The Capital Pride Parade began with cheers, the revving of motorcycle engines and the waving of so many rainbow flags.
Revelers line streets in Northwest D.C.’s Shaw, Logan Circle and Dupont Circle neighborhoods on Saturday to celebrate Capital Pride.
The Capital Pride Parade is back to celebrate D.C.’s LGBTQIA+ community and the full spectrum of love, identity and self-expression.
The District hosts one of the largest LGBTQIA+ pride events in the country; as many as 500,000 people attend. The events were scaled back in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Capital Pride 2022 could be the biggest yet, organizers say.
"Happy Pride in Washington, D.C.!" Mayor Muriel Bowser said Friday, welcoming the celebration. She spoke at a news conference with Chief of Police Robert Contee, who said, "We are not going to tolerate foolishness" during a busy weekend in D.C.
The Capital Pride parade coincides with the March for Our Lives demonstration against gun violence, which began at noon Saturday.
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When Is the Capital Pride Parade 2022 and What Is the Parade Route?
The parade began at 3 p.m. and is set to last three hours, with floats, vehicles and marchers winding through parts of Northwest D.C.
Organizers chose a new route in 2022 that they said acknowledges the evolution of the District's LGBTQIA+ neighborhoods.
The route begins at 14th and T Streets NW, goes down T Street to Rhode Island Avenue, then continues onto Massachusetts Avenue, 17th Street, P Street. The parade will go around Dupont Circle and end at 21st and P streets.
When Did the Capital Pride Parade Begin?
Capital Pride traces its origins back to 1975, when Deacon Maccubbin, the owner of the queer-oriented bookstore Lambda Rising, helped organize “Gay Pride Day.”
More than 2,000 people gathered on 20th Street NW. Maccubbin told News4 that organizers knew that day that the celebration would become a tradition.
"There's always a need for a community, for people to have a place they can go to, to be with their people,” Maccubbin said.
