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Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson attended the Seattle LGBTQ Commission meeting on Thursday, Aug. 20 at Seattle City Hall, wher...
08/21/2026

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson attended the Seattle LGBTQ Commission meeting on Thursday, Aug. 20 at Seattle City Hall, where she announced her team was able to secure an additional $250,000 worth of city funding that will be put towards LGBTQIA+ organizations.

Mayor Wilson told a full conference room of city officials and community members that she came with no prepared remarks, but that in spite of the “very big budget challenges coming up”, her and her office were still committed to making progress towards addressing the struggles Q***r and Trans refugees are facing.

During their announcement, Mayor Wilson and her staff made it clear that their priority in this endeavor was to find on-going funds within the city budget, as this additional $250,000 funding will (unlike the City Council bill) run as a recurring yearly sum budgeted until 2029.

Outside of the funding announcement, Mayor Wilson also notified the room that an upcoming article in the press regarding Seattle Interim Chief of Police Andre Sayles would be released the next day by Publicola.

The article details how Interim Chief Sayles filed an OPA complaint against SPD veteran detective Elizabeth Wareing, who gave a three minute speech at a No Hate In Washington State rally last November.

According to PubliCola, Chief Sayles in his OPA filing on Dec. 15 cited two videos made by Brandi Kruse (who has been the main proponent of the ballot initiatives) as evidence that Wareing: “made several comments that lacked credible facts related to the potential exposure to sexual assault by adults on youth, especially females and persons who identify as LGBTQ+,” as well as “was insubordinate, violating the guidelines he set out for her, and that she was dishonest in saying inaccurate and untrue things during the press conference.”

PubliCola also said it confirmed Mayor Wilson knew about this OPA complaint before promoting Sayles to be interim chief.

The mayor’s office at the LGBTQ Commission meeting said this complaint was filed not for Wareing’s supportive Trans beliefs, but because she had used an agency name that she did not have permission to share.

Read the full story at sgn.org 📰🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Last Saturday, the late-summer festivities were popping off in West Seattle as people gathered to celebrate another Alki...
08/17/2026

Last Saturday, the late-summer festivities were popping off in West Seattle as people gathered to celebrate another Alki Beach pride 🏖️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

On the main stage, drag performers came from the Emerald City Kings Ball along with several drag queens and other talented performers. The event was also co-hosted by community leaders Deaunte Damper and D Dynasty

Players from the PWHL Torrent also came out to meet fans & sign autographs, with Reign FC also present with their truck 🏒⚽

Vendors included MOHAI, West Seattle Food Bank, Lavender Rights Project, PNW Black Pride, and many others!

Barely a week after the US Supreme Court decided that states may ban Transgender girls from participating in girls’ scho...
08/13/2026

Barely a week after the US Supreme Court decided that states may ban Transgender girls from participating in girls’ school sports under Title IX, the Heritage Foundation quietly released a report calling for something far more sweeping: the destruction of Title IX itself.

The report argues that Title IX — the landmark civil rights law that opened school athletics to generations of girls — has gone too far. It paints women’s growing participation in competitive sports not as one of America’s greatest civil rights successes but as a mistake that should be reversed in keeping with women’s “natural” place in the world.

With this report, the Heritage Foundation is outlining a blueprint for policymakers to follow. And as one of the country’s most influential think tanks — thanks to its close affiliation with the Trump administration — that blueprint will surely be followed across the country.

Come November, Washington voters will have an opportunity to decide whether to apply that blueprint to our own state or to reject it.

Read the full op-ed by Legal Voice's Washington Director Yvette Maganya at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️🗞️

Yesterday, Seattle City Council listened to over 100 public comments made by those both in favor (and against) two bills...
08/13/2026

Yesterday, Seattle City Council listened to over 100 public comments made by those both in favor (and against) two bills: a budget amendment to set aside $300K of funding for the Trans refugee crisis, and a ban on "junk" rental fees.

Those who came to speak in favor of the budget amendment made up the majority, which included Trans community leaders such as Gender Justice League Executive Director Danni Askini, and Traction Executive Director Michael Woodward.

The few that came to express opposition to the funding included Victoria Palmer and members of the King County Republican Party, as well as a detransitioner named Ari accompanied by right-wing pundit Brandi Kruse.

By the end, the council voted to approve both pieces of legislation.

Read the full story at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️🗞️

I spend a lot of time thinking about collective liberation, as I imagine many of us do as community advocates, organizer...
08/12/2026

I spend a lot of time thinking about collective liberation, as I imagine many of us do as community advocates, organizers, and leaders here in Seattle. We talk about collective and Trans liberation all the time. It’s in our mission statements. It’s in our grant proposals. It’s in our speeches. It’s become one of the defining values of our movements.

But lately, I’ve found myself wondering if we’re all talking about the same thing. The more I reflect on it, the more I wonder if we’ve confused liberation with legitimacy.

Somewhere along the way, it feels like we stopped asking how to free ourselves from the constraints of patriarchal, colonial gender systems and started asking how to become more legible within them. Our vision of Trans liberation seems to have become less about expanding the possibilities of gender and more about proving we belong within categories that were never built for us in the first place.

These thoughts have been sitting with me for a long time. They come on the heels of years of reflection, conversations, and experiences, both outside of our community and within it.

Read the full op-ed at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️🗞️

In an unanimous vote, Seattle City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 11 approved a budget amendment that will see $300,000 worth ...
08/12/2026

In an unanimous vote, Seattle City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 11 approved a budget amendment that will see $300,000 worth of city funding put towards local LGBTQIA+ organizations to address the influx of Trans and gender diverse refugees coming to the city.

In addition, Seattle City Council voted 8-0-1 (with Councilmember Maritza Rivera disqualified from voting due to owning a rental property) to ban “junk” rental fees for tenants. Although Councilmember Bob Kettle introduced multiple amendments in favor of landlords, he eventually voted in favor of the bill.

The council chamber was filled with standing room only at the meeting’s start, as over 100 people both in-person and online gave public comment to City Council primarily regarding the two pieces of legislation. The day’s speakers consisted mostly of progressive advocates, representatives, and community members, whom the majority of which urged the council support both measures. The meeting was also attended by a handful of conservative figures, such as Brandi Kruse and members of the King County Republican Party, who shared their opposition to the funding.

The budget amendment sponsor, Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, in her remarks on the legislation affirmed to the city’s Trans and gender diverse communities that “you belong in Seattle, and you deserve dignity and respect.”

She also highlighted the current plight driving Trans and Q***r people to relocate, and cited how in 2025 830 anti-trans bills were introduced and 62 passed across the country.

Read the full article at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️ 🗞️

Bryson Butler has filed a lawsuit against the Washington Department of Corrections and its contractor, American Behavior...
08/10/2026

Bryson Butler has filed a lawsuit against the Washington Department of Corrections and its contractor, American Behavioral Health Systems, for alleged homophobic harassment, discriminatory practices, and coercive religious materials he encountered while completing his mandatory WDOC substance use rehabilitation program.

Butler, an HIV-positive Gay man and Washington resident, alleges he and other participants in the WDOC/ABHS program were subjected to repeated anti-Gay comments, homophobic slurs, false and stigmatizing statements about HIV-positive people, and religious materials that condemned same-sex relationships.

“No one should be forced to endure harassment for their sexual orientation. No one. That includes people trying to get their lives back on track by seeking treatment for substance use disorders,” said Andy Boes, one of Butler’s attorneys.

“Washington taxpayers are funding a program that teaches that same-sex relationships are ‘disgusting’ and that gay men are predators. We must expect better of our public institutions. In fact, our laws demand it.”

Butler alleges that one of his ABHS counselors, during their mandatory meetings, engaged in disparaging comments about LGBTQIA+ people, calling same-sex relationships “weird sh*t,” and described two men kissing as “disgusting.” The terms “faggot” and “fag” were also allegedly used without reprimand.

As part of these meetings, attendees were also given religious materials that depicted LGBTQIA+ and HIV-positive people in a negative light.

Read the full article at sgn.org

If you or someone you know received treatment at an ABHS facility or as a part of a court-ordered program and experienced harassment, anti-Gay slurs, anti-LGBTQIA+ instruction, or religious coercion, contact Andy Boes and Julie Kline at [email protected].

Since 2003, US leadership has been the defining force in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. At the height of the crisis,...
08/10/2026

Since 2003, US leadership has been the defining force in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. At the height of the crisis, death tolls reached into the millions and healthcare systems collapsed under the weight of overwhelming need. President Festus Mogae of Botswana even warned that his nation faced extinction. American intervention turned the tide.

That legacy is now at risk. Failure to include robust funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in the FY2027 appropriations package would jeopardize decades of progress. The moment is too consequential — and the human cost of inaction too severe — for partisan considerations to prevail.

Sen. Patty Murray has been key in supporting PEPFAR and global healthcare funding throughout her time in the Senate, and it brings me strength to know that she is one of the leaders making this decision there. Her wisdom is rooted in her faith, and I find peace in the fact that she understands passing this funding isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s the righteous thing to do.

Read the full op-ed at sgn.org

For over 40 years, SAGE has championed the rights and well-being of LGBTQ+ elders. SAGECents is a digital wellness platf...
08/06/2026

For over 40 years, SAGE has championed the rights and well-being of LGBTQ+ elders.

SAGECents is a digital wellness platform made specifically for LGBTQ+ people to increase financial stability and reduce economic stress.

By creating a free account, registrants instantly access tools, information, and resources that are curated for the LGBTQ+ experience to help elders make the financial decisions that are right for their life.

To learn more information, go to sageusa.org/sagecents

Yesterday night, last-minute voters lined up in Capitol Hill to submit their ballots before the 8pm deadline, while cand...
08/05/2026

Yesterday night, last-minute voters lined up in Capitol Hill to submit their ballots before the 8pm deadline, while candidates all around the city held election night parties for their supporters and volunteers.

43rd District senatorial candidate Hannah Sabio-Howell with 43rd District Pos. 2 Rep. Shawn Scott held a joint election party at Stoup Brewing. In Lake City, Seattle Council District 5 candidate Nilu Jenks held a joint party with 46th District Pos. 2 Rep. Darya Farivar at Eight Bells Winery.

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