The gay pride flag flew atop the Seattle Space Needle for a second time this year, benefitting four charities and the entire community. But not without some prejudice. Guest author and local Seattle activist Stuart Wilber explains.
Pride…
Pride weekend in Seattle has come and gone. The privately-owned Space Needle Corporation (SNC) reversed its long-standing policy (with the exception of the Stars and Stripes and flags of marketing partners, they have a policy of flying flags once) and flew the Rainbow Flag for a second time after a petition from Josh Castle (photo) garnered almost 10,000 signatures. And now, a month afterwards, over 2700 people from around the world have signed my Thank You “Petition†directed to SNC’s principals, and signatures and comments are still rolling in at the rate of more than a hundred a week.
READ:Â Gay Pride: Embroiled In Flag Flap Space Needle Finds Charitable Solution
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the off-again on-again flag-raising and the $50,000 fund-raising challenge issued by the SNC. Boycotts were threatened and protests were proposed, and comments on Facebook ranged from “Don’t hold our flag hostage!†to “What a great opportunity!†Complaints were made about the causes selected and even about the fundraising tool used to process contributions. Questions were raised about who receives the tax deductions and whether other organizations like sports teams had to ‘pay’ to have their flags raised.
So I called Mary Baracalla, VP Brand Management, The Space Needle, LLC, to ask why the challenge for this particular flag raising. She explained that SNC typically uses flag raising and other events like Walking the Rim and Painting the Top of the Needle for charitable causes, many anonymously and without publicity. One of the more notable challenges raised over $160,000 for Habitat for Humanity to build houses after Hurricane Katrina. And she further explained that in addition to contributing the initial $5000 of challenge, SNC paid for all costs associated with the fundraising tool so the causes received 100% of monies donated. The contributors took the tax write-offs, not SNC.
This time, over $52,000 was raised for the four causes. Three of the causes chosen focused on LGBT youth: Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) Scholarship Program, It Gets Better for The Trevor Project, and Mary’s Place, a lesbian and transgender-inclusive homeless shelter for women and children. The fourth was Lambda Legal. The money will be divided equally between the four organizations. Mary Baracalla explained that many of the letters received by SNC talked about growing up in a non-inclusive society and the lack of equality under the law and that was why these particular causes were chosen.
When it appeared that the Rainbow Flag was not going to be raised again, George Bakan, publisher of the Seattle Gay News, proposed blanketing the city with rainbow flags. The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, and Healeo, a local business, purchased and distributed several hundred flags. And Seattle Gay News reported that local resident John Cavanaugh personally walked the streets and delivered almost 200 over a three day period.
…and Prejudice
Dear Fag loving Healeo owner,
You and any other business taking those flags will pay a dear price. God himself will judge you however I will hurt your life before he can.
Healeo will now be tormented through review sites and I will do what it takes to get you shutdown through the city of Seattle. I can get around Yelp filters and same with google. You will have so many bad reviews nobody will ever come.
I will give you until Saturday to remove any Fag flags from your store and then will commence taking you down.
God hates fags and he hates you.
Sincerely,
Michael
Justin Brotman, a straight ally, proprietor of Healeo, said when he received this letter, “I got spooked and went silent to protect the business which was a mistake. I should have stood up and promoted it even harder.†And after some consideration, he did just that — and posted on Facebook, “I just bought another box of flags to redeem myself for not standing up, so come and get them.â€
Michael, or whatever his real name, made good on his threat. Yelp promptly removed his two negative postings about Healeo. Justin has promised to distribute even more flags again next year. And with a lot of perseverance and some gentle persuasion, I think the flag will again fly atop the Space Needle.
Stuart Wilber is a Seattle activist who skipped classes in high school to watch the McCarthy-Army Hearings. Having seen it get better and worse and better again over the years, he continues to hope he will experience full federal equality in his lifetime. At the time of this writing, 2,780 had signed the Space Needle Thank You Letter. You could help bring that number to 3,000.
(Photo – Joe Mirabella)