Global LGBTQ+ advocates gather 'on Trump's doorstep' at World Pride despite travel anxiety

WASHINGTON: Days before she was to deliver opening remarks to World Pride's human rights conference in Washington, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, said she was denied entry to the United States after her visa was revoked due to her travels to Cuba earlier this year.

Opoku-Gyimah, widely known as Lady Phyll, said she applied immediately for a nonimmigrant visa. The earliest date she was given: September.

“I've called. I've written. I've pleaded,” she said over a video livestream. “And the answer was a cold, bureaucratic No."

Many LGBTQ+ travellers have expressed concerns or decided to skip World Pride due to anxieties about safety, border policies and a hostile political climate.

Yet cross-national strategising has still been central to the gathering as international attendees echoed that they wanted to send a clear message of opposition to US officials with their presence.

“This is World Pride on Trump's doorstep," said Yasmin Benoit, a British model and asexual activist. "And that's all the more reason to be here. We want to show the US that there's a lot of eyes on what's happening here.”

New policies make visiting more complex

World Pride gathers LGBTQ+ advocates from around the globe and has taken place most recently in Australia, Sweden and Denmark.

This year, which marks the 50th anniversary of Washington's Pride festival, is the first time the city is hosting the gathering. Yet for many, the global celebration has been complicated by President Donald Trump's policies targeting transgender people and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Trump, a Republican, has said that whether a person is a man or woman is determined by that person's biological characteristics at birth, and about two-thirds of US adults agree with him, according to an Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll.

He has denounced DEI policies as a form of discrimination that threatens merit-based decision-making.

Several countries, including Denmark, Finland and Germany, issued cautions for LGBTQ+ travellers visiting the US for World Pride, culminates in a closing festival this weekend with a parade, a rally and concerts.

Capital Pride Alliance, which organised World Pride DC, included an advisory for transgender and non-binary international travellers alongside security protocols.

Egale Canada, one of the country's largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organisations, announced in February that its members would not attend any events in the US through June, including World Pride. It cited concerns for transgender and non-binary staff members.

“I didn't feel it was safe to have our staff crossing into the US with the current hostilities, through legislation and rhetoric,” said Helen Kennedy, the organisation's executive director.

The African Human Rights Coalition, meanwhile, called for a boycott of World Pride in Washington “because the event is being held in a venue ... governed now by an antagonistic fascist regime which presents distinct dangers to foreign LGBTQI+ attendees", the organisation said in a statement.

Jessica Stern, a former US special envoy for the human rights of LGBTQI+ people, acknowledged that many potential attendees decided to skip World Pride as they “wonder if they'll be safe in US airports and on our streets”.

“Thank you for coming to the US amid a time of great uncertainty,” she said in her opening remarks before an emcee later instructed attendees to shout out where they had travelled from. Answers included New Zealand, Sweden, England, Zimbabwe, Australia, Nigeria and India.

As an increasing number of international travellers have expressed anxiety, John Tanzella, president of the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, said he has assured people that Washington is an inclusive city but advised them to stay informed of local policies, connect with LGBTQ+ organisations on the ground and book with trusted businesses with track records of inclusion.

The organisation is working on guidance for transgender and non-binary travellers in the US for the World Pride parade and march.

“Safety always comes up, especially in the current climate, but there's also a deep desire to bring our community together,” he said. “For many, World Pride in Washington, DC, feels extra meaningful given its location. There's caution, yes, but above all, people want to show up, be seen and be heard.”

A bad experience while trying to enter

Benoit's friends had warned her not to travel to the US, and her anxiety was mounting in the days leading up to her flight. She planned to avoid telling customs agents she was travelling for World Pride. But when that information surfaced, she said agents took her passport and asked her questions for an additional hour about where she was staying and for how long.

Still, she said, it is more important now than ever to “send a message to Trump in his own backyard" and to embrace the global nature of World Pride.

“The ability to bring people together to understand how interconnected everything is, how this harmful rhetoric may bleed over to other countries, is really important," she said.

“And it's an opportunity to access resources and people you may not have access to back home.”

Essy Adhiambo, executive director of the Initiative for Equality and Non Discrimination, deleted all the social media apps on her phone before her 35-hour journey from Mombasa, Kenya, worrying that her phone might be searched.

Still, Adhiambo said being visible as an international LGBTQ+ community is powerful amid threats to the community across the globe.

“We must continue to protest in the current context we are in," she said. "Those of us who are able to make this journey have to hold space for those who could not, especially our trans siblings. We want to amplify our message on the land of the people who are supporting homophobia.”

Nikki Phinyapincha, co-founder of Trans Pride Thailand, set off on a 25-hour journey to World Pride from Thailand after issuing a travel advisory from her organisation for Thai LGBTQ+ people.

“The political climate and instability is not new, but it makes it more important that we are here," she said. "We need to keep doing this work, strategising together and being adaptive.”

For people from marginalised communities, Opoku-Gyimah said, “just travelling to speak truth can often feel like a mountain”.

“We have to prove our worth at every border, every checkpoint,” she said.

Yet Opoku-Gyimah applauded the international nature of World Pride amid "connected, coordinated ... and increasingly violent" attacks against LGBTQ+ communities across the globe. She said the US government's rolling back of DEI initiatives, protections for the transgender community and reproductive rights have had ripple effects abroad, including in the UK.

“When the US sneezes," she said, “other parts of the world catch that cold”.