The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC was scheduled to perform a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra on May 21 as part of this year’s WorldPride 2025 program of events at the Kennedy Center. World Pride, held every two years, aims to bring together a program of events to “celebrate, educate, support and inspire.” The concert was to have been the orchestral premiere of John Bucchino’s choral work A Peacock Among Pigeons, a piece about embracing one’s uniqueness. But the event has now been removed from the Kennedy Center schedule. No doubt due to Donald Trump’s takeover of KC last week. In his social media screed, Trump declared, “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA [at the Kennedy Center]—ONLY THE BEST.” Jeffrey Weisner, a bass player for the National Symphony Orchestra, shared on social media: 
More from The Advocate:
The timing is impossible to ignore—just days after Trump installed himself as chairman of the Kennedy Center’s board, ousted longtime president Deborah Rutter and appointed one of his most loyal right-wing operatives, Richard Grenell, who is gay, as its interim executive director. This position did not previously exist.
Grenell, Trump’s pick to lead the Kennedy Center, has no background in arts administration but has built a reputation as a MAGA culture warrior willing to do Trump’s bidding.
In his Truth Social announcement, Trump declared Grenell “shares my Vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture.”
Last week, Booz Allen Hamilton—one of WorldPride’s biggest sponsors—cancelled their support, citing concerns over Trump’s executive orders that dismantled federal DEI programs.
The Kennedy Center has quietly removed a National Symphony Orchestra concert celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride from its website, intensifying fears that federally affiliated cultural institutions could be the next battleground in Trump’s war on the LGBTQ+ community.
: www.advocate.com/politics/ken… [image or embed] — The Advocate (@advocate.com) February 14, 2025 at 10:37 AM
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