Good morning everybody and welcome.
Thank you all for being here.
You're going to hear from a long list of amazing
city and community leaders and community members
members today as we raised a pride flag and
declared June Pride Month.
At first glance, events like this may seem symbolic, raising
a flag, reading a proclamation, taking photos on the steps of
City Hall, and at their core, they are symbolic, but symbols
do matter.
They matter because they tell people who belongs,
they tell people whether they are safe, whether
whether they are seen, and whether their city
will stand beside them.
And today, Seattle is making it clear that this is a
city that welcomes and celebrates queer people,
then, now, and forever.
And that message matters now more than ever.
Across the country, we are watching a growing wave of
attacks against LGBTQ people, especially against trans and
gender non-conforming people.
We are seeing rights challenged, health care
restricted, books banned, and entire communities
targeted simply for existing.
And alongside that rhetoric has come violence.
At least eight trans people have been murdered in the
United States so far in 2026, and I think we all know
that that number is almost certainly an undercount.
These deaths are happening in communities across
the country, in red states and blue cities alike.
Today, we remember Cheyelle Diamond Sanchez-McRae,
Luca Redbeard, Haley Siegleton, Erica Caldwell,
to name a few, and most close to home, Juniper Blessing.
Juniper's murder earlier this month is a painful reminder
that even in cities like Seattle, life as a trans person
still means fighting every day for basic dignity, basic rights,
and sometimes even for your life.
Juniper was more than a headline.
She was a student, a musician, a proud dog mom,
an aspiring scientist, and a 19-year-old woman whose
life was taken away from her before it truly even began.
Before we begin today's ceremony, I'd like to ask
everybody to join me in a moment of silence for Juniper
member and for all of the trans community members we have lost.
Thank you.
Today, we are doing more than proclaiming June Pride Month.
We are doing more than raising a flag.
We are telling Seattle, Seattleites, and the
rest of the world that queer people are here,
that we have the right to exist, to love, and to live
openly and safely as ourselves.
And we are saying clearly that violence against one of us is
an attack on all of us and that Seattle has no room for hate.
Next, we're going to hear from Mayor Katie Wilson.
Katie B.
Wilson is the mayor of Seattle, a
longtime transit advocate and community organizer.
Wilson co-founded the Transit Riders Union and then led the
organization for over a decade, during which time she
had extraordinary success building coalitions
to win better transit, affordable fares, higher wages,
stronger winter protections, and new progressive revenue.
Wilson approaches the role of mayor from the perspective
of a coalition builder and has assembled a diverse
and experienced team ready to deliver responsible,
effective governance and make progress on
our city's challenges.
Mayor Wilson.
OK, good morning, afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Okay, happy pride.
I am so excited to be here.
I am so proud to be the mayor of a city that has such a strong
and long-standing commitment to protecting the rights
and dignity of all people, including our LGBTQ+ community.
We have in Seattle strong civil rights laws that
protect everyone from discrimination and harassment
based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race,
and many other protected classes.
People seeking reproductive or gender affirming
care here are protected from arrest or prosecution
and I'm proud of our all-gender restroom law
which makes single occupant restrooms available to
to everyone regardless of their sex or gender identity.
I also know that this is a very challenging time
for the community.
The American Civil Liberties Union
is currently tracking more than 500 bills across the country
that impose barriers to LGBTQ+ educational curriculum,
school sports, public restroom access,
gender-affirming health care, access to IDs, and more.
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.
So I want to say to our LGBTQ+ community, our neighbors,
our friends, and our family members here, you belong
here and you are not alone in this fight.
We will continue to stand unwavering in our
embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors,
and commitment to justice.
We will listen to community and we
will rise to meet the challenge and provide more affordable
housing, more safe spaces for people arriving
here from around our country, and more
opportunities to find work and to build community.
We can work together to build
Build a city that is inclusive, welcoming, and resilient.
Especially now, when our national climate
is so frightening, we must live up to that
promise and show that Seattle is a place of safety,
dignity, and inclusion.
This is your city.
There is a place for you here in Seattle.
And I hope that you will consider my office a
partner in this work.
Thank you.
And now I'm delighted to introduce my colleague on City
Council, Council President Joy Hollingsworth.
You stand up here, you stand up here.
Council President Hollingsworth represents
Seattle's District 3, that is my district, thank you.
Which includes East Lake, Montlake, Madison Park,
Madison Valley, Capitol Hill, First Hill, Portage Bay,
Leschi, Madrona, and the Central District.
As a small business owner, nonprofit leader,
and community connector, Joy prides herself on outcomes
by focusing on the fundamentals and bold basics
for our neighborhoods while serving in her legislative role.
So please welcome Council President Hollingsworth.
Thank you, Mayor Wilson.
She's one of my constituents, so hopefully I can earn your vote.
Just playing.
Thank you all.
I know we have some other elected officials in here.
Councilmember Foster is here.
I see Councilmember, yes.
our other colleagues, Councilmember Saka, District 1
and then we have Councilmember Kettle here as well
thank you for being here.
My colleagues, did I miss anyone?
Oh, Councilmember Rink, I'm sorry, Councilmember
Rink, citywide
Thank you for that, there's five people
pointing in the back right there, thank you.
So thank you Mayor Wilson I'm really excited to
be with you here today and then partnering
with you on LGBTQ rights and know that you all
have been just great partners in that work.
So thank you, Mayor Wilson.
This is my third Pride Month Raising of the Flag event.
And every year it's more special, every single year.
And what I love most about Pride is beneath the music, the
laughter, the fabulous outfits, you killing it over here
with the church hat, okay?
The Women's Day hat.
Is that not a Women's Day hat?
Thank you.
Come on.
It's about love and freedom.
Those two words come to mind.
Freedom to be yourself, freedom to love who you want to love,
and the freedom to show up exactly who you are,
which is a human being.
It's about recognizing the courage of the people
who came before us, like Reverend McCoy,
who's here, right?
Every time I see her, I have to do the Detroit what-up-doe.
What-up-doe. It's a Detroit thing.
And the people came before us, and it's also a reminder
that our differences are not weaknesses.
They are our strength.
When people are able to show up in their authentic selves,
our neighborhoods, workplaces, everything in our community
becomes a lot stronger.
And this is a little personal, but I am so
thankful for my family who accepted me for who I am,
you know, during my journey.
And some of us are still explaining to our families
who we are.
That's why those Thanksgiving dinners and
all this, it lasts so long.
But, you know, but just being mindful that
not everyone has that.
Not everyone has that support.
And so that's why it is so great that we can be in these spaces
where we can show community about who we are, that people
are loved, they're accepted, they can feel connected.
And that's why every time that we raise the flag during this
month, I think it's a symbolism to show that we support you.
And most importantly, that you are safe here.
That is really key, that when people come to our
city, they feel safe, that they're safe here.
And so no matter how you identify, no matter what
that looks like, your race, creed, religion, anything,
you are American, you are a patriot, and you are Seattle.
And so those are the things that come to mind for this
particular flag raising.
And so thank you all for being here.
The council supports you, obviously with our
mayor's office as well.
The city supports you.
Our city department supports you.
Seattle supports you.
And I have the wonderful opportunity to
introduce Jessa Davis.
Jessa is the co-chair.
Yes, Jessa Davis.
I was waiting for a hell yeah.
I heard, whoo, hell yeah.
Go on, go on.
That's what we say.
Go on with your bad self.
Is the co-chair of the Seattle LGBTQ Commission
and the chair of the Community Outreach
and Social Media Committee.
She also serves as the board chair
for the Queer Power Alliance, where she chairs the advocacy
committee and as board secretary for the whole Washington.
In these roles, she helps align community-driven
advocacy with broader structural change, including, or
efforts, including in her work as the executive director of the
the organization of the polyamory and
ethical non-monogamy.
That was a whole thing right there.
I'm sorry, I messed that up.
I apologize.
Monogamy, which is a role she recently took on
after founding and leading the Seattle Coalition
for Family and Relationship Equity.
I've had the honor of work with Jessy
for the past couple years and amazing, amazing person.
We're just so grateful to have her.
- I'll keep it on the name.
Thank you so much.
Lovely, lovely.
All right.
Can everyone hear me okay?
I wore these glasses purely for fashion and there's no bifocals.
So here we go.
So again, I'd like to thank the mayor, city council members,
and other special guests for being here with us today.
On behalf of the LGBTQ Commission, we're really excited
to be here raising the pride flag again over City Hall.
As the council president said, my name is Jessa Davis.
My pronouns are she, her.
And, yeah, I just want to jump into some
comments here, I guess.
You know, every year this moment in particular carries for me a
specific personal significance.
because I come from a place where that flag wouldn't
be flying in front of a City Hall where I come from,
right? I moved here to find a place where I could
belong and like so many others here I understand
that visibility itself is never a neutral act, right?
And we know that raising this flag isn't trivial
either because in some parts of this country
today what we're doing is is illegal.
Let that sink in for a moment, right?
And I'm going to share something now specific
to my own experience and that's on the minds of many people
in this room and across our community.
But as we're witnessing this unprecedented wave of backlash
across the US targeting 2SLGBTQIA+ people,
hundreds of bills are attacking transgender, gender
nonconforming, and two-spirit people.
Right now, they've been introduced across the country
to restrict our health care, to limit participation in public
life, to censor education and erase our legal recognition.
And they're not going to stop with the trans
community, of course.
They've already told us that.
But despite the claims that those people might make
pushing this agenda, there are deliberate efforts
happening right now to make it harder for people like
me to live safely, openly, and with dignity.
And many of us here in this room.
As a result, people are being forced to leave their homes,
not because they want to, not because it's for the vibes to
come to Seattle and live their best life here, but because the
alternative is too dangerous.
This is a policy-driven displacement that's happening
across the country, and it involves families asking
whether their children can access health care.
It means individuals considering whether they can remain
employed, housed, or even if they can legally exist
in public as themselves.
And in some places, these oppressive policies carry the
threat of prison time, often for the simple act of having
the audacity to be seen.
So many of those individuals are arriving in places
like Seattle seeking safety.
And we probably call ourselves a welcoming city here.
This is a standard that we've set for ourselves.
It's a commitment that requires that our policies, our services,
and our communities reflect the values we claim to hold.
And they do quite broadly, right?
And I appreciate everyone here in this room who helps
make that happen and who helps uphold this culture.
But that means ensuring access to housing, health care, and
further legal protections.
It means resourcing the organizations that are
on the front line today, solving this crisis.
And it means defending and strengthening the protections
that make this city a place where people can truly
live, thrive, and belong.
Pride's always been about celebration and resistance.
It's both a joyful acceptance of oneself and a fierce
declaration of belonging, and an assertion that we
will not accept policies rooted in fear or bigotry.
Pride is a declarative statement that we will
continue to build a city where everyone has the ability to
thrive. So today we raise this flag and we do so
with clarity.
We affirm that our values are strong
and we make a commitment to everyone in this city for
safety, for dignity, and for belonging that Seattle
will hold firm, not just in what we say but in what
we do for our neighbors now and every day.
So thank you so much.
I nearly walked away without introducing our next lovely
guest to speak, Dani Aschini, as the founder and
executive director of Gender Justice League, the
civil rights organization that she launched in Seattle
in 2012, and Gender Justice League Action, a new 501c4.
With nearly three decades of advocacy across state
and federal government and international
human rights bodies, she leads Trans Pride
Seattle and the field campaign at No Hate in
Washington State campaign opposing two anti-transgender
measures on the 2026 ballot.
Dani, thank you so much.
I'm a little bit shorter than everybody else.
Seattle, in a few minutes, this flag is going to
go up over our city, not as a decoration,
but as a declaration.
A declaration of our shared freedoms
and our commitment to our community
that we've built over so many years together.
I see so many friends in this audience.
I'm so honored to be here.
13 years ago, I helped found Trans Pride Seattle
with about a dozen other trans people,
some of my best friends, and over those 13
years, we've built it into one of the largest
trans events in the country.
30,000 people came out last year.
I'm sure as many will come out this year on the
27th. I hope we'll see you there in Volunteer Park.
Thanks to the city for helping make it happen.
When I moved to Seattle in 2006, I came here to start
a trans health program.
I was just out of grad school.
I'd moved here from Maine, where I transitioned as a teenager
in the 90s while in foster care.
As you all can imagine, we hear these stories of like
young people transitioning.
It's so new.
It's a thing that never happened.
And that's just not true.
It's just our stories were not in public.
We're not seen.
This November, unfortunately, Washington voters are going to
be voting on two ballot measures that will decide to strip the
rights of trans young people like I was and like many who
who are in this room, I'm sure, or nearby.
We like to think that we're safe here in Seattle,
and I can tell you that we're not.
The same forces that have been stripping trans people
of protections around this country are well-funded
and they are here.
They are organized and they are intent on making sure
that trans people are scapegoated for the
1% of this country that is destroying everything
that we love and hold dear.
They have misjudged us before, and I think they've misjudged
us now.
This flag is part of what the city stands for.
It's not just decoration, it's a promise that we make
to each other to keep each other safe, and I think we
all know very recently how incredibly dangerous it is
for trans people.
We felt it.
I was really honored to support the students at UW
dub and I get choked up, and having a memorial
for Juniper.
And that's one of the hardest things
that I do in my work that I've done in the last
20 years.
I have lost many friends.
I lost my husband last August.
We're losing lots of trans people not
just to murder but to suicide.
Genocide, when we talk about it, is not just about
destroying people in overt ways.
It's about creating lived conditions that are so terrible
that people don't want to stay here.
We raise this flag to defend the people that it stands for.
We are going to work together to defeat these
two ballot measures, and I really look forward
to working with you all in talking to our friends and
family about why these ballot ballot measures were not needed.
And I'm just honored to be back here.
I moved back, like thousands of other trans people,
last April because I felt really unsafe.
I was living in Virginia, and things were not looking great.
And so I'm just grateful to be home with you all
and so honored to be here and so honored
that the city continues to raise this flag for us.
Thank you.
And next, I would like to bring up my longtime friend
and inspiration, Alexa Manila, a former LGBTQ commissioner.
Let's give it up for Alexa.
Founder of Pride Asia, huge inspiration
and massive fundraiser and first MC at Trans Pride Seattle,
by the way, you were, an amazing all around personality.
Thank you.
Thank you, my dear friend, Dani Aschini.
Thank you for your beautiful words.
Hi, everyone.
Wow. My last time speaking and
singing here in this very room was about 10 years ago when
we were advocating for all access to restrooms, regardless
of abilities and disabilities.
And fast forward to now, very similar lines.
We're still asking and advocating.
Are we ready for church?
I'm a proud queer trans immigrant from the Philippines
and I went to private Catholic school.
So, lots of guilt here.
Hello and good day to one and all.
Again my name is Alexa Manila and before we ceremonially
roll our eyes, yes indeed my My pronouns are she/they.
And as we are surrounded by elected
and appointed officials and dignitaries,
Mayor Wilson, Reverend McCoy,
you may refer to me as her Imperial Sovereign Majesty,
the elected Empress of Seattle, Olympia 35,
the Pearl of the Pacific and Irwin Seuss,
the Thriller from Manila, and Miss Gay Seattle 40,
the oldest drag title, West of the Mississippi,
Alexa Manila.
I apologize.
I thought that was enough.
My first drag title was also Miss Gay Filipino 2001,
where I won every category except Miss Congeniality.
But I digress.
Now, truth be told, even that's too much jargon for me
on a Monday morning sans caffeine intake.
Now regardless, I represent one of the oldest, if
not the oldest, largest LGBTQ+ organization
in the world, the International Imperial Court System, founded
by Jose Sarria, whom we lovingly called Mama Jose in the 1960s.
Now Jose Sarria was the first openly gay man to ever run for
public office in these United States.
He ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
that her friend, the late Harvey Milk, won
himself a few years later in 1977.
It is believed that Mama Jose paved the way for
him. Mama Jose was a singer at the Black Cat Cafe and for
obvious reasons a drag queen.
But more importantly, an activist.
Though he had thousands of votes, it
wasn't enough to secure the position in 1961.
And so his peers with the Tavern Guild gifted and thanked him
for his efforts for naming him, and by naming him, the
Queen of All San Francisco.
However, our beloved Mama Jose quipped, "No, thank you.
I'd rather be Empress of San Francisco.
I'm already a queen."
Now you see, queen is a term of endearment
for an effeminate gay man.
I share this bit of queer history
because even though it happened in the last century,
nearly no one knows this.
Only a lucky few of us have the honor
of witnessing momentous occasions like this.
I have the honor of having met Mama Jose,
who witnessed my coronation as Empress of Seattle
over 20 years ago, and being recognized
with the Jose Honors International Court Council.
Now, some might say this is frivolous and narcissistic even,
but if we don't share our stories, our LGBTQ
histories, then who will?
And if not now, then when?
With the advent of reality TV and drag competitions
around the gay universe, nearly mainstream inclusion
of LGBTQ narratives and main characters from MySpace,
yes, even to OnlyFans, There is no excuse to inform,
educate, nurture, and celebrate our LGBTQ+ communities.
To say we are a diverse community is an understatement
and horribly falling on deaf ears far too
often. I founded Pride Asia to
remind our intersecting and parallel communities
of each other's existence that together we can celebrate,
empower, and nurture the multicultural diversities of
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and
plus communities through the Asian Pacific Islander lens.
This is to remind us that our API families include LGBTQ
relatives and that our LGBTQ communities include API peoples.
Like any and every LGBTQ person in this room and outside this
room, we are not a monolith.
We are different.
We are unique.
We are special.
Our differences are what define our diversity.
I'm noticing I may sound a little tart, albeit rather
old, bitter and jaded.
But I digress, for in fact I am upset.
Don't worry, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the dirt.
Only a couple got that in reference.
At this current and so-called leadership in
the big old pale house,
and so in the spirit of the themes for Seattle Pride's
rally and Pride Fest's keeping the flame alive,
let's rally together.
Let's be flamboyant together.
Remember what pride is about.
Pride is about people, our right to humanity.
Pride is about revolution, our right to fight fascism.
Pride is about independence, our right to autonomy and choice.
Pride is about dependence, our right to love each
other and love one another.
Pride is about evolution, our right to grow and glow.
In the words of Mama Jose, together we stand, divided they
will pick us out, one by one.
So together we pride, not simply as a noun, but
a verb, an action word, a rally, a revolution.
And lastly, if you would join me.
Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high,
This a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue.
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true
Juniper, this one's for you.
Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the
clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
away above the chimney tops that's where you find me
Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow, why, then why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow,
why, oh why can't I?
And we...
Salama po' Seattle.
My name is Alexa Manila and it is my honor to
introduce my dear, dear friend, peer, colleague,
and fellow activist, Seattle native, Deontay Damper.
Deontay Damper is an Emmy nominated storyteller and long
time, let me say that again, the people in the back and the
people in Pluto is an Emmy nominated storyteller and long
long-time advocate for HIV awareness and LGBTQ
affirming education.
In 2019, he made history as NAACP's first, let me repeat
that again, NAACP's first LGBTQIA chair.
He founded BRGA, a healing space for
young men of color, and has worked with
Pocan, Volcan Washington, and the Washington
Therapy Fund Foundation, where he now serves
as vice president.
Deonte is the community engagement specialist
for the regional office for gun violence prevention,
that's my Filipino accent, at Public Health
Seattle and King County, a Bill 206 leader and
host of We Live in Color on Converge Media.
Please welcome Deontay Damper!
Test, test, test.
Yes, come on Maddie.
Can y'all hear me okay?
Now Alexa, I'm just letting y'all know,
she got to sing, but if I If I wrapped Lil' Kim in here,
y'all would be mad, right?
I want to say, one, welcome, and you are safe here.
My name is Deontay Damper, and I'm from the South End
area of Seattle, Washington.
And I'm so excited to be here, but let me just tell you
about the little me, right?
I grew up in the Rainier Beach area, right?
the area that has been impacted by gun violence tirelessly.
And I grew up in that area, and I went through
survival mode there because I was teased a
lot because I was queer.
And then I go to a space like Capitol Hill,
as we say and perform and say it's all-inclusive,
but the reality of it is there is no representation
for black and brown folks there.
So I grew up saying to myself, where the hell do I fit?
That led into addiction, that led into homelessness, that led
into crashing out and not really having a space for myself.
But one day, I finally decided to come back home to Seattle.
to come and tell you and everybody else to their face
that I can fit any goddamn wear.
I've been working tirelessly in the South King County area
with providing inclusivity conversations
for our LGBTQIA community members,
working with the city of Kent to start their Kent Pride,
which will be happening next year,
because I don't think that everybody needs
to come to Capitol Hill to find a space of refuge.
They can be anywhere, right?
So that leads my call to call in action for all of you.
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 folks at all,
about prioritizing, you claim to prioritize
black women in office, but every time when
you get up to a podium, you speak down on her?
I speak for the black trans women that are,
you can clap for it because it's real shit.
As much as we are calling in for 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 is a damn action.
So I'm calling in our community.
Are you guys going to also prioritize black
and brown folks as well?
I say this into a space because we need to be
able to fit anywhere.
And as much as we are calling out folks that are
in high positions, we also have to call ourselves
so we can get in position.
You know what I'm saying?
And with that being said, and that's exactly why the show
We Live in Color was born.
See, the show, I have to thank one of my allies,
Omari Salisbury, who is my brother and my friend.
And this show was created to give a voice to black and
brown communities that have not feel heard or seen.
We're almost on our 100th episode right now, but
we've been able to uplift voices of organizers
such as Moni Tapp.
Give it up for Moni Tapp because she in the damn room.
Councilmember Hollingsworth, Dr. Renee McCoy,
Andrew Eshiofu, Rami, and lots of others.
And the main reason why this show is so important is because
most of the time when we come into rooms and meetings with
politicians and communities that we're supposed to be walking
alongside with, we're usually silenced.
So as we are sitting here and we are raising
this flag, I want y'all to know that we have to stop
with the performance.
In the next two weeks, I will
be your Grand Marshal for Seattle Pride, okay?
And when we're talking about rallying, I am talking about
rallying for every single one of you in this room.
So I ask you, will you rally with me to make sure that black
women are continuing to be uplifted in their positions?
Will you rally with me to continue to make sure that
black HIV-led organizations are being funded?
And a part of that is also with the folks who walk alongside us.
I have my friend Maddie Mooney, who has a message
for our community.
Come on, Maddie.
Give it up for Maddie.
Good afternoon, everyone.
And thank you to the Seattle LGBTQ Commission for
creating space for us today.
As we gather here during Pride Month, it's important to
remember that trans communities have never survived because
systems were never built for us.
I'm sorry.
It is important to remember that trans communities
have never survived because systems were built
We survived because we built systems for ourselves.
We found and collected resources to share with our community
what healthcare was affordable or safe, and realistically
sometimes only one of those, where we could sleep, where
where we could eat, where we could find joy.
For generations, trans people have created networks of care
when healthcare was unavailable, shared housing when
housing systems excluded us, raised money for one
another when institutions would not invest in us,
and passed down knowledge, resources, and support
through community.
That legacy continues today with support from King County
and in collaboration with the coalition ending gender-based
violence. The 2026 King County Trans Resource
and Referral Guide is a part of that tradition.
It is a community-created tool designed to help people
find affirming health care, housing support,
legal resources, behavioral health services,
crisis support, and connection.
It exists because trans folks and our allies
understand that access access to information can be
life-changing and life-saving.
And that matters now more than ever.
At a time when trans and gender diverse folks are facing
unprecedented political, systemic, even physical attacks
and death across the country, we cannot thrive or even survive
on visibility alone.
That is why today is not only the start of a celebration.
It is a call to action.
It is a start of a revolution.
We invite our elected officials, community partners, funders,
healthcare systems, employers, and neighbors to move beyond
statements of support and into meaningful action.
Support trans-led organizations.
Fund trans-led solutions.
Hire trans people.
Invest in the infrastructure that helps our communities
survive and thrive.
And that includes this guide, which is only
funded approximately every three to five years.
Because when trans people have the resources that we need,
when we create ways, and when we create ways to centralize
access to those resources, our entire community is stronger.
The work of caring for one another has always been
a part of our history.
The question before all of us now is whether or not we will
continue that legacy together.
Because the care we put into trans communities
is the clearest reflection of the kind of
community we choose to build when it matters most.
Thank you and happy Pride.
Thank you.
Somewhere.
No, no, no, no.
Kettle, you were supposed to join in, right?
Okay, I know we're kind of past time, so I won't read the bio,
but I will just say we are so happy to have,
I think this is the first time we have two beautiful
black women on our council.
Is that correct?
And you know what?
I'm going to do this because they didn't do this before.
Y'all get on your feet and give it up for Council
Member Dion Foster.
Okay, Councilwoman Dion Foster.
Get on your feet.
Get on your feet, please.
get on your feet
who's better than Deontay
nobody baby
thank you thank you Alexa
good afternoon everyone how are y'all doing
yeah my name is Deon Foster
and it is just absolutely a pleasure to get to be
here with you all today.
I have some prepared remarks that I'm going to get into,
but first actually what I want to say is I was
listening to Alexa up here.
I didn't sing along because I can't.
But what it reminded me of is I got to take my kid,
who's now 13, to drag queen story time quite a few times.
And so I have to say thank you for helping me raise a
kid who is an A-plus student.
Hey! Smart, empathetic,
kind, and amazing.
And I think that's what happens when we celebrate in community
and we're in community together.
So shout out to you.
It is an absolute honor to get to be here today for
the Pride celebration and flag raising at City Hall.
I know a lot of folks were here last year.
It was wet and rainy outside.
I'm looking at people last year.
I know somebody had the umbrella.
So this is really fantastic to get to be inside
with you all today.
And I wanna start off by saying LGBTQ community
is not on the margins of our city.
Queer and trans people are and always have been
central to who Seattle is.
You have shaped our neighborhoods, our
arts and culture, our small businesses, our
movements for justice, for civic leadership,
and our understanding of what it means to belong.
And that's from Capitol Hill to the Central District,
from community organizations.
I'm seeing West Seattle Pride in the house,
to faith communities, families, nightlife spaces,
Pride Asia to Trans Pride.
Our city is more creative, more courageous,
and more free because of you.
And pride also should be joyful.
We have a lot to resist this year,
but we also have a lot to celebrate and share
and have joy with one another.
A celebration of love, identity, chosen family,
survival, and beauty.
And pride is also responsibility.
At a time when our communities are under attack,
especially for trans and gender non-conforming people,
at a time when we're seeing escalating attacks
across the country, raising this flag
cannot only be symbolic, it has to also be a
public commitment.
A commitment that Seattle will defend civil
rights, a commitment that our trans neighbors
are seen, valued, and protected, and a commitment that queer,
trans, black, indigenous, AA, NPHI, communities, immigrants,
disabled, and other people of color are not an afterthought
but are centered in how we think about safety and belonging.
As chair of the Arts and Civil Rights Committee,
I think a lot about visibility because visibility
ability is powerful.
Who gets to be seen?
Who gets to be safe in public?
Whose history is remembered?
Whose culture is protected?
Whose lives are treated as worthy of care?
These are civil rights questions,
but they're also questions of culture and community.
Because LGBTQ communities have always
used art, performance, resistance, and public
gathering to insist on dignity when systems refused to
provide it.
So today as we raise this flag I hope that
it represents more than a celebration.
I hope that it represents our obligation
to protect one another and to protect the generations
that have fought for moments like this being
possible and for the identity and love and care that we
we all have for one another in our city.
So with that, I'm going to say happy Pride.
Thank you for your partnership.
And let's keep fighting for the city that we believe in.
And-- oh, there you are.
And I was like, where did they go?
And now I get to introduce Andrew Eshiofu, one
of my favorite people in the city, somebody
somebody who is just bright, smart, kind, and welcoming,
and who's also a commissioner and two-time co-chair
of the Seattle LGBTQ Commission, where he's worked closely
with city leadership to advance equity,
community safety, and access for queer and LGBTQ
residents all across Seattle.
Welcome, Andrew.
Thank you.
And I'm going to present you...
And I'm presenting Andrew with the Pride Month Proclamation,
which they're going to read.
There we go.
Let's just take a picture with this.
I don't know where we're looking.
Oh, over there.
Okay, great.
That is not right.
Wow. Thank you so much,
Councilmember Foster.
I just want to say before I redeploy commission,
a huge thank you to everyone in this room.
To our elected officials, to my fellow commissioners,
please could you give a round of applause
to my fellow commissioners?
To the city staff of OCR, Meredith, Marta,
where are you all, Janet?
Thank you so much, Sebastian.
Thank you so much for all you do.
And other staff, and most especially to the community
that my commission serves.
And also, I forgot to mention leaders in the community-based
organization from Enteros and Manos to Pocan to
Lavender Rights to Gender Justice League to we also
have our small businesses in the room, GBSA, if I'm right.
And if I don't say it right, please forgive me.
This proclamation is a commitment.
this proclamation is not just a promise, but a statement of
fact, a statement of security, and above all, a statement
to say this is who we are in Seattle, this is
what Seattle stands for, and this is what we would
always be in Seattle to create a welcoming space.
Whereas two SLGBTQIA+ residents of this welcoming city,
year after I refer to as the community,
represents the beauty and habit of belonging in Seattle.
And whereas Seattle fulfills its mandate
as a welcoming city by providing refuge and safety
for the community and its members,
and whereas the community and its members
members are integral contributors and vibrant
participants in the Pacific Northwest academic,
artistic, economic, political, and social welfare,
particularly uplifting queer and trans, black, indigenous, and
other people of color, disabled queer, queer immigrants,
and many other diverse community members.
And whereas community members have persisted
through an onslaught of attacks against our own,
including the erosion of our civil rights
and attempts to erase our histories and personhoods,
and whereas generations of community members,
past and present have paved the way for us to
make our voices heard and have fought for our right
to be accepted and valued and for our collective histories to
remain dignified, recognized, and remembered.
And whereas we hold the city accountable to its
proactive mandate as a beacon of hope, safety, and prosperity
for local, national, and global members of the community
as they dwell in our city.
Now, therefore, the Mayor and the Seattle City
Council proclaim June 2026 to be Pride Month.
As I said, it's not just a statement.
It's not just something written in paper.
It's who we are as Seattle.
It's who we are every day, who we've always
been, and who we'll be.
We are the beacon and we should always be the beacon.
And so this proclamation, as I said, is held accountable to
all our city elected officials.
Now, it's a pleasure to introduce someone very special.
And I know I have your bio here, but I just have to
put you on the spotlight.
And as when Chris Correa came into the commission,
I was so excited.
And to see you grow to become the co-chair and to bring
the commission to where it is, I am so honored to be part
of the commission with you.
And I'm so glad that you're part of the commission.
And please give a round of applause to Chris
while I read his bio.
In addition to his role as co-chair of the Seattle LGBTQ
Commission, Chris Correa also supervises Seattle Crisis Care
Responder teams as part of the city's Community Assisted
Response and Engagement Department, better
known as CARE.
Chris brings years of experience as a licensed mental health
counselor into these roles and and a passion for reimagining
a more accessible, equitable, and community-centered
landscape for everyone who calls Seattle home.
A round of applause to Chris Correa.
CHRIS CORREA: So this June marks the 14th Pride flag raising.
but we're going to do a little first here that we've
never done at this event,
which is the Community Impact Awards.
So, yeah, we can clap for that.
We can clap for that.
So the commission envisioned this process where we
wanted to do these awards to recognize a noteworthy
community member and one community
organization that we felt
really has done some substantial work,
particularly over the past year, on behalf of Two Spirit
LGBTQIA+ community members.
So today, it's my honor to recognize them as follows.
Our first ever Community Impact Award winner
is a South Seattle community advocate,
a nonprofit leader, a business owner.
He serves as the board president of Friends for Denny Blaine,
maybe you've heard of them, where he leads community
stewardship efforts and advocates to protect Denny
Blaine Park as a historic LGBTQ plus gathering place.
He was also part of the community group of activists
that launched Stone Soup Crew, a mutual aid group
providing critical resources to unhoused folks in Capitol
Hill and advocating for unhoused neighbors citywide.
This community member's work also includes policy advocacy
related to LGBTQ+ safety, public safety, regular
engagement with state and city leaders, community
groups, and neighbors.
So would you please join me in recognizing Simon Thornton
for our first ever Community Community Impact Award.
And you can stay up here while we recognize
at least one more award winner.
The organization that we have chosen--
- We don't understand that, too.
Because we feel that they are an invaluable pillar
of our community.
This is a black, trans, feminist organization
committed to dismantling oppressive systems that
disproportionately harm black communities.
This organization believes that those most impacted by injustice
are the architects of liberation.
And so they ground their work in lived experience,
in resilience, and in leadership.
Through policy and legal advocacy,
movement lawyering, community organizing, wraparound
supportive, you name it.
This organization led by the fearsome
Jalen Scott, for those who know him.
And an incredible dynamic and supportive staff
team works tirelessly to build pathways to justice,
to empowerment, and to systemic change in our community.
Folks, it is my esteemed pleasure to
to celebrate Lavender Rights Project
as our organization for community engagement.
Thank you so much.
And these are our winners.
Thanks so much.
We can give a round of applause.
So I'm going to give some directionals about where
we're going to go next.
For the moment, you've all been waiting for.
We're going to take the next few minutes to make our way
over to raising the flag.
Hold off before you go.
We have a few different viewing options.
So you are welcome to either watch from the balcony that's
on my right, or you can join us by the flagpole at the
downstairs outdoor patio.
To get to the flagpole by elevator, you can leave this
room and go into the lobby.
You'll see two sets of elevators.
There's one that has four elevators.
Don't go down those elevators.
There's one that has two.
Use the rear elevator that has only the two cars and
take it down to level two.
If you have any directional questions, you are welcome
to talk to one of the folks with the gold name tag.
Or many of you work in the city, so you probably
know your way around here.
And you're also welcome to watch up here.
After we get done, you are welcome to come back.
We have food catered for folks who want some and we
have plenty for everyone
So before before we start to move around
I want to close this part of the program by shifting our
attention toward the pride flag to do some intention setting I
Would love for us to just look around the room for a moment
Look at the folks to your left.
Look at the folks to your right.
Make eyes to the person across the room.
There's a lot going on right now in our city,
in our state, in our country.
And as our city prepares for its front porch
to be a global stage,
hold each of the people in mind in this room.
The chosen family, the found family,
those who have come before us, those who we represent,
those whose stories we have the privilege to carry on
because they are not with us anymore.
Or those whose names were taken from us, who have gone missing.
Activists have given me names of Canary and Canyon and Indigo
and Alex and Juniper and Gilbert and Vanessa and
Livy and Fable and Felicity and L Schmidt I'm sure
you all have names you're holding in mind as well as
the people who came before us it's so much more
important than ever now that we hold on to taking care
of one another and to the communities that we represent
present in this room.
So I can think of no better time to
actually lift a flag than today.
To lift each other up as we remember how far we have come
and how far we will keep going.
So the progress that we have earned and all the
progress we have ahead can become our shared reality.
Thank you so much for being here today, folks.
and now it's my pleasure to usher you to either the
balcony of your choosing or down to the elevator or
down the stairs but first
I want to make sure that we leave some time for media to
get down for folks who need some extra assistance or time
to get down the elevators so why don't we take a
few minutes talk amongst amongst yourselves, hang
out for a little bit, and we'll throw on some music,
and then we'll start to dismiss folks.
Thank you so much for being here.
Again, stick around for lunch.
- All right.
All right.
- Good job.
- Be strong enough, man.
- There we go.
- One, three.
All right.
One, two, three.
Thank you.
Nicely done, sir.
Woo!
You should tell me that.
Come on, have a good time.
Yes!
*applause*