Freedom of Community
WorldPride Welcome + Visual Arts Center
The Welcome Center is the WorldPride 2025 community hub where you can drop in for information about anything and everything related to WorldPride 2025 and Washington DC!
Plus, there will be phone charging stations, a Fabric of Freedom lounge area, official WorldPride 2025 merchandise for sale, and a fantastic, curated art exhibit for all to enjoy.
*Free and open to the public.
In partnership with Destination DC.
May 17 – June 8, 2025
Hours Below
737 7th Street NW
(Between G and H Streets)
Hours
Open Saturday, May 17th & Sunday, May 18th
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM each day
Open Saturday, May 24th & Sunday, May 25th
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM each day
Open Daily Friday, May 30th – Sunday June 8th
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location
The WorldPride 2025 Welcome Center is located in the heart of downtown Washington DC.
Address: 737 7th St. NW, Washington, DC 20021 (between G St. and H St.)
Nearest Metro Stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown
Events
Weaving Resistance Sari Art Workshops and Performances
May 16, 2025 · 5:30 pm – 12:00 pm
Various
Brought to you by Monica J. Bose
“Weaving Resistance: Storytelling with Saris” by artist Monica Jahan Bose
In this moment of human rights crisis created by the Trump administration, it is imperative to build community and fight back for LGBTQ+ rights without apology or retreat. This year’s World Pride theme is The Fabric of Freedom. Textiles have served as modes of resistance for centuries, especially by women and other marginalized groups. Since 2012, the Storytelling with Saris collaborative art project has been using the cotton sari — a 19-foot-long unstitched garment— as a site of community expression of bodily autonomy and gender and climate justice. Cotton saris are covered in woodblock printing, stencils, painting, drawing, embroidery, appliqué, and poetry and then used for large scale installations and performances.
Over the last decade, Storytelling with Saris workshops, performances, and installations have engaged thousands of people in 12 U.S. states and 8 countries, including Bangladesh, Canada, France, Greece, and Italy. Recent Storytelling with Saris projects, performances, workshops, and roundtables in the U.S. and Bangladesh have specifically focused on LGBTQ+ issues, gender roles and identity, bodily autonomy, and increasing understanding and acceptance of gender-nonconforming persons through discussion, education, and collaborative art and performance.
For World Pride 2025, Storytelling with Saris will present five healing and empowering art and poetry workshops on gender/sexuality/identity to foster greater inclusion, empathy, and pride in this difficult political climate. The workshops will culminate in a community performance and march.
Weaving Resistance: Storytelling with Saris Events:
1. Workshop hosted by Moms Clean Air Force, 555 12th Street NW, May 16 from 5:30 to 7 pm
2. Display of artwork Prokash/Reveal Sari Scroll on gender/sexuality/identity at World Pride Headquarters, 901 7th Street NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20001, from May 17-June 8, open noon to 8 pm most days
3. Workshop hosted by Asian Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Group, May 29, 6:00 to 7:30 pm
4. Drop-in Workshop at World Pride Welcome Center hosted by Human Rights Campaign, 737 7th St NW, May 31, 12:00pm to 3:00pm
5. Drop-in Workshop at World Pride Welcome Center hosted by Human Rights Campaign, 737 7th St NW, June 1, 12:00pm to 2:00pm
6. Drop-in Workshop at the Human Rights Conference, JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, on June 5 from 10 am to 2 pm
7. Outdoor “Weaving Resistance” community sewing performance on June 6 during the 17th Street Dupont Circle Block Party, 6 to 8 pm
8. Culminating event: international march with massive “Weaving Resistance” sari to the Capitol, starting at Lincoln Memorial, June 8, from10 am to noon.
Propaganda & Transphobia: How Trans People Became the Political Pawn
June 2, 2025 · 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
WorldPride Welcome and Visual Arts Center
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Educator, advocate, and bestselling author Schuyler Bailar (he/him) will share his groundbreaking journey as the first transgender D1 men’s athlete, contextualizing his story amidst current unprecedented attacks on the trans community. Schuyler will lead an engaging, informative, and uplifting session, empowering each attendee, no matter their background.
Queer Romance Writers Panel
June 2, 2025 · 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
WorldPride Welcome and Visual Arts Center
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
SC Nealy (they/them) writes lesbian romance and contemporary romance under the pen name Sarah Robinson. They also own an all gay and trans mental health practice in the DMV and utilize their writing to promote queer advocacy, more accessible and affirming queer mental health care, and normalizing happy queer stories. See more at booksbysarahrobinson.com and lgbtcounselingdmv.com/books.
Writers on the Panel:
Susie Dumond (she/her): Susie Dumond is the author of Queerly Beloved, Looking for a Sign, and Bed and Breakup, and she also talks about books as a senior contributor at Book Riot and a bookseller at her local indie bookstore. Susie lives in Washington, D.C., with her spouse, Mickey, and her cat, Maple. When she’s not writing or reading, you can find her baking cupcakes or belting karaoke at the nearest gay bar. See more at susiedumond.com
Jeffrey Dale Lofton (pronouns): Jeffrey Dale Lofton is the author of Red Clay Suzie, a fictionalized memoir written through his personal lens as an outsider—gay and living with a disability in a conservative family and community in the Deep South. Red Clay Suzie was Longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, twice named an Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association, and Jeffrey was named Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Red Clay Suzie go to support the important work of the Born This Way Foundation and The Trevor Project. See more at jeffreydlofton.com
Chip Pons (he/him): Chip Pons grew up in a small lake town in Northern Michigan before eventually traveling the world as a photojournalist in the US Air Force, where he met and worked alongside his dream of a husband and better half. He’s spent his entire life swooning over the love stories filling up his shelves until one day, he was brave—or delusional—enough to write his own. He currently lives in the heart of Washington, DC. and when he is not writing or chasing his pup, Margot, around, he can be found daydreaming of untold happily ever afters or on Bookstagram shouting about the books he loves.
Serena J. Bishop (she/her): Serena J. Bishop (she/her) is the author of six sapphic novels, five of them in the romance genre. Among her romance titles, the Dreams trilogy blends speculative fiction into the storyline, which still allows her two main characters to meet, fall in love, and create an extraordinary, supernatural family. Serena is the Secretary of the Sapphic Literary Collective (aka the Sapphic Lit Pop-Up Bookstore) and lives in Maryland with her wife and chihuahua. See more at serenajbishop.com
One Night Only: Honoring Earline Budd
June 4, 2025 · 6:00 pm – 12:00 am
World Pride Welcome Center
Join us during World Pride 2025 as we honor the legendary Earline Budd—a trailblazer who has spent decades empowering the LGBTQIA+ community, especially Black trans women in DC. Thanks to leaders like Earline, our community is strong enough to host World Pride. Celebrate with us as we launch the trans memorial fund and pass the torch to today’s changemakers.
Beyond the Bubble: Deaf Queer Dating, Stigma, and Social Norms Panel
June 5, 2025 · 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Gallery Space
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Brought to you by DC Association of the Deaf
This panel will explore the unique experiences of Deaf Queer individuals in dating, relationships, and navigating social norms. We aim to create a space for open discussion, addressing challenges, stigma, and fostering community connections.
World Pride 2025 the Garden of Swann: A Queer Fashion Show
May 30, 2025 · 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Welcome Center
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Brought to you by Capital Pride Alliance Inc
Join us to celebrate the diverse fashion of the queer community, featuring designs from fashion students at Marymount University, Drexel University, the University of Delaware, Columbia College, Thomas Jefferson University, and Kent State University. The theme is the “Garden of Swann” and explores the history of William Dorsey Swann, born into slavery and considered one of the first “drag queens.”
You are invited to William’s Garden Party.
Q: What is the World Pride 2025 Queer Fashion Show about?
A: The World Pride 2025 Queer Fashion Show, titled “Garden of Swann,” honors William Dorsey Swann, a queer activist, fashion pioneer, and drag queen. The show aims to transform the runway into a sanctuary of resistance, beauty, and self-expression, blending elements of nature, opulence, and historical references to create an immersive fashion experience. Student designers will explore identity, history, faith, and self-expression intersections through avant-garde interpretations of flora, classical architecture, and ballroom aesthetics. The show will celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and continue the fight for equality and visibility.
Q: What should you wear?
A: It’s a garden party; make it queer, innovative, sustainable, and yourself. William Dorsey Swann accepts everyone with a sense of their individuality. Wear that accentuates “you.” We welcome clothing from all cultures, but please be aware that you are responsible for contextualizing and taking ownership of your choices. Wear a headdress if you want!
Indigenous Drag Story Hour with Lady Shug!
May 31, 2025 · 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Welcome Center
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Brought to you by Drag Story Hour
World Pride ’25 presents Indigenous Drag Story Hour with Lady Shug!
Suggested for all ages, particularly families with pre-school and elementary kiddos! Indigenous Drag Story Hour emphasizes Native language, stories, and culture utilizing inclusive picture books and pre-literacy skills for school-aged children and their families. This performance brought to audiences free of charge, courtesy of World Pride!
Featured on HBO’s “We’re Here”, Diné drag artist Lady Shug supports border towns and communities within and alongside their reservation through the #ShugChallenge mutual aid program.
About Drag Story Hour: Drag Story Hour (DHS) celebrates reading through the glamorous art of drag! At a DSH event, drag storytellers read picture books aloud to kids utilizing the traditional “storytime” structure, a format widely recognized by librarians and educators as an effective and fun early literacy experience for children and their families. Our chapters produce joyful events where kids can express their authentic selves and become bright lights of change. We envision a world where kids can learn from LGBTQ+ stories and experiences to love themselves, celebrate the fabulous diversity in their communities, and stand up for what they believe in.
This event will take place at theWorld Pride Welcome Center, located at : 737 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
Drag Story Hour with Professor Longlegs
May 31, 2025 · 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Welcome Center
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Brought to you by Drag Story Hour
Join us for a STEAM-themed Drag Story Hour with Professor Longlegs!
Get ready for a fabulous afternoon filled with storytelling and entertainment. Professor Longlegs will captivate audiences of all ages with their unique flair and charm. This in-person event will be held at the World Pride Welcome Center, so mark your calendars and bring your family along for a fun-filled experience! Don’t miss out on this delightful event that celebrates diversity, inclusion, and the joy of storytelling. See you there!
Drag Story Hour with Ricky Rose
June 1, 2025 · 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Welcome Center
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Brought to you by Drag Story Hour
Join us for Drag Story Hour with Ricky Rose! Come to the World Pride Welcome Center for a fabulous event where Drag King Ricky Rose will read enchanting stories in English and Spanish. This in-person event promises fun, laughter, and a celebration of diversity and inclusion. Let Ricky Rose captivate you with tales that will spark your imagination and warm your heart. Don’t miss out on this unique and entertaining experience!
Drag Story Hour with Ricky Rose
June 1, 2025 · 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Welcome Center
737 7th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20001
Brought to you by Drag Story Hour
Join us for Drag Story Hour with Ricky Rose! Come to the World Pride Welcome Center for a fabulous event where Drag King Ricky Rose will read enchanting stories in English and Spanish. This in-person event promises fun, laughter, and a celebration of diversity and inclusion. Let Ricky Rose captivate you with tales that will spark your imagination and warm your heart. Don’t miss out on this unique and entertaining experience!
“For Eon” Interactive Performance with Miriam Julianna
June 1, 2025 · 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Brought to you by Bird Up LLC
Artist Miriam Julianna will be present on the first floor of the WorldPride Welcome Center. The viewers are invited by the curator to take a seat across from the artist, watch the artist fold a paper crane, and listen to the “For Eon” story. Each listener is gifted a crane at the end of the story telling performance.
Visual Art on Display
AIDS Memorial Quilt
Various artists
Fabric and misc. items
12’ by 12’
You are looking at a section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt: the world’s largest ongoing community folk art project. It celebrates the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes.
Created in 1987, the Quilt consists of more than 50,000 3×6-foot panels. In its entirety, the Quilt weighs more than 54 tons and encompasses 1.5 million square feet of fabric.
Within the Quilt are the names and stories of more than 110,000 friends, family members, and loved ones whose lives were lost. The Quilt is a symbol of social justice and an important educational resource to ensure that our nation never forgets the 700,000 lives lost in the United States from AIDS-related causes.
Today, four decades into the AIDS pandemic, more than 1.2 million people in the United States still live with HIV. Please help us spread awareness about the ongoing AIDS Crisis.
- #4289 In remembrance of Max Lee Ahrendt
- #4368 In remembrance of Carl D States
- #4173 In remembrance of Stephen Loy
- #3868 in remembrance of DMV residents and international friends
- #1287 in remembrance of DMV residents and international friends
- #552 in remembrance of DMV residents and international friends
Miriam Julianna (b. 1994)
for Eon color field III, 2024
Paper cranes adhered to metal
3’ by 3’
For Eon is a socially engaged storytelling/crane folding practice by artist Miriam Julianna in memory of Eon Harris Schroeder—a gender expansive community organizer who was denied medical care because of their gender identity and would go on to pass on the eve of 45’s presidential election. Through one-on-one interactions, the artist tells the viewer the story of her friendship with Eon while folding an origami crane. Inspired by senzubaru, the artist has transformed her grief over the situation into a wish that all trans and gender expansive members of our communities are seen and loved and held dear.
Elizabeth Ashe (b. 1982)
Helix, 2016
Fabric tied to rope
12’ by 12’
Helix is an ongoing, site-specific installation based on a love of forts and line drawings, begun in 2016. Forts are a universal childhood game, where children take known objects and use them to make a space they can call theirs. How can you take a known and expected place, and change things in it to see the space in a new way? Line drawings are gesture and communication, they live on paper, in sculpture, in petroglyphs, in paintings. Each time, the artist sets the rope pattern and then, invites participants to take up the provided fabric and tie it to the growing structure. At the end of the event, it comes down and fits in a suitcase. Ashe cuts off the knots – the evidence of participants and gesture — and re-uses the fabric and rope for a next installation. World Pride is Helix’s sixteenth incarnation.
Instructions:
- Take up a piece of fabric.
- Use a simple knot and tie it to the rope structure. It can drape from one knot, or tie both ends.
- In the spirit of World Pride, please try to keep to the Rainbow pattern across Helix – Red to orange, oranges to yellow, yellow to greens, greens to blue, blue to purple.
Leo Andersen (b. 1987)
SilkPride Around the World
Various mediums
The SilkPride flag is not a redesign, but a reweaving. No colors have been added, no shapes altered—but rendered in silk, it becomes a living metaphor for queer Chinese existence: still traveling across land and water, now carrying the weight and grace of pride—the fabric of our being. This exhibit honors that spirit by celebrating queer Chinese lives across the globe: from the AIDS Walk on the Great Wall to the Queer Squad in Frankfurt, from United Proud Women in the U.S. to bold artistic voices from Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Sydney, Clearwater, and New York. SilkPride is both a tribute and a tapestry—resilient, radiant, and unapologetically ours.
Monica Johan Bose (b. 1964)
“Prokash/Reveal” Identity Scroll, 2021
Cloth cuttings, thread, and fabric markers on cotton saris from Bangladesh
4’ by 51’
This scroll was cocreated with participants (ages 15-75) in a series of art and poetry workshops in Brooklyn, NY and online with members of the Bangladeshi-American community. The bilingual workshops used language and art as tools to facilitate discussion of taboo topics in the Bangladeshi diaspora, including gender identity and sexuality, gay marriage, the gender binary and non-binary individuals, mental health, and immigration/racism. The scroll was sewn together in an outdoor community performance and poetry slam in Brooklyn and later mounted on saris in Bangladesh. Bose has used the scroll in performances and presentations to illuminate LGBTQ+ issues. Produced by Arts & Democracy and BIPA and funded by the Ms. Foundations’s Asian Women’s Giving Circle and the City of New York.
Gilbert Baker Foundation and ReportOUT
Charles Beal, curator (b. 1956)
Flag in the Map
Images and text
Flag in the Map is a collaboration between the Gilbert Baker Foundation and the UK-based ReportOUT, a global human rights organization dedicated to defending the rights of sexual and gender minorities. Working together, we asked LGBTQI people around the globe to send us a photograph and answer two simple questions:
- What does the rainbow flag mean to you?
- What does this photo mean to you?
We received responses from over 40 countries in which ordinary people passionately describe how the Rainbow Flag has changed their everyday existence.
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
Bumfuzzle, 2023
Acrylics on canvas
36” by 48”
“Bumfuzzle” meaning perplexed, flustered, or confused… have you ever felt bumfuzzled? Does your bumfuzzle show in black and white… or color?
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
IIII, 2023
Acrylics on canvas
36” by 48”
Things that come in four: classic elements (earth, wind, fire, water), cardinal directions (north, south, east, west), the Beatles, chambers of the heart, the four seasons, the four suits in a deck of cards… what else is missing?
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
Snakeskin, 2023
Acrylics on canvas
36” by 48”
Generally timid and solitary by nature, and also the center of many cautionary tales, snakes tend to have a bad reputation. But is that reputation warranted compared to other predatory animals?
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
Rite of Spring, 2023
Acrylics on canvas
36”x48”
It’s not that the art speaks to you but rather that you speak to the art. Ivor Stravinsky’s ballet and orchestral concert may have had everything or nothing to do with this piece, but either way it’s your interpretation that matters – however complex or simple.
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
The City, 2023
Acrylics on canvas
36”x48”
Mapping the color of an urban sprawl are bold geometric shapes, overlapping lines, and a palette vibrant splashes of color. The composition evokes the chaos, structure, and rhythm of a bustling metropolis.
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
Children, 2023
Acrylics on canvas
30” by 40”
A solid investment of our species (homo sapiens) starts with how we collectively bring up our children. It takes a village to raise them – but that responsibility should extend to all of humanity, reenforced by laws on every level of governance to protect them.
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
Carnival, 2025
Acrylics on canvas
30”x40”
“Carnival” captures the lively energy and chaos of festival crowds with blue, red, and yellow overlapping in swirling patterns, evoking the movement of people adorned in costumes.
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
Arishiyama Dream, 2025
Acrylics on canvas
30”x40”
This piece captures the lush cityscape found in Kyoto’s Arishiyama ward. Lose yourself in the serenity of nature, where its configuration tells a story of balance, beauty and peace.
Hazem Mansour (b. 1978)
Blue Camo, 2024
Acrylics on canvas
30”x40”
The work explores themes of identity, perception, and the tension between visibility and obscurity, inviting viewers to look beyond the surface and uncover hidden forms within the shifting composition.
Various Artists
ACLU “Freedom to Be” Quilt
Fabric and misc. items
6’ by 6’
Prompt: What does “Freedom To Be” mean to you?
- Panel Number B-60
Freedom for trans folks is the freedom to be everywhere and anywhere as our authentic selves without limit. - Panel Number D-217
Trans liberation and prison liberation are crucial movements towards freedom, and we want to adorn those words with flowers. - Panel Number A-23
Idaho has proposed banning drag performance and has successfully limited library access to our citizens. Southeast Idaho nonprofit Reading Time with the Queens wants to be free to put on our queer programming for our community. - Panel Number A-12
We want the freedom to live here. Trans people often flee rural areas for great opportunity and safety. Freedom to be, to us, means the freedom to slay — to stay and still be able to keep ourselves and ou families safe.
Jackson Fortner Hill (b. 1989)
Hold Fast, 2025
Cotton Twill, photography, Cyanotype
40inx30in
“Hold Fast” is a 30-by-30-inch cyanotype quilt by Jackson Fortner Hill, composed of layered photographs of hands in varied sizes and positions. Rendered in the deep blues characteristic of the cyanotype process, each handprint becomes a gesture of care, resistance, and solidarity. The quilt serves as a visual meditation on the strength found in queer community—how, through both joy and hardship, we hold fast to one another. Its tactile surface invites viewers to reflect on the quiet, enduring power of touch and connection as acts of resilience and celebration.
Mina M. Jafari (b.1988)
The Kucheh Collection
Framed Art: Linocut Print, Black Ink on Paper Medallions/Blocks: Wood Canvas, Acrylic Paint, Epox
At the heart of Mina M. Jafari’s work is a reimagined Khorshid Khanoom—the ancient “Sun Woman” of Persian folklore-whom she resurrects as a luminous, defiant muse for the present. This contemporary Khorshid Khanoom is not merely a nostalgic echo of the past, but a warrior of the now. Mina weaves layered narratives of Iranian beauty, protest, and resilience, transforming the piece into more than an aesthetic encounter; it becomes a declaration of survival and selfhood. The work radiates a powerful truth that to exist authentically is in itself, a revolutionary act.
Arnout van Krimpen, Mattijs van Bergen, Oeri van Woezik, and Jochem Kaan
Collection Amsterdam Museum
Amsterdam Rainbow Dress, 2016
National flags, sewn
52’ diameter
The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress is a powerful living artwork made of national flags from countries where being LGBTIQ+ is illegal, punishable by imprisonment, torture, or death. When a country adopts inclusive legislation, its flag is replaced with a rainbow flag. In light of the global backlash against LGBTIQ+ rights, the dress stands as both a protest and a celebration of hard-won freedoms. Through international presentations and educational workshops, the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress Foundation raises awareness of LGBTIQ+ human rights and the situation of those displaced due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.