Thousands of people are expected to fill the streets Saturday for Boston’s 2025 Pride parade, an annual festivity that organizers say will this year be both a celebration of LGBTQ+ identities and a protest against increased political attacks by the Trump administration.
“There are those who wish we would disappear — go back in the closet, quiet our voices, and surrender the rights we’ve fought so hard to claim," Adrianna Boulin, president of Boston Pride for the People, said in a news release. “But we won’t be bullied, backed into silence, or erased.”
This year’s Pride arrives at a time of conservative backlash against LGBTQ+ Americans, particularly transgender people. Just a week after his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender troops from serving in the military. Another of his executive orders bans transgender women from competing in women’s sports, and he has targeted organizations that serve transgender people for federal funding cuts.
Gary Daffin, a Boston Pride organizer, said the theme of the parade, “Here to Stay,” is a direct response to government attempts to “erase transgender people from the country.”
“We have fought and fought to gain the rights and responsibilities that we deserve to have as Americans,” Daffin said. “We have no intention of going anywhere, and we have no intention of losing this fight at all.”
He added that the government is trying to erase queer people from history, pointing to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent order to remove the name of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, from a US naval ship.
In April, the National Park Service scrubbed information related to the LGBTQ+ history of Boston from its website, including articles on LGBTQ+ activism at Faneuil Hall and a self-guided historical tour of the city.
Pro-democracy activist groups Mass 50501 and Indivisible Mass Coalition are among the sponsors of this year’s Boston Pride. As many as 75 members of the organizations will march in the parade as part of a nationwide day of action protesting Trump’s policies, according to a 50501 spokesperson.
Despite political pressure from Washington, Saturday’s Pride festivities will be a celebration of LGBTQ+ resilience as much as a protest, Daffin said.
“A joyful protest is the most powerful one. Part of what we are doing is giving people the space to experience joy in who they are and in the community,” he said.
The parade will kick off at 11 a.m. from Copley Square and process down Clarendon Street to Tremont Street in the South End. The route continues onto Berkeley Street before turning back onto Boylston Street and ending at Boston Common, where a Pride festival will feature DJs and drag performers for paradegoers of all ages.
Organizers trained more than 400 volunteers to help manage the event. They will be posted along the parade route to notify organizers of unusual or disruptive activity.
The safety measures come as protests in Los Angeles against Trump’s immigration raids approached the one-week mark on Thursday. A day after federal immigration authorities arrested 44 migrants last Friday, protesters gathered outside a federal detention center to demand their release. The protests escalated when police in riot gear attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas canisters.
Trump later deployed roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles, though California Governor Gavin Newsom filed an emergency motion in federal court seeking to block them from being used to assist with immigration raids.
More peaceful protests against immigration raids have been staged in cities from Boston to Seattle in recent days. Texas Governor Greg Abbott deployed National Guard troops ahead of immigration protests on Wednesday evening.
Boston police officers will be stationed at Pride festivities on Saturday, though a spokesperson for the department declined to comment on whether there will be a larger police presence than in previous years.
The office for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday related to public safety plans for Pride. A spokesperson for Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s office directed questions from the Globe to State Police.
The Massachusetts State Police will provide extra support to local police if needed, a department official said.
“We stand ready to support our law enforcement partners in ensuring a safe, inclusive, and respectful celebration for all,” State Police spokesperson Tim McGuirk said in an email to the Globe.
Daffin emphasized that organizers do not anticipate the violence seen in Los Angeles.
“We expect everything to be completely peaceful. There’s no reason to expect it won’t be,” Daffin said.
In addition to the all-ages festival in Boston Common, Boston Pride for the People will also host a block party in City Hall Plaza for people ages 21 and older from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Jade Lozada can be reached at jade.lozada@globe.com.