Gay journalist ‘detained for booing Donald and Melania Trump’ at Chicago opening night
US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump attend the opening night of “Chicago” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images)
A gay journalist has shared his story after he was allegedly detained by security staff for booing the president and his wife during the opening night of Chicago at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday (31 March).
Washington Blade reports that Eugene Ramirez, who was attending the opening night performance with a group of friends, booed the president and gave a thumbs-down gesture at the event.
“I accompanied five friends to opening night of ‘Chicago’, as a way to enjoy a final performance in the Kennedy Center as we know it,” Ramirez told the Washington Blade.
The Kennedy Center is set to close for two years while it undergoes a $257 million renovation project initiated by Donald Trump to remake the arts institution as part of his wider “civics improvement programme”, which has also included demolishing the White House’s East Wing to make away for a 100,000 sq ft ballroom.
In December 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X to claim that the Kennedy Center board “voted unanimously” to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Just before the performance began, the president and first lady appeared in the balcony box. Some theatergoers cheered, while Ramirez booed and made the thumbs-down gesture.
“Within moments, the director [of security] and another guard approached and escorted me to a side area where several other security guards were waiting,” he explained. “I was detained until everyone was seated and the lights dimmed.”
“Journalism is a vocation, not just a job,” he added. “I immediately knew there wasn’t just an uncomfortable interaction with security. The Kennedy Center is a federally funded cultural institution, and being questioned about speech related to the president in that setting felt like something the public should know about.”
He also claimed his detention was an attempt to “manage the president’s image in the media” and said it was a violation of his freedom of speech.
“Being singled out by security at a federally funded institution for expressing dissent shouldn’t be brushed off; it undermines the First Amendment,” he told the Washington Blade. “Being of Cuban heritage, and a journalist, it’s a right I’m not willing to give up readily.”
The Blade reached out to the Kennedy Center but did not receive a comment back.
