visitors has proven challenging this year. Some travelers are opting to skip the biennial event due to safety concerns, while others are staying away in protest of President Donald Trump's policies.

Alice Siregar, a Montreal-based data analyst who is transgender, had planned to attend. However, traveling to the U.S. is currently out of the question, she told the BBC. "It’s a risk to come over now, especially as a trans woman," she said.

Washington won the bid to host World Pride years before Trump’s re-election. In January, organizers had projected that the event—coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the city’s first Pride march—would draw three million visitors and contribute nearly USD 800 million to the local economy.

However, those projections have now been revised down to about a third of the original estimates. Hotel occupancy rates are also lower compared to last year.

Siregar, 30, holds both Canadian and U.S. citizenship but says she has been unable to renew her U.S. passport due to new Trump-era policies that prevent transgender Americans from updating the gender marker on official documents. The White House has said these policies are intended to uphold “the biological reality of sex.”

Although she could travel with her Canadian passport, Siregar is concerned that U.S. border agents may not recognize her gender, which is listed as female on her Canadian documents. She cited reports of other foreign travelers being detained or taken into custody as a reason for her concern. “It’s too dangerous to risk it,” she said.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated that gender identity does not make someone inadmissible to the country. “A foreign traveler’s gender as indicated on their passport and their personal beliefs about sexuality do not render a person inadmissible,” the spokesperson told the BBC in a statement. “Claims to the contrary are false.”

Still, Siregar is not alone in her concerns. Several European governments, including Germany, Finland, and Denmark, have issued travel advisories for transgender and non-binary citizens visiting the U.S. Equality Australia, an advocacy group, also released a travel alert for gender non-conforming individuals and those with a history of LGBTQ activism.

Egale Canada, one of the country’s largest LGBTQ organizations, announced it would not participate in World Pride due to safety concerns for its transgender and non-binary staff. The organization has previously taken part in World Pride events in London, Sydney, and Toronto. (BBC)