An amalgamation of Seattle’s top public officials, LGBTQIA+ organizations, and community leaders came together on sunny and bright June 1 to celebrate the 14th annual raising of the Pride flag at City Hall. The tone of the event was somber and reflective, as well as passionate and defiant, as one by one, speakers rose to address the pressing struggles Queer and Trans people are currently facing both in the city and across the country.
“As we are witnessing an unprecedented wave of backlash across the US targeting 2SLGBTQIA+ people, hundreds of bills attacking Transgender, gender-nonconforming, and Two Spirit people have been introduced to restrict our healthcare, limit participation in public life, censor education, and erase legal recognition,” said Jessa Gavrielle Davis, cochair of the Seattle LGBTQ+ Commission.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and City Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth and Dionne Foster all expressed their (and the city’s) unequivocal support for Queer and Trans rights.
“I also know that this is a very challenging time for the community,” Mayor Wilson said. “Our city is seen by many as a welcoming place, but we must do more to make that welcome real. We cannot be bystanders in this moment.”
Deaunte Damper, Seattle Pride Grand Marshal and host of Converge’s “We Live in Color,” spoke in a similar tone of the need for the community to support Black and Brown LGBTQIA+ people.
“When we look at HIV funding, and how Black and Brown organizations are depleting — and a lot of you apply for these grants and do not prioritize Black and Brown at all,” he said. “As much as we are calling in community to make sure it’s a safe and sanctuary city, it is also our priority to make sure that we are not performing with inclusivity. It’s a damn action.”
Drag queen and president of Pride ASIA Aleksa Manila sang, including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in honor of 19-year-old Trans woman and UW student Juniper Blessing, who was recently killed. Danni Askini, executive director of Gender Justice League, also expressed her condolences.
For the first time, the Seattle LGBTQ+ Commission (which hosted the event) gave out its Community Impact Awards: one to Simon Thornton, board president of Friends of Denny Blaine and cofounder of Stone Soup Crew, and one to the Lavender Rights Project.
Mayor Wilson, several City Councilmembers, SPD Chief Shon Barnes, and others stood outside for a photo op in front of the flagpole. Afterward, a line of people came to crank the flag up one notch. The SGN got to do so after Seattle Pride Executive Director Patti Hern took her turn. Gavrielle Davis finished the ceremony by moving the flag to the top.
Jonathan Choe
While the SGN was covering the event, Turning Point USA reporter and right-wing provocateur Jonathan Choe entered the room to take video footage of the attendees and speeches. He was followed by Queer activists holding Trans flags, who attempted to block his cellphone camera from recording.
“Why are you following me?” he asked them while trying to walk away. “Because you’re an asshole,” one activist responded while following him across the room.
Choe has been known online to cover LGBTQIA+ people in a dehumanizing and sensationalized manner. In his attempt to question Mayor Katie Wilson on her way to the flagpole, he asked how she could attend an Eid Mubarak event at Seattle Center when “that community, the Quran, condemns homosexuality.”
Choe spoke to the SGN after the altercation, and said that it was his first time attending the city’s Pride flag-raising event. When asked what brought him to the event, he said, “Yeah, I actually support everyone here to do what they want and believe. I think it is really important this community is recognized by the city, as long as other communities are recognized as well.”
The next day on his Instagram, he used a transphobic slur to title his video of the event “Seattle Pride Month Tr*nny Crashout.”
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