Dupont Circle Park fencing comes down ahead of WorldPride weekend events

Shortly before WorldPride festivities kicked off in D C on Saturday fencing around Dupont Circle Park was being removed following a week of flip-flopping by District agents and backlash from locality members In a message posted on X D C Council member Zachary Parker reported the gates and fencing had been taken down This is a win for all of us especially for the LGBTQ population and a powerful reminder of what speaking truth to power can accomplish Parker revealed Originally the closure was set to run until p m Sunday The closure which went into effect at p m Thursday came at the request of the U S Park Police Personnel added fencing around the park on Friday Park Police submitted its closure request on Wednesday one day after D C Police Chief Pamela Smith rescinded her initial April call for the park to be fully closed and cordoned off with anti-scale fencing through Monday Smith pulled her request after backlash from neighborhood members and politicians WTOP has reached out to the U S Park Police for comment This story is emerging Stay with WTOP for the latest WTOP s Gaby Arancibia also contributed to this analysis Source