There were costumes and there were floats. There was dancing in the park, drag queens and politicians.
Last weekend, the 31st annual Pride march and festival, the city's largest gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered event, took place on Capitol Hill for what may have been the last time. Next year, the festival is likely to move to the Seattle Center, while the march/parade route is undetermined.
As for this year's Pride, a record number of people attended. Roughly 150,000 people, possibly more, lined Broadway to watch the parade, took part in entertainment in Volunteer Park or both. It was the largest Pride event held in Seattle. The more than 180 organizations participating in the march, which lasted more than three hours on Sunday, June 26, was also a record.
The likelihood that last weekend's event was the last Pride on Capitol Hill inspired a large number of "Keep Pride on Broadway" banners along Broadway light posts and storefronts that expressed the desire that Pride stay put.
"It needs to stay here!" yelled several men standing outside the Elite tavern on Broadway. "This is where it belongs."
But the sentiment did not detract from the celebratory mood. Said one woman, who came from Auburn with her partner, "I don't really care where it is. I'm just glad we have it."
Nor was the event marred by meaningful protest. One group of fundamentalist Christians held banners protesting homosexuality near Broadway and East Pike Street while a woman yelled into a megaphone. But their efforts were largely ignored and, at police suggestion, they moved on without incident.
Indeed, the notion that Seattle Pride has become accepted and even mainstream was lent weight by the number of politicians who marched down Broadway among the often flamboyant floats and costumes. Mayor Greg Nickles, King County Executive Ron Sims and most of the Seattle City Council were seen waving to the crowd and shaking hands.
Visitors to the festival at Volunteer Park were treated to a weekend's worth of music and speakers at the park's amphitheater. There were a larger number of food booths and more vendors as well. Saturday's highlights included a session of gay bingo and the annual movie night
Change of venue
Seattle Pride Committee co-chair Frank Leonzal, who has helped organize Pride for the last five years, said the event exceeded his expectations.
"It went very, very well," he said. "It was our biggest march ever. The crowd was 17 deep in some places. It was just packed from the staging area all along the entire route."
Leonzal said the weather - Sunday's march and rally took place under cloudy (but dry) skies - might have kept a few souls away; on the other hand, people may have stayed longer because it wasn't too hot. "Beverage sales might have been affected a little," he joked.
The size of this year's event, Leonzal said, served to reinforce some of the reasons the Pride march and rally will likely take place off the Hill next year.
"I understand the disappointment many people feel about Pride leaving Capitol Hill," he said. "We have a lengthy tradition here. But at some point you have to grow up and leave home. It's about logistics and scale. We've reached that critical mass and we have to look seriously at other venues."
As it stands now, the Pride committee has reached a tentative agreement with the Seattle Center to hold next year's festival there.
This means that everything that took place in Volunteer Park in past years - the booths, the entertainment, the rally - would take place at that much larger location. More people could attend in greater comfort. The center's conference rooms provide an expanded educational opportunity, and creating a beer garden would not face the same institutional resistance Pride organizers encountered trying to create one in Volunteer Park in recent years.
"I think people have heard about the move and concluded that it means all of Pride has to be at the Seattle Center," Leonzal said. "And most people have told us they don't have a problem with that. It's a great opportunity for Pride to really grow."
That said, what has not been decided is where the march will be. Marching through downtown en route to the Seattle Center is being seriously considered. But, Leonzal added, nothing is carved in stone. It is not certain that Pride will completely abandon the Hill starting in 2006.
"We want to hear what people have to say about where the march takes place. Please, contact us and tell us what you think. We can always tweak the route, so anything is possible. But when this idea broke, two people showed up at our Sunday meeting. This made me question how much of the opposition was real," Leonzal said.
Beyond the sense that Pride may have grown too large to remain a neighborhood festival, Leonzal pointed out that the larger community is far more spread out than it used to be.
"Capitol Hill isn't the center of the gay universe anymore. Our community has moved into many other neighborhoods and cities," he said. "Pride needs to reflect that reality as well."
To contact the Seattle Pride Committee, go to www.seattlepride.org.
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor @ capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
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