Leanna Carr was in happy tears by the end of last summer’s Pull-a-Palooza Pride Deadlift Party on Capitol Hill. She wasn’t crying because she nailed a personal record; it’s what she heard from a transgender athlete after the day of dead lifting. “[They] said, ‘You have no idea how life-changing these types of events are.
I’ve never been part of a team sport. I’ve never felt like I was a part of the community,’” Carr, 32, remembered. The interaction deeply moved Carr, co-owner of neighborhood gym and competition sponsor Rain City Fit, during a deeply moving day.
People of every gender identity tested their strength. Trans men lifted while shirtless, showing off their gender-affirming top-surgery scars. Creating that safe, inclusive space for all competitors was one of RCF’s goals, especially in the heat of political debates about trans rights.
As those debates rage on, from efforts to restrict gender-affirming care to college athletic associations barring trans athletes from their ranks, Rain City Fit is bringing back the Pride Pull-a-Palooza Deadlift Party for its third year. Starting at noon on June 22, the weightlifting competition will shut down 11th Avenue East between Pike and Pine streets on Capitol Hill for a day of festivities as part of Seattle’s Pride Month celebrations. Cheerleaders, drag artists and Polynesian dancers will perform, and a street jampacked with people will scream for the competing lifters.
On its surface, the event is a competi.
