The iconic Seattle Space Needle for two years flew the iconic gay pride flag for gay pride week. But not this year. Without warning, the Space Needle Corporation (SNC) just didn’t fly the gay pride flag this year. After activists and the media began to publicly wonder why, the SNC issued this statement:
As we don’t raise any flag but the American flag on a regular basis, there are no plans to raise the Rainbow flag again this year. We will continue to support equal rights and actively foster these causes as we have in the past.
The Seattle Space Needle Corporation seems to have been both supportive and aloof in years past. Last year, they first decided to not repeat the prior year’s decision to fly the flag, and then challenged local activists to raise $50,000 for charity before they would fly the flag, only later to graciously agree to fly the flag regardless of whether or not LGBT activists and allies met the goal.
But not this year.
The gay pride flag atop the Seattle Space Needle is a personal issue here at The New Civil Rights Movement. It was just one year ago the the issue brought to us civil rights activist Stuart Wilber, whose work in getting the flag to fly atop the Space Needle proved greatly successful. Shortly after allowing us to share his posts on the Space Needle, Stuart Wilber joined The New Civil Rights Movement as a contributor, and has penned fascinating works on, among other issues, marriage in his home state of Washington, civil rights, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s gay right hand man, Bayard Rustin, LGBT issues, and fabulous art, art, and more art.
In the video below, Wilber was interviewed by Seattle News station Q13 Fox, and told them, “I respect the fact that [the Space Needle is] a private corporation and they have a right to fly anything they want to on the Space Needle. I wish they were flying the Pride flag this weekend, but I hope they will use this as an opportunity to come up with something even more exciting than just flying the flag.”
Ever the optimist, ever the activist, that’s our Stuart Wilber.
Thanks, Stuart.
As he says in the video, if voters in Washington approve same-sex marriage in November — after the Governor has already signed the bill into law — Stuart and his partner of 35 years will be able to marry.
http://embed.5min.com/517401285/
Video via The Huffington Post and Q13 Fox
Image, top, gay pride flag atop the Space Needle, by cincodenada06