The park at Dupont Circle, a gathering place for the L.G.B.T.Q. community in Washington, D.C., will remain open during a major Pride Month event this weekend, city officials said on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after a decision to close the park sparked an outcry.
The event, WorldPride, is an international celebration of the L.G.B.T.Q. community that is held each June in a different city. Washington won the bid for this year’s edition, which began in mid-May and runs through Sunday, but the event has grappled with cancellations and pulled corporate sponsorships.
It faced more uncertainty after the National Park Service announced on Monday that it would fence off the park in the middle of Dupont Circle during nearby WorldPride celebrations from Thursday to Monday as a “public safety measure.” The park sits inside a traffic circle and is administered by the Park Service, not the city.
After that decision prompted widespread criticism from residents, local elected officials said that they and others raised the concerns with Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department, the city’s police force. A police spokesman said on Tuesday that Chief Smith had rescinded a request for the Park Service to fence off the park.
“Chief Pamela A. Smith has heard from community members and understands how significant Dupont Circle Park is to the Pride celebration,” the spokesman said in a statement.
No official WorldPride events were scheduled to be held in the park, according to the event’s website, and the city’s Pride Parade on Saturday is scheduled to pass a few blocks to the east. But fencing it off would have been an symbolic blow to an area of the capital that has been a hub for the city’s gay community for decades.
“I am grateful for MPD’s efforts to keep DC residents and visitors safe while also ensuring Dupont Circle remains central to the festivities,” Brooke Pinto, a City Council member, said in a post on X.
Zachary Parker, another City Council member, said in a social media post that he had spoken to the police chief and that the park would remain open.
“The Park is central to the lgbtq community, and neighbors will be able to enjoy it this year for World Pride,” he said.
In a letter to the Park Service dated Tuesday and shared by the police spokesman, Chief Smith cited concerns over vandalism, fights and reports of gunshots in the park during previous Pride celebrations. But she added that the police force had the resources to patrol the area.
The Park Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It had said earlier that the closure was in line with President Trump’s executive order in March aimed at “uplifting public monuments.”
Some L.G.B.T.Q. residents had called on Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is set to march in the city’s Pride Parade, to ensure the park remained open.
“Closing the heart of D.C.’s historic gayborhood during World Pride is an absolutely appalling move and a terrible way to welcome the world to our city,” wrote Matthew Holden, a member of one of the city’s advisory neighborhood commissions.
The last WorldPride event in the United States, in New York City six years ago, was largely peaceful. “Five million people, and there was almost not a single incident,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the time.
WorldPride, which is being hosted in Washington by the Capital Pride Alliance, a local group, is one of several Pride events in the United States that is grappling with a pullback in corporate sponsorship. From New York to San Francisco, longtime sponsors are growing evasive about their financial commitments or abandoning their support entirely. Pride organizers say some sponsors fear punishment from a Trump administration that is cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The Trump administration’s policies may also affect turnout at WorldPride.
One of Mr. Trump’s first actions in his second term was ordering federal agencies to recognize only two genders, male and female. As a result, some European countries have cautioned people whose passports bear a gender marker different from their assigned sex at birth against traveling to the United States.
Some international L.G.B.T.Q. groups have said they will not participate in WorldPride or any events in the U.S. this year, citing concerns about the safety of their trans and nonbinary staff.
WorldPride took a blow on Friday when Shakira canceled a concert that was meant to be part of the event’s opening celebrations, citing problems with her stage setup.
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
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