It’s June! That means it is time to show the rest of our country (and world) Seattle’s unshakeable pride. No one celebrates Pride like Seattle.
On Sunday, Seattle will hold its 45th annual Pride Parade.
I’ve celebrated my fair share of Pride Months over the years, but I’m so proud to participate in my second Pride Month as Mayor of this great city. Our LGBTQ+ community is such an important part of our City, and we have two important milestones to celebrate this year. Not only is it the 45th anniversary of Seattle Pride. It’s also the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a landmark event spurred in part by two trans women of color and a bold lesbian that ignited the LGBTQ+ movement in the United States.
This year, I’m proud to serve as a Grand Marshal of the Pride Parade alongside five other individuals and organizations working to advance the rights and dignities of our LGBTQ+ communities. I am so excited to march in this year’s Pride Parade, especially on such a landmark anniversary of our local Pride history.
This weekend, as we celebrate these important anniversaries and mark the incredible progress we’ve made over the past 45 years, we also have to acknowledge we have so much farther to go. So many of our LGBTQ+ communities, especially trans women of color, are still marginalized, sometimes violently. In a majority of states, people can be fired from jobs for being LGBTQ+. And we have seen that hate crimes against all communities are on the rise. So this Pride, let’s center the voices of our most vulnerable communities, and work together to build a better future. Let’s show the power of love.
In the true spirit of Pride, I’ve had the chance to recognize some of Seattle’s most impactful LGBTQ+ leaders, one of whom is no longer with us.
On Monday, I transmitted legislation to rename a portion of East Denny Way on Capitol Hill “Barbara Bailey Way,” after my late friend and civil rights champion, Barbara Bailey. Barbara loved Seattle, and she poured herself into making it better. I’m excited to honor her legacy and enduring impact.
And on Wednesday, I joined members of our LGBTQ+ community at Queer/Bar to present the annual Mayor’s Pride Awards. This year’s award recipients have had a lasting and positive impact on our City, and are being recognized for their decades of work to better our communities and fight for LGBTQ+ rights.
I know that Pride can be hard for some people, especially members of our LGBTQ+ communities who continue to face bias, hate, and injustice. Coming of age isn’t easy for anybody, but if you can embrace who you are and see that you will get through, you can be a mayor, an actress, a small businessowner – anything you want. Nothing can stop you.
I hope you can join us on Sunday at 11 a.m. for Seattle’s 45th annual Pride Parade! To learn more about the event, click here.
As always, please continue to write me at Jenny.Durkan@seattle.gov, reach out via Twitter and Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we’re doing for the people of Seattle on my blog.
Happy Pride, Seattle!
This blog post is an excerpt from Mayor Jenny Durkan’s weekly newsletter. If would like more content like this, and a weekly recap of the exciting things happening in the City of Seattle, you can subscribe here.