Some of Seattle’s most exclusive gay spaces are the Thursday and Sunday night bowling leagues headquartered at West Seattle Bowl. For more than 20 years, the two leagues have been at or near capacity. Today, they are still growing.
Seattle has one of the oldest and largest LGBTQ+ bowling communities in North America. There are almost 300 bowlers occupying 60 lanes over the course of two nights. Starting in the fall, that will increase to 64 lanes — the first time the Thursday night Century 21 League and the Sunday night Pride League will be maxed out.
The league’s leaders are considering asking the bowling alley to add a third night. This is a feat. In recent decades, the sport has contracted so much it became a famous sociological case study of the idea we were all growing more distant from each other — the phrase “bowling alone” became a political shorthand for the death of community engagement.
I’m no sociologist, but I am a gay bowler and so here is my theory on the league’s popularity after one season: The Pride League offers a safe space to hang out with friends, make new ones and flirt. People in their 20s are shoulder-to-shoulder with people in their 70s. It’s explicitly welcoming to people of color, transgender people and even straight people.
And even in a major LGBTQ+ hub like Seattle, having all those things together is a rarity. For the Big Lezbowskis, the most important aspect of the league is that it is competitive. “We’re just jocks,” s.