Update: Surf over the Seattle Storm‘s page for a gallery of delightful pictures. And check out Joe Mirabella’s first-hand account here.

What could be a more exciting way to usher in Seattle LGBT Pride than to raise the rainbow flag above the city’s icon, the Space Needle?  Needless to say I’m thrilled, and the town is all a-buzz about this unexpected delight!

This is something our Community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight allies has been wanting to see for a long, long time.  So how did it come to be?  Louise Chernin, Executive Director of the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) filled me in.  The plan was hatched at a Pride tourism luncheon last week sponsored by GSBA, the largest LGBT Chamber in the United States.  GSBA has just launched an LGBT Tourism portal on their website: Travel Gay Seattle, Where Out is In, for LGBT Tourists to Get Here, Stay Here and Play Here. The goal is to increase tourism revenue in our region.  Among the luncheon guests was the president of the Space Needle who decided to show the LGBT community how valued we are in this city.  

I’d say he’s got his finger on the pulse of the city, don’t you?  After all, something like 90% of Seattle voters approved our comprehensive domestic partnership law at the polls last November.  Louise puts it this way:

Today, the best known icon of Seattle, made a significant statement for LGBT equality by raising the Rainbow Flag on top of Seattle’s Space Needle. Seattle is home of the third largest LGBT population in the country and the raising of the flag is a recognition of the integral role the LGBT community has in Seattle being a world class city. …  Looking up and seeing a rainbow flag on top of the Space Needle sends a warm and welcoming message to all LGBT tourists visiting this weekend to celebrate Pride.

Photo credits: Aaron Last, Dan Cox and James Whitely

A few of the flag-raisers (L-R): City Councilmember Sally Clark, State Rep. Jamie Pedersen, Washington Families Standing Together Chair and Seattle Storm co-owner Anne Levinson and State Sen. Joe McDermott

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force co-chair; founder of Ingersoll Gender Center; Secretary and co-founder of Equal RIghts Washington Marsha Botzer

GSBA invited representatives from a broad cross-section of the community (listed below) to gather on the roof of the Needle to help raise the flag.  (I hear a few hairs were raised too, because to get to the roof you had to ascend several flights of stairs above the observation deck, scale a ladder and emerge through a roof hatch!).  Thirty-nine pulls of the rope later and the flag was up.  It’ll fly proudly through Pride weekend.

I haven’t had the opportunity to see it for myself yet, but just knowing it’s there and seeing the pictures makes me happy.  Louise said, “This Pride weekend will have a different meaning to people, that we’re really part of this community.  And just like you see special flags on the Space Needle for everything else important, this was also being recognized.  Even our elected officials that were there — this felt personal to people that it was from the Space Needle, because it is such an icon.  It was very meaningful.  So it was great, I think people are going to smile all weekend.  You know we all get together for so many things.  Either it’s a fundraiser usually, or we’re protesting something.  People were so happy today, it was so nice!  It was great, it was wonderful!”

Keep an eye on the flag in real-time via the King5 webcam!

Seattle Pride is this Sunday!  Official website here.  Sign up to march with Equal Rights Washington here.

Update: Seattle Gay News has posted an interview with Space Needle president and CEO, Ron Sevart.

“It’s a big deal for some of our team members,” Sevart said. “Such a big deal that when we told some of them, it was very emotional.”

“We’re as diverse inside the Space Needle as what is outside the Space Needle,” he added.

“The Pride event takes place on the Seattle Center campus,” Sevart said. “I think that being able to look up at the Space Needle and see that flag up there – I think it’s going to be a very proud moment for a lot of people.”

Click over to SGN to read the rest, and keep your eyes peeled for their HUGE 80 page Pride edition, out now.

Flag raisers and those cheering them on included:

Sally Clark, Seattle City Council Member  

Joe McDermott, WA State Senator, 34th District

Jamie Pedersen, WA State Representative, 43rd District    

Louise Chernin, Executive Director, Greater Seattle Business Association

(GSBA)

Anne Levinson, Owner, Seattle Storm; Chair, Washington Families Standing Together

Gary Tucker, Public Relations Manager, Pacific Northwest Ballet  

Rachael Brister, Executive Director, Three Dollar Bill Cinema  

Jeff Hedgepeth, Pride Foundation

Eric Gauthier, President, Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP)

Christopher Peguero, Co-Chair, Seattle’s LGBT Commission

Marsha Botzer, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Ingersoll Gender Center

Rod Hearne, Equal Rights Washington

Stuart Rosenthal, Executive Director, Seattle Men’s Chorus/Seattle Women’s Chorus

Lonnie Tristan Renteria, Entre Hermanos  

Tom Norwalk, President and CEO, Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau

Eric Gauthier, President, Seattle Out and Proud (SOaP)

GSBA staff and Board members

Ron Sivert, President of the Space Needle

Mary Bacarella, VP, Space Needle

Space Needle employees

Seattle Gay News