EVERETT—County leadership on June 5 joined by approximately 100 residents at the eastside of the Snohomish County Campus rang in Pride Month with a flag-raising ceremony and resource fair.
“Paula and I are again bringing out commitment and dedication to our LGBTQI+ community and support inclusion and diversity here in our county,” Councilwoman Megan Dunn opened to applauds.
This is the fourth ceremony to take place at the Snohomish County Campus championed by Dunn and her legislative aid and Everett City Councilwoman Paula Rhyne. This year, the Snohomish County’s Office of Social Justice coordinated to bring a resource fair to the event.
“Each year Pride Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate our LGBTQ+ communities here in Snohomish County and across the county,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said. “It is a time to come together, celebrate what makes us unique, and recognize and pay tribute to the civil rights icons who fought for queer communities’ rights over decades.”
Executive Somers read excerpts from the Pride Proclamation that was passed by the County Council on Wednesday, May 29.
Since the country’s founding, the punishment for gay people varied from fines to prison, and those who identified or were suspected of being LGBTQ+ were commonly met with violence, discrimination, persecution, and harassment. Everything changed on the evening of June 28, 1969, after a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village ensued into a riot that went on for days, with thousands of people joining to protest.
This “gay rebellion” is considered the catalyst for the gay liberation movement in the United States leading to decades of gay political activism.
Marko Liias, Communications Manager for the County Executive, and local State Senator, shared with the Lynnwood Times the accomplishments and struggles of former Senator Calvin “Cal” Bruce Anderson, Washington state’s first openly gay member of the legislature, who introduced 18 gay rights legislation until his death from AIDS in 1995.
Just 12 years into the gay liberation movement in the U.S., the Center for Disease Control (CDC) published a report on June 5, 1981, of five young Los Angelos gay men with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and other immunocompromised symptoms. Little did anyone know that the country was about to experience a culturally shifting worldwide epidemic, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome—AIDS.
Gay people now faced a new era of not only societal discrimination but medical discrimination of a disease commonly referred to by news outlets, elected officials, and medical professionals in the 1980s as the “Gay Cancer.” The AIDS epidemic disproportionality impacted the LGBTQ+ community because of the lack of funding in research and prevention in its early stages due to this new form of discrimination.
AIDS deaths peaked between 1987 and 1996; and by 2021 over 700,000 people, died from the disease—both LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ persons. As of June of 2021, an estimated 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, which because of medical advances, live a relatively healthy life.
Cal Anderson, like so many other LGBTQ+ contributors to gay liberation in his generation, were lost to AIDS. Today, many parades and pride festivals offer some aspect dedicated to remembering victims of AIDS and anti-LGBT violence. For 2022, the FBI’s annual crime report showed a +19% increase in anti-LGBTQ bias crimes, and a +35% increase in anti-transgender bias crimes.
“It is very important for us to stand together and support each other here in Snohomish County despite the battles that rage around us in the political climate today,” Somers said. “The culture wars are actually ripping this country apart and we need to fight against that by standing together.”
Pride didn’t start with the Stonewall Rebellion, below were other monumental events that contributed to gay liberation over the decades:
- The founding of the Society for Human Rights by Henry Gerber in Chicago in the 1920s.
- In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association no longer classifying homosexuality as a mental illness.
- In 2001, Washington state began providing benefits to same-sex partners of state employees.
- In 2007, Washington state recognized state-registered domestic partnerships.
- Signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, the Mathew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act classified intentional targeting of gay and marginalized peoples for crime as a hate crime.
- In July of 2011, President Barack Obama’s repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy” allowing gays to serve in the military went into effect.
- February 13, 2012, Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire signing into law full marriage rights for gays and lesbians. In November 2012, Washington voters approved the law in Referendum 74, by a vote of 54% to 46%, after it was contested. Same-sex marriages have been recognized in Washington state since that law took effect on December 6, 2012.
- Between 2013 and 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, stating that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
- On August 1, 2016, Seattle voted to ban conversion therapy on minors.
- On June 7, 2018, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB-5722, banning the practice of conversion therapy in Washington state. The bill was sponsored by Senator Marko Liias (D-Edmonds).
- In April 2019, the Washington State Legislature passed a bill establishing the Washington state LGBTQ commission.
- In March 2024, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed SB-5462 into law “mandating gay history and other similar related content curriculums” to be taught by teachers within all state-based schools, colleges and classrooms.
“It is great to see Snohomish County raise a Pride flag and pass a proclamation affirming that LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights,” said Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02). “Thanks to the decades-long struggle of countless LGBTQIA+ individuals and allied organizers in Snohomish County and across Washington state, Northwest Washington has come a long way on LGBTQIA+ rights, but there are still more barriers to overcome to ensure everyone can full participate in our communities. As an ally, I will continue to fight alongside the LGBTQIA+ community to make Snohomish County, Washington state and the United States more equal, just, safe and fair.”
Snohomish County Sheriff Susanna Johnson committed to protecting everyone in the community regardless of their identity.
“Everybody, we care about them, and we need to keep everybody safe,” Sheriff Johnson said. “When we won’t tolerate the intolerance for how people identify themselves, or who they care to love, it’s no body’s business. At a basic level we are a community.”
Liias highlighted the progress of acceptance of recognizing and celebrating Pride Month in Snohomish County.
“When I was growing up, there were zero pride celebrations, now there are nine pride celebrations and growing,” Liias told attendees. “At the Office of Social Justice, we are supporting as many as we can, and we are excited to highlight their work.”
Representatives of local pride events had an opportunity to promote their pride celebration listed below:
- June 8: Lake Stevens Pride
- June 8: Lynnwood Pride: Welcome to Oz
- June 9: Monroe Pride
- June 15: Everett Pride
- June 22: Edmonds Pride
Notable attendees for Wednesday’s flag raising ceremony were Snohomish County Councilman Strom Peterson, Snohomish County Superior Court Judges Paul Thompson and Edirin Okoloko, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Everett City Councilwoman Mary Fosse, Mill Creek Mayor Pro Tem Stephanie Vignal, and Lake Stevens City Councilwoman Anji Jorstad.
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Author: Mario Lotmore
2 Responses
Well. Of course they did. It’s the politically appropriate Left “Woke-ism” thing to do if one wants to be re-elected.
No, it’s: “Of course they did, our leaders need to show acceptance for ALL their constituents, including everyone in the LGBTQIA2S community.”
We’re here, we’re queer and we’re not going anywhere! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
(Also the majority of Americans support us)