The 33rd annual Capital Pride festivities attracted about 200,000 attendees during its annual celebration, which included a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue last week.
As the District's annual gay pride celebration, the festival continues to evolve and attract thousands of participants from across the country.
Pride has been planned and produced for over two decades by the non-profit Whitman- Walker Clinic, which specializes in serving the LGBT community of greater Washington.
"I think it's a great chance for people to really be open about who they are and to celebrate community," said festival director David Mallory of the Whitman-Walker Clinic. Mallory has served as director of the festival for the past three years.
"Its an opportunity to celebrate our individuality but also our shared experiences as LGBT people," he added.
Next year, Capital Pride Alliance, an organization chosen by the Whitman-Walker Clinic, will replace the clinic in the planning and production of the event.
Deacon Maccubbin, gay rights activist and owner of Lambda Rising bookstore near Dupont Circle, founded the event in 1975 as the district's original gay pride celebration.
"In early 75 I was at a party; there was a group of us and I said why don't we do a Pride in D.C.? It was held that third week of June. About 2,000 people came out and we sponsored it the first five years," Maccubbin said.
"Pride has given many members of the LGBT community the courage to come out that's one of the things I'm most proud of contributing to," he added.
Maccubbin noted that the evolution of the celebration is a testament to the festival's growing importance to the LGBT community in and around Washington.
Mallory added that Capitol Pride has grown in both attendance and in terms of corporate sponsorship. "Our presenting sponsor this year was Southwest Airlines, our Capital Partner sponsors were Metro Weekly, SunTrust and the Washington Blade," he said.
He added that Washington's pride celebration has grown, but has yet to peak at its potential. He says the growth of the festival could be a sign of good things to come.
He says the growth of the festival could lead to it becoming a destination event, beyond pride festivals held in New York and even San Francisco. "The fact that our Capital Pride is held in the nation's capital gives our pride sort of a niche," he said.
