Pride goes on in defiance of Orlando attack by Daesh
Early AM on the 12th of June, a gunman swearing alliegance to Daesh (ISIS) shot up a Gay bar in Orlando, FL, killing over 50 people and wounding over 50 more. A second attack was defeated in California when the attacker ran afoul of police. In defiance of the attacks, hundreds of thousands showed up at DC's Capitol Pride festival, the second day of a two-day event. Days earlier, the Washington Blade ran a cover showing Donald Trump wagging his finger and warning GLBTQ people to "Enjoy Pride-it may be your last." The day that was widely circulated was the same day Donald Trump spoke before the anti-Gay group Concerned Women for America. Daesh is but one of many theocratic ememies of GLBTQ rights.
News reports said that "security had been increased" at this event but police presence was similar to previous Pride festivals, perhaps a few more cops but not by many. Had Daesh attacked a Trump rally, the next Trump rally would no doubt had included huge numbers of cops with openly displayed automatic rifles. Not known if Pride festival organizers were offered that kind of presence, nor is it known if it would have been accepted. The real security at an event like this is the sheer size of the crowd: anyone drawing a weapon against over 100,000 people would find himself the focus of a riot. Shooting anyone would only make the rest of the crowd angry, and the attacker would very quickly run out of ammunition no matter how much he carried. At that point the fury and vengeance of the crowd would take over.
Overall scene at Capitol Pride
GBLTQ Muslims too were harmed by the Orlando attack and are a reminder not to blame Muslims for the acts of theocrats who don't even follow their own religion
Dressing sexy in defiance of all threats from the far-right
Black Lives Matter in the June 11 Pride parade as it passes Dupont Circle
Lesbian magazine Tagg's float
Another racy parade float-but there were too few of these and to many from banks and other big corporations.
Another view of the parade at Dupont Circle on June 11
