National Park Service Closes D.C. Site for WorldPride

The National Park Service on Thursday evening closed Dupont Circle Park in Washington for WorldPride week, an international LGBTQ celebration being held in the nation's capital this year.

Closing the site is necessary to "secure the park, deter potential violence, reduce the risk of destructive acts and decrease the need for extensive law enforcement presences," the park service said in a letter Wednesday.

Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes D.C. Pride and is hosting this year's WorldPride celebration, said it was "frustrated and disappointed" by the decision.

"This beloved landmark is central to the community that WorldPride intends to celebrate and honor," the Capital Pride Alliance said in a statement.

"It's much more than a park, for generations it's been a gathering place for DC's LGBTQ+ community, hosting first amendment assemblies and memorial services for those we lost to the AIDS epidemic and following tragic events like the Pulse nightclub shooting."

The 2016 attack at Pulse, a gay nightspot in Orlando, Florida, left 49 people dead and 53 wounded.

• Fired Employees Fear Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster
• EPA, NOAA Face Steep Cuts in Revised Trump Budget Plan