Holding hands, 40 people ran joyfully around the Seattle Center fountain on a bright, sunny day in June 1974. There was an air of revelry as they celebrated Seattle’s first Pride week. To show that the city had a loud and proud gay and lesbian community, the attendees had hoped to form a circle around the fountain.
But there weren’t enough of them. So, instead, they ran around the fountain to complete their intended circle. Caught up in the moment, they let loose and climbed on top of the fountain.
Nearby, tied between a small tree and a utility pole, a banner creatively crafted from a strip of a bedsheet and a volleyball net announced in spray-painted letters: “Proud to be LESBIAN Proud to be GAY ’74.” Yet it wasn’t all sunshine and fountain parties. Although lesbian and gay activism in Seattle found an infusion of fresh energy in the ’70s, it was still very risky to be publicly out.
Despite the inclusive banner that flew over that first Pride celebration, the lesbian and gay communities did not usually work together, and with de facto segregation still very much alive, queer people of color in Seattle were fighting a very different battle, one with many fronts. More Half a century later, as Seattle celebrates the 50th anniversary of that first Pride, the world is a very different place. Pride itself has changed too.
Pride week is now Pride month. Hundreds of colorful pride decorations and signs festoon the parade route through downtown Seattle, and rainbow fla.
