S AT U R DAY JUNE 13 Pride 1974 – photos courtesy of David Neth. only! Man and woman!” Too many of his friends and peers felt unequal, judged, discriminated against by these policies at the level we can all feel. Soon David and his friends realized that getting people out of the bars to celebrate who they are could provide a profound opportunity for empowering his community; they could affect more change with a big, public celebration than one-off protest actions. Devised among friends at Volunteer Park in May 1974, they would host a weeklong celebration to express pride, which included a panel discussion about substance abuse and treatment, trans* issues, a memorial for the 32 lives lost in the UpStairs Lounge arson, and a family-friendly picnic at Occidental Park— unprecedented because people wouldn’t be inside a bar under guise of night but instead out in public. 1974 Pride culminated with a dance around Seattle Center’s International Fountain on Sunday, June 30 after weeks of planning, organizing, close surveillance by local law enforcement, and skepticism that it would be meaningful.
I asked David his thoughts about the evolution of Pride in the last four decades. “One thing that strikes me when looking back—there was no alcohol. In the first year, it was advertised on the poster ‘Childcare services provided,’” he says, eyes closed to recall the memory of the poster. Now, “[Pride] is fun. It’s turned into a big party…a business venture.” He believes that rural, small-town LGBTQ people still need these events the most. Though, I believe Pride is critical for all of us, and especially for queer and trans* people of color, low-income queer people, and immigrant and refugee queer people. But we can’t lose the fight David and so many of his friends couldn’t separate themselves from, using the same compass of justice to guide us evermore toward a world profoundly greater for the next generation.
V O LU N T E E R PA R K 11 AM HOSTED BY D O N N AT E L L A H O W E LIVE MUSIC FUN & GAMES FOR ALL AGES! $1 PICNIC LUNCH PROCEEDS BENEFIT YOUTHCARE
S E AT T L E P R I D E . O R G
PRESENTED BY
Zachary Pullin is an enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree tribe of Rock Boy, Montana, an LGBTQ activist and community leader, and a housing and community advocate living in Capitol Hill with his partner Derek and their dog Maya Jo. OFFICIAL PRIDE GUIDE
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