Pride and protest: The plight of LGBTIQ+ events

It’s been 55 years since the first Pride marches took place in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco – the year after the Stonewall riots ignited the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement.

Since then, annual Pride events have taken place around the world and have expanded beyond marches and rallies to incorporate concerts and, in some cases, fully fledged festivals. Even as global LGBTQ+ rights have ebbed and flowed over the decades, the mission of the annual celebration has only been reinforced: Pride is a protest.

In 2025, there is one event that epitomises the spirit and the struggles of the current Pride movement, and it’s being held in Trump’s backyard. At the time of writing, WorldPride is well underway in Washington, D.C., a stone’s throw from the government that has targeted transgender rights, made major cuts to HIV prevention programmes, and rolled back DEI schemes across the country.

The political timing of WorldPride’s arrival in D.C. is purely coincidental. It was more than two years ago that the local Pride organisation, Capital Pride Alliance, won the bid to host this year’s WorldPride to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the city’s Pride celebrations. Still, organisers found themselves in the eye of the storm.

“There were calls to cancel WorldPride – that D.C., the United States, shouldn’t host it,” Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, tells IQ. “But isn’t this how Pride began? It was
about standing up, being visible in hostile environments, and saying, ‘No, we are not going to let this happen; we demand to be part of the fabric of our freedom,’ which is the theme this year.”

“There is a real fear of losing rights that we have fought for for so long”

Still, Bos was forced to publicly caution transgender attendees about travelling to the US as the Trump administration cracks down on the gender minority through executive orders defining gender as either male or female based on sex assigned at birth.

“There has needed to be a lot of education and awareness campaigns,” explains Bos. “What’s going on here has definitely weighed personally on me and others in our team. Our community has been through a lot and continues to be challenged. There is a real fear of losing rights that we have fought for for so long. This hatred and fear isn’t just localised here in the US. This is spreading across the globe.”

Rage Against the Regime
That hatred is notable in Hungary, where prime minister Viktor Orbán banned LGBTQ+ focused events, signing into law a bill that proposes fines of up to 200,000 forints for organisers of Budapest Pride and anyone attending. The bill also allows the use of facial recognition to target and fine attendees of LGBTQ+ events in the country.

However, the disruption to and outlawing of Pride events is nothing new and rarely deters organisers or the community. In fact, EuroPride (the European equivalent of WorldPride) has intentionally selected host cities in countries that are lagging with LGBTQ+ rights, such as Warsaw (2010), Latvia (2015), and Belgrade (2022), in an effort to progress equality.

“We would ask these local Pride organisations: how can we make it happen?” Patrick van der Pas, from EuroPride, tells IQ. “Our mission is to strengthen the Pride movement in Europe and enable organisers to exchange knowledge so they can all benefit and support each other.”

“The fact that many sponsors aren’t able to support openly is extremely frustrating because Pride is about being visible”

Lack of Support
With the international rollback of LGBTQ+ rights, swathes of Pride organisations have seen corporate sponsors step back amid economic fears, particularly in the US.

Eve Keller, co-president of USA Prides, a national network of LGBTQ+ Pride organisers, told NBC News that members across the country have reported receiving significantly less in sponsorship dollars this year. Some of the smaller rural Prides are down 70–90% when compared to the average year, she said. NYC, a major Pride festival, reported a $750,000 budget shortfall.

WorldPride’s Bos says his organisation is expecting to get about $6m in corporate support, about half of what they’d hoped for, which has created some “unique challenges.” A handful of other corporate sponsors are still contributing but covertly, Bos says.

“The fact that many sponsors aren’t able to support openly is extremely frustrating and disappointing for some, because that’s what Pride is about – being visible,” he says. “But they know that
the government won’t award those federal contracts to corporations that overtly support DEI. We’re hoping that human decency and the true value and significance of what diversity, equality,
and inclusion mean will ultimately win out.”

Either way, EuroPride’s Van der Pas says the community will find a way to ensure Pride events continue. “The Pride movement is super resilient, so we’re now seeing other creative ways of gathering money, such as community fundraising and donations,” he says.

“There are only so many out LGBTQ+ artists, which creates a dilemma”

Booking
Politics aside, Pride events are also contending with the well-publicised challenges that all festival organisers are facing in 2025 – perhaps to an even greater degree. The criteria for headline talent, sponsorship, and ticket prices are even more prescribed for Pride events, which are often held to a higher standard than other festivals by attendees. Despite these hurdles, major 2025 Pride events have still managed to draw huge names.

Among WorldPride’s marquee events are ticketed concerts by Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, and Troye Sivan, as well as free-to-attend concerts by Cynthia Erivo and Doechii. Elsewhere, attendees can see performances from Tinashe, Kim Petras, Zedd, Raye, Rita Ora, Marina, SOFI TUKKER, Galantis, Paris Hilton, and RuPaul.

That roll call of stars is impressive by anyone’s standard, but even more so when you consider that the pool of available and willing headliners is reduced further to artists who identify either as LGBTQ+ or are regarded as allies of the community.

“There are only so many out LGBTQ+ artists, which creates a dilemma,” says Bos. “I think the community feels that it’s easy [to secure headliners]. Every year they say, ‘Hey, why don’t you get so and so to play.’ But it’s based on tours, availability, costs.”

“Why shouldn’t Pride have some of the best artists in the world?”

He continues: “The ideal, in regard to resources, was to try and find a tour that we could route through D.C. at the time of WorldPride,” he explains. “And one of our goals was to hold a concert in our baseball stadium, Nationals Park.”

The stars aligned for WorldPride DC when Shakira retooled the North America leg of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, which Live Nation routed through D.C. for the beginning of the
LGBTQ+ celebration. However, it was eventually cancelled due to production issues.

The UK’s Brighton & Hove Pride (B&H Pride) has also secured a major coup for its 2025 ticketed event in the form of a UK festival exclusive with Mariah Carey. Pride in the Park organisers have
long set the bar for national and international Pride events, having hosted the likes of Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, Dua Lipa, Raye, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Clean Bandit, Pet Shop Boys, Grace
Jones, Sister Sledge, and Carly Rae Jepsen.

“Why shouldn’t Pride have some of the best artists in the world?” Paul Kemp, MD at B&H Pride, tells IQ. “It amplifies the Pride message internationally, and you gain allyship from artists.”

A stalwart of Brighton Pride, Kemp launched the event’s first-ever dance tent in 1992, and many years later, rebuilt it after it fell into administration. During his 12 years at the head of the Community Interest Company, he has transformed B&H Pride from a “traditional Pride” into a world-class event that has raised over 1.4m for LGBTQ+ causes in the city and injects around
£22.5m into the local economy annually. The turning point? Britney Spears.

“For LGBTQ+ artists, it’s an electric, affirming space, where they’re not just included, they’re centred”

Give Me a Sign
“We got lucky with Britney in 2018,” he says. “It was one of the last shows she did out of Vegas, and that was a take-off year for us, going from around 47,000 people to 57,000 on site. There was a lot of national and international media.”

Even though Brighton Pride has evolved into a ticketed event, Kemp maintains it’s still great value for money, especially compared to a regular festival. “For the talent we have, we’re still a lot cheaper,” he says. “It’s just over £100 for two days, with Mariah Carey, Sugababes, Fatboy Slim, etc. Plus, we offer early-arrival, low-income, and accessibility tickets.”

But even ticketed Pride events are not necessarily able to compete with the artist fees offered by major festivals. For EuroPride, bookings can vary drastically from city to city depending on the budget and ambitions of the local Pride organisation.

“We don’t say, ‘Oh, you have to book this artist or spend this money.’ It’s really up to the local organisation,” says Van der Pas. “We think it’s very important that the local touch and feel are embedded.”

This year’s edition in Lisbon, Portugal, is headlined by Spain’s Eurovision contestant Melody, but the most notable bookings include Christina Aguilera (Malta, 2023) and a pre-global-stardom Lady Gaga (2002, Rome). Regardless of purchasing power, organisers believe that the fervent audiences, high-value production, and unique atmosphere are enough to attract big names.

“Allies who show up, support, and genuinely get it? There’s a place for them, too”

“Honestly, it’s the energy,” says Jeff Consoletti, producer of WeHo Pride in West Hollywood, California. “WeHo Pride is where music meets movement – and where the crowd screams every lyric back at you in full glam under rainbow lights. For three wild nights, West Hollywood becomes a global epicentre of queer joy.

“For LGBTQ+ artists, it’s an electric, affirming space, where they’re not just included, they’re centred. What artist wouldn’t want that kind of love reflected back at them like a giant rainbow disco ball? If you’ve never played Pride, you’re missing something truly special. The pitch writes itself.”

Evidently, WeHo Pride has no shortage of artists buying into the pitch. This year’s edition, which took place between 31 May and 1 June, featured Lizzo, Remi Wolf, Kim Petras, Paris Hilton,
and Honey Dijon.

Pride of Place
So what’s the appeal for non-LGBTQ+ artists? “For allies, it’s a chance to show up, turn out, and connect with one of the most loyal, fun, and passionate fanbases on Earth,” Consoletti explains.

“But we’re not checking boxes – we’re curating culture. It’s never about ‘balancing’ queerness; it’s about building a lineup that reflects the spirit of the community. That means queer talent
always comes first. But allies who show up, support, and genuinely get it? There’s a place for them, too. The rule is simple: if you’re coming with respect, love, and the desire to lift up the
community, we’re listening.”

WorldPride’s Bos echoes the sentiment, remembering how American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, a fierce advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, engaged with the crowd at Washington D.C. Pride after the 2016 shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. “I can just remember her heartfelt emotion in that performance and in speaking to the crowd about the importance of Pride and creating this safe space for members of the community,” he tells IQ.

“Pride has always had protest in its DNA – that’s nothing new”

“Having folks who are willing to do that, in essence, saves lives. Our LGBTQ+ youth have never gone through such trying times, and they need to know that there are people willing to fight for us.”
As Bos highlights, Pride celebrations are as important this year as they have ever been, but in the face of the current adversity, this year’s celebrations may be a little less party and a little more
protest.

“Pride has always had protest in its DNA – that’s nothing new,” says Consoletti. “But with our rights under attack, the stakes get higher and so does our volume. Will there be protest energy this year? Absolutely. The artist and the activist are often one and the same, and our stages are platforms for both celebration and resistance.

Our defiance shows up in the music in the streets we parade through, in our joy, and in our visibility. Dancing down the boulevard is inherently political when there are people who want you erased. So yes, we’ll march, but we’ll also rage harder, love louder, and refuse to be dimmed.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.