A bisexual woman by the name of Brenda Howard is who we have to thank for making June National LGBTQ Pride Month. No particular reason really, as gay rights movements happen all throughout the year, but a specific moment in June of 1969 involving the Stonewall riots are a substantial reason for a commemoration. Brenda Howard, or the "Mother of Pride" is also known for popularizing the word "pride" to describe the activities that take place during such celebrations and to counteract the feeling of shame otherwise known as the opposite of pride, for which a great deal of LGBTQ members have been made to feel shameful for just being who they are.
For the past 43 years in Seattle, people from all over have come to support and celebrate pride weekend together. Over the last 9 years in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, people have been getting together the Saturday before the famous Pride Parade to eat, drink, shop and be merry. For a lot of the Capitol Hill businesses, this is an event they look forward to every year. However, this year had a very large obstacle thrown in their way.
The entire fiasco started back in February when one of the event organizers decided to move Pride weekend from its traditional weekend at the end of the month to June 10th so that it would coincide with the National Equality March on June 11th. The business owners and the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce (COC) were not on board. The event organizer proposed a compromise to the business owners and scheduled a “Bite of Pride” during the normal Capitol Hill Pride Festival, but the COC did not approve the earlier permit requests for the June 10th event and cited the event for multiple violations, including one old lady who was taken to the hospital after tripping on unauthorized extension chords.
This all resulted in the denial of more permits surrounding Pride weekend and “Bite of Pride.” Capitol Hill business owners and annual PrideFest activities were already scheduled and advertised to happen all over Cal Anderson Park. PrideFest Director Egan Orion applied to take over the situation with the COC and work in conjunction with the Broadway Improvement Association to have the appropriate permits to continue in just a few short days.
The Saturday event is still on schedule, and predicted to be just as great of a day as previous years have been. The area has now been expanded to include the light rail station and Broadway between E John St and Roy St. With all of this last-minute excitement, I hope that everyone who wants to go out and support the Capitol Hill neighborhood and Seattle’s PrideFest enjoys themselves, and has a grand, gay Saturday to ensure the event will be a continued success!
