Trump’s repeated comments about making Canada the 51st US state was also a factor, she added. Ms Kennedy said the organisation wasn’t boycotting World Pride itself, but protesting against Trump’s policies on LGBTQ issues.
Since coming into office, Trump has rolled back some LGBTQ protections, including revoking a Biden-era executive order on preventing discrimination “on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation”. He has also banned diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in federal agencies.
Supporters say those policies help correct injustices, but others, including Trump, say they are themselves discriminatory.
His administration has also banned transgender people from serving in the military and banned federal funding for gender care for transgender youth. And it has threatened to suspend funding for states that allow transgender athletes to compete.
Trump has defended his actions, saying trans women in sports is “demeaning for women and it’s very bad for our country”.
Some of these policies are currently being challenged in court.
This week, US media reported plans by the navy to rename a ship that had been christened to honour Harvey Milk. The former Navy sailor and activist was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, in 1977.
While former US President Joe Biden held a Pride month event on the White House lawn in 2023 and issued a proclamation in support of the community last year, Trump has not spoken in recent days about the celebration.
Asked about the president’s position on World Pride, a spokesman for the White House told the BBC that Trump was “fostering a sense of national pride that should be celebrated daily” and that he was “honoured to serve all Americans”.
Capital Pride Alliance, the organisation running this year’s World Pride in DC, told the BBC it has recieved “an unordinary amount of questions and concerns”.
“Our celebration is quite literally in the footsteps of the Capitol Building and a block away from the White House, something that a lot of people are conscious of,” Sahand Miraminy, Capital Pride Alliance’s director of operations, said.
For the first time, Pride in DC will have an enclosed perimeter and weapons detectors, he said, in part because this year’s event will draw larger crowds than usual.
World Pride events will also see an elevated presence of the Metropolitan Police Department’s LGBTQ+ liaison unit that will be “first priority” to respond to emergencies, Mr Miraminy said.
Washington’s Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, acknowledged that visitors “feel scared that an environment is developing that is anti-LGBTQ”.
But “we can’t live in fear, we have to live our lives [and] be as best prepared as we can,” she said.
Kelly Laczko, the co-owner of Her Diner in Dupont Circle, one of DC’s most vibrant LGBTQ neighbourhoods, said she’s also increased security for the weekend.
“I feel like normally with Pride we are ready for the celebration,” she said. “And obviously the current administration has put a big damper on that.”
Although she will not be in Washington, Ms Siregar said she hopes others do visit.
“I do think that people in the US should attend and be safe in attending,” she said. “It’s important that people stand up more than ever now.”
Ms Laczko agrees. “Even joy can be an act of defiance,” she said.