Seattle, our beloved and imperfect metropolis, has since 2022 remained a city of immense contradictions. Leaders publicly tout its inclusivity, while simultaneously failing (and sometimes even exacerbating) the issues affecting our most vulnerable: homelessness, gentrification, increased policing and surveillance, and economic hardship.
Emblematic of neoliberal mayors across the country, like Lori Lightfoot and Eric Adams, is the performative lip service for marginalized and working-class residents, while funds continue to go toward inflating police budgets and benefiting large corporations and billionaires. Seattle has, unfortunately, not been spared this same fate. And that reality has occurred under the leadership of Mayor Bruce Harrell.
On May 24, 2025, the Oregon-based, evangelical, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti–reproductive rights group Her Voice MVMT held its Mayday USA event in Cal Anderson Park, to “raise our voices in defense of the family: the sacred and life-giving union of one man and one woman.” The organizers and their attendees prayed for the defense of Judeo-Christian heterosexual marriage and “biological gender” while Seattle Police Department officers assaulted and pepper-sprayed pro-LGBTQ+ protesters in attendance, arresting 23 people after the incident.
“I wanted to protect everybody,” Harrell answered plainly to the SGN about his approach to sending SPD officers to the event. In our interview, he stood steadfast in the belief that Mayday USA had a First Amendment right to hold its event on Capitol Hill, even if the group’s sole mission was to call for the abolition of marriage equality, deny the existence of Trans people, and falsely accuse the LGBTQIA+ community of threatening children.
Although the mayor was adamant in our conversation that his character and career were built on standing up to bullies, his track record has not always reflected it. From telling billionaire Stuart Sloan, “I share your disgust” with the historically Queer Denny Blaine Park, to his own Lesbian niece Monisha Harrell (who told the SGN that she served as senior deputy mayor under her uncle in “one of the most toxic, anti-LGBT administrations I’ve ever experienced”), and despite the mayor more recently trying to institute policies to protect Queer Seattleites, there is still substantial enough evidence for us to question whether Harrell will be able or willing to defend the LGBTQIA+ community he claims to support during his second term in office.
The danger level for Trans and Queer people in Seattle is higher than ever before, given that the Trump administration is eager to send National Guard troops into liberal cities across the country to antagonize those municipalities and enforce its draconian ICE policies. In addition, local conservative journalist Brandi Kruse is encouraging Trump to “stamp out” Antifa and has added Gender Justice League to her Washington state blacklist sent to FBI Director Kash Patel. Harrell, when asked how he’d defend Seattle from a federal incursion, said the city needed experienced leadership that could be “diplomatic” in its approach to Trump. His response left us with many questions as to whether Trump’s threats and demands to erase the existence of immigrant and LGBTQIA+ populations at all levels of American society could be diplomatically reasoned with at all.
If anything can be gleaned from the last four years under Harrell, it is that true allyship must be rooted in a broader understanding of the material conditions LGBTQIA+ people of all backgrounds continue to face in this country. Leading the SPD to displace unhoused people, increasing funding for police and surveillance (like ShotSpotter) while failing to properly tax the most wealthy, and undermining the programs tackling systemic issues (like the Seattle Social Housing Authority) are unequivocally not the actions of an ally.
The case for Katie Wilson
At Neighbours Nightclub, the Wilson campaign held a debate watch party on the evening of October 3, hosted by drag queens Harper Bizarre and Miss Texas 1988. The atmosphere was jovial and lighthearted, attended by The Stranger’s editor-in-chief Hannah Murphy Winter, former City Council District 2 candidate Jamie Fackler, several of Wilson’s staffers, and many others. Before the debate, the drag duo riffed onstage about the state of Seattle politics and Queer rights in America, finishing with faux punches with boxing gloves in bedazzled political attire and waving Wilson for Seattle campaign signs.
On-screen, Katie Wilson stood in an oversized blazer while Harrell wore a three-piece suit with a blue necktie. The contrast in their appearances was matched by their answers to Seattle’s problems. Wilson offered an alternative, progressive, yet pragmatic vision for the city; Harrell appealed to voters to maintain the status quo. “She is not prepared for this moment,” the mayor said in his final remarks. However, the policy platform Wilson put forth during the debate and throughout her campaign are anything but unprepared.
The top 10% of US households today own 70% of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 50% only holds 2.4%. Around 1 in 14 of our fellow residents are millionaires: Seattle ranks second in millionaires per capita in the US. Yet the city’s affordable housing, social service, and public transportation systems lag significantly behind those of other comparably sized cities, such as Frankfurt, Germany.
What we found most striking about Wilson during our interview was her frankness and enthusiasm for the policies she offers — whether it be creating a superblock for residents on Capitol Hill similar to the one in Barcelona; a Local News Dollar program, emulating Seattle’s Democracy Vouchers, for residents to put toward community news sources; or advocating for a capital gains tax and a vacancy tax for buildings and housing units that sit empty while working-class people struggle to make ends meet.
Ultimately, Wilson does not try to portray herself as anything other than who she is: a community organizer and mother to a young daughter with a clear, cohesive vision for her city that seeks to grapple with the fundamental struggles of our day. She does not cater to wealthy and corporate interests. She has built a career fighting in coalition with Seattle’s diverse communities for the policies that would benefit the vast majority of citizens, including LGBTQIA+ people.
That is the promise of what a potential Wilson administration has to offer in this election, and that is why the SGN Editorial Board has decided to throw its weight behind her campaign in the general election. As our country descends further into authoritarianism and economic austerity, Trans people, immigrants, and many other groups will continue to be scapegoated by Trump and other bad-faith actors as the main source of America’s problems. And yet, with Katie Wilson comes a chance to offer the rest of the country a glimpse into an alternative way forward — one that puts people first over profit, and ultimately harkens back to our nation’s founding principles of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for all — including working-class and LGBTQIA+ people.
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