders they’re considering a travel advisory for trans folks in response to the Trump administration’s policies, several other countries, including Denmark, Germany and Ireland, have issued travel advisories warning trans and nonbinary folks that attending WorldPride might be at their own risk. Where does the Capital Pride Alliance stand now, going into WorldPride, about whether or not trans and nonbinary people should feel safe there and should travel there?

LL: I can’t speak for Capital Pride Alliance, or Ryan, or that leadership team, but what I can say is that the fear is real. Folks are coming to a place that they’ve never been before. There’s all kinds of outside influences and rhetoric that’s out there that sometimes scares folks. We want the trans community to come. We want everyone to come and make their voices heard. Washington, D.C., is where people come to make their voices heard and to be seen. What we don’t want to do is scare people so bad to keep them away, or anything along those lines. If Linda Lindamood was giving the advice, I would say, “Do what you feel comfortable with.” The fear is out there. In all of the conversations that I’ve had with local government and Homeland TSA, [which] is a part of Homeland Security, it has not been an issue that has been brought up when I’m in the room.

SM:  If you had a trans sister, you would tell her that she should feel safe going to WorldPride?

LL: Yes. Yes, absolutely. You know, I have a lot of friends in the trans world, as well as in many other communities, and I want people to come, not only if you’re a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but if you’re a family member or friends that are here to celebrate with your loved ones. Please come. Please know that we are making every effort to make people feel comfortable, to keep them healthy and safe and to communicate and work on the things behind the scenes that won’t elevate to get to a point where people [say], “Oh, my God, what’s going on?” 

SM: There’s been a lot of articles about Australians, and we interviewed somebody from London, who say they’ve been at every WorldPride, but they just can’t go to this one because of the Trump administration and their rhetoric related to all of this. What are your thoughts to all those kind of folks who are deciding not to come?

LL: I’m saddened. It is very sad. I don’t even know what to say to that. Honestly, I don’t want anybody to do anything that would put them in jeopardy or make them feel like they’re going into an unsafe situation. So, you know, everyone has to make the choices for themselves, and it’s unfortunate if they’re not able to make it to this wonderful celebration, because to do this in the nation’s capital [in] celebration and in protest and in all the things that make our community what it is. It saddens me that some folks are not able to enjoy that. 

SM: Your job must be crazy busy and so complicated. What do you do to prepare for an event of this magnitude, from a security perspective? Walk us through some of the things you have to do that an ordinary person like me, who’s just going to go to the march, would have no idea you had to think about beforehand. And then you made an interesting point, that you did have to change some things with the new administration. What were those things that you had to change?

LL: When we were with the old administration, we didn’t have our phones blowing up. We didn’t have people calling us going, “Is the government going to shut you down? Are they going to close WorldPride?” We didn’t have that worry. So the things that changed in our world [were] us preparing to respond to the public and people that are traveling from abroad, in a way that they could digest, that’s not overwhelming them with all of these security measures and yada yada yada, but in a way that speaks directly to them. 

SM: And how do you do that?

LL: It’s not always the easiest thing, because when you have so many different interests, certain things, like the trans community, you know, they’re very concerned. The Black Pride community is, you know, concerned about other things. Fortunately, with the Capital Pride Alliance team, it is so unbelievably diverse. I have never been on a team that is so diverse. We have representation from every LGBTQ+ community, and we have focus groups, so if we start to see something that’s happening, we sit down and we have that conversation. We want to make sure that our city agencies are aligned with the messaging that we’re putting out. I’ve worked with Mayor Bowser and her office for many, many years, and the commitment that she has to this community is extraordinary. She even in her office has a special division for the LGBTQ+ affairs, and they are a part of all of those messaging. Their LGBTQ affairs department is actually sharing an office right now with the Capital Pride Alliance team. And so if the conversation comes up or an action needs to be taken, we look across the desk and we talk about it.

SM: So interesting and so amazing that the D.C. mayor is so on board. But I guess, you know, God forbid something were to happen, and the D.C. mayor’s on board, but then you have the Trump administration, you know, instituting laws saying that in the eyes of the federal government, trans people don’t exist. How do you navigate that from a safety perspective, when you think about the D.C. mayor being so on board, but the federal government, who might need to come in for backup, God forbid something happens, feeling this way and saying that, right? How can people feel safe in that instance? And are you confident that the federal government would come in for backup if it did come to that?

LL: The efforts that we have made, and that may be one of the changes that we made, we have very few events on any federal land. Everything we have is D.C. proper. The one area that we are on the National Mall is the International March and Rally that’s taking place on Sunday, June 8, that is a First Amendment rally and all First Amendment rallies have the right, it’s the freedom of speech, they have the right to do whatever they need to do. We also have a contingency plan if something, God forbid, something was going to happen and the federal government stepped in and said, you can’t be here, we already have a contingency plan that’s literally across the grass to go on to D.C. proper streets.

SM: That sounds wild, though, to have to have a contingency plan for if the federal government doesn’t want an event on federal land.

LL: It’s not even that. We have contingencies for our contingencies, trust me, that is not a really big concern for us in all of our planning. I will tell you, the federal government has not been, they have not been, they haven’t rattled us—let’s put it that way—in a way that makes us shake in our boots. We are warriors. We are warriors, and we’re going to keep on going. 

SM: And what is top of mind for you in terms of planning? When I think of safety, I think of, okay, making sure all the barricades are here, and that kind of thing. But what is it really for you? 

LL: Well, communication. Communication is a huge thing. We’re communicating through our website. We’re communicating through all of our social channels. The city, they have activated an app that you can text to, so it’s called Nixle. And for WorldPride, you text the words World Pride D.C. to 888-777, and then you get all the alerts. We also, internally, have built out work groups in some more secure apps that we’re able to communicate with each other, if there were any types of emergencies or anything like that. We also, from the D.C. Emergency Operations Center (EOC), have the capabilities of sending messages out to everyone within that geofence of our footprint. 

SM: You have the capability, if there was, God forbid, a threat or something like that, people should, A, download that app, it sounds like, but B, should get it anyways, some push notification to their phone.

LL: Absolutely. So you know, my number one concern is making sure that we have done everything in our power to make sure that people can communicate with each other. And then, you know, the security of things with world facing events like this. You know, we have to have road closures. We have to have the place to celebrate. So working with all of the local agencies, you may not see them when you’re in the middle of the festival or on the parade route, but if you bounce out two blocks behind you, you’ll see that there’s no cars on the street, and at this opening of those two blocks out on either side, you’ll see these big dump trucks that are there that are blocking the way. And then our local law enforcement, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), has actually invested in some other anti-ramming devices that they’re putting along those sidewalks and things, because, you know, with certain things, we’ve seen some vehicles go past those blocking vehicles onto the sidewalk. Well, we’re taking precautions against that as well. 

SM: Of course after New Orleans and New Year’s Eve, I’m sure that’s top of mind for you as well.

LL: Absolutely, absolutely. And we go as far as we have to notify the buildings that are within our footprint, and we close access to those buildings down within our footprint. So, making sure that those parking garages are secured and that MPD is in place for all of that. So there’s a lot of paddling under the water.

SM: I’ve covered a lot of far-right extremism before. You know, been with the Michigan Militia, the Boogaloo Bois, the Ku Klux Klan. And I’m deeply aware of how many groups there are like this in the United States, and that world definitely does intersect with MAGA world a lot and the same rhetoric toward the LGBTQ community. How do you guys safeguard against having so many fragmented far-right groups who do feel a lot of animus toward the LGBTQ community, and therefore could see WorldPride as kind of lightning in a bottle for an attack? 

LL: As event organizers, while we can prepare as much as we possibly can, a lot of our reliance is on those law enforcement agencies that are going to protect us, the National Fusion Center that is, you know, watching everything. A lot of the things that are happening that are supporting us behind the scenes are those geofences, if there are words, or if there’s something on some of those other black sites and things like that, they’re monitoring all of that. 

SM: The encrypted apps, they’re monitored?

LL: Oh, absolutely, they’re monitored. And then the other piece is, it was interesting, we had, it wasn’t for WorldPride, but we had another event where we were working with the local government, and they had a geofence around our footprint, and somebody had posted that there was going to be a bomb that went off at 8:30 in the site, and I will tell you, within two minutes, we had an hour to get ready. Within two minutes, we had locked down all of our gates. It is amazing at how quick we can respond when we’re included in the room. 

SM: And you feel like, ahead of WorldPride, you’ve been included in every room you need? 

LL: Oh my gosh. I mean, we have daily calls every single day, at 9:30 every morning, we hear from the National Fusion Center, [about] what’s going on. What are the threats? Where’s it going, and you know, if I had some wood here, I’d be knocking on it, saying, you know, it’s been great so far. We have access to traffic cams all over the city. We have surveillance that we can pop into within minutes, with the law enforcement, of course, they have, you know, drones and all other types of surveillance that they can use. I am certain, as sure as I’m sitting here, that there’s a lot more police officers that are deployed that I don’t even know about on rooftops and garages, just to make sure we keep them safe, that they keep us safe. So I don’t want to be overconfident, but I feel really good about where we are. You know, sometimes there’s a rub between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community, [but] in Washington, D.C., we met with the chief of police just two weeks ago, and she is so committed to supporting our community, keeping people safe. She also in her Metropolitan Police Department has an LGBTQ division as well. So, I feel pretty confident and pretty comfortable with the efforts that all of the agencies have been put forth.

SM: And if it does get to a threat level where you would need something like the FBI with Kash Patel, or with folks who you know the Trump administration has appointed who have been very, you know, anti-LGBTQ, filled with animus. Would it get to a level where you need their support? Or do you think you have enough with the kind of agencies you listed to be okay? 

LL: I was talking with some of the leadership in the Metropolitan Police Department. They feel pretty confident in the staffing levels that they have one of the largest police departments in the nation, but they also have a memorandum of understanding with other agencies outside of D.C. that are local and state agencies, so we have a lot of support from those agencies to come in. And I will say, as a department, you know, as the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI is, you know, part of these EOC meetings, we haven’t had any kind of pushback from them. And, you know, I’m not sure it would elevate to a Kash Patel or anybody from the Trump administration’s level of concern at the local level, the FBI folks have been supportive of what we’re doing. 

SM: So practical question for me and the many other folks going to WorldPride very soon, what can they do to prepare from a safety perspective?

LL: You know, I would say, just be aware. You know, if you’re going into a place that you’re not familiar with. You know, observe your surroundings. If you see something, say something. We’ve been hearing that campaign for 25 years, or 24 years now, since 9/11, really, truly, if you see something that’s out of the ordinary, while it may not impact you, it’s worth elevating it to the police officers or to an event staff if you’re there. If it doesn’t look like it’s supposed to be there, it probably isn’t. So I would tell folks to trust their gut if they walk into a situation where they feel like it’s not a safe situation, I would not go in.

SM: For queer or LGBTQ people who don’t feel safe going to police officers. What’s the best alternative for them to report something?

LL: They can dial 911, but I would say for folks that you know, the folks that are coming in, you’re going into a place where there’s a ton of staff. I can tell you, we have hundreds of private security folks that are supporting this, as well as hundreds of law enforcement agencies who are supporting this, along with hundreds of volunteers, thousands, probably, volunteers that are supporting this. So, anybody that has a WorldPride shirt on that says staff or safety committee or safety team, please go up to them. We all have communication devices, and we can elevate things to the appropriate levels that need be. Please do not ever take anything into your own hands. If there are people out there that are trying to disrupt, report it, let us handle it. We don’t want anybody getting hurt. Our whole goal here is that you come to Washington, D.C. to celebrate, and that you have an extraordinary experience, and you go home safe and sound, happier than you got here. Truly let us, let us handle that from either an event perspective, if we can handle it at our level, or we’ll elevate it to the people who can.

SM: Linda Lindamood, thank you so much for keeping all of us safe. You are doing the Lord’s work. So super grateful to you and everything you’re doing with your team as we head into what is sure to be a historic WorldPride in Washington, D.C. 

LL: Thank you so much. 

Additional reporting by Sam Donndelinger and Emma Paidra