D.C. Black Pride announces 2025 theme of ‘Freedom’
Organizers of D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Black Pride celebration announced at a Jan. 29 ‘Cocktails for a Cause’ fundraising event that the theme for this year’s celebration is “Black Pride is Freedom.” Like past years, this year’s Black Pride will take place during Memorial Day weekend from May 23-26 and will be an official event of World Pride, which D.C.
is hosting this year. Just over 100 people turned out for the theme announcement event at the City Club of D.C., which provided the cocktail lounge meeting space free of charge and was donating a percentage of its drink sales to Black Pride, according to Black Pride organizer Kenya Hutton.
Hutton, who serves as CEO and president of the Center for Black Equity, a D.C.-based LGBTQ advocacy group that organizes Black Pride, said the theme was selected in part based on the issues the LGBTQ community is facing in 2025. “Just looking at how things are going in the world right now, it seems that our safe spaces are in jeopardy,” Hutton told the Washington Blade in recounting what he said at the Jan.
29 event. “And with the attacks that are happening on the Black community and Black LGBTQ communities, especially on our trans community, coming out with the theme of Black Pride is Freedom is sort of a declaration,” he said. “It is declaring that we are going to continue being free, we’re going to love how we are freely, love who we want freely, show how we want to be freely,” Hutton said. “We just want to be free and we’re not going back in the closet, we’re not going to go into hiding.
