While June 23 to 25 is Pride Weekend, the ebullient centerpiece of Pride, the entire month is bursting with fun events that celebrate Seattle’s LGBTQIA+ community. Or just help that community get incredibly lit and dance until 6 a.m.
Either way, there’s a lot to be proud of. So much, in fact, that we even had to include a “Not in June” section in this calendar. While of course there’s the classic corporate Pride parade on June 25, we also tried to highlight a selection of events that are much smaller, much weirder and much less white. There is no way one employed or otherwise occupied human can make it to all of this stuff, but that’s not the idea. Find something in here that really resonates, grab some friends and go be with your community. And if you’re not in the LGBTQIA+ community, remember, sometimes allyship is as easy as doing jello shots in the middle of the street. Happy Pride Month, everyone!
Go outside
Pride is all about being out, so it’s fitting that most iconic Pride events are all things that happen outside. Whether you do it in a park, at a parade or in a fenced off parking lot full of sweaty bears and loud techno, celebrating with the community is best enjoyed al fresco. Grab your shortest shorts, give your liver a pep talk and get out there.
Pride in the Park: June 3
This festival, put on by the same folks who do the rather corporate main parade, aims to be the kickoff to the month’s festivities. It’s got vendors, performances, booze and dancing; the theme is Galactic Love.
White Center Pride Festival: June 3
White Center has become quite the hub for LGBTQIA+ culture in the last few years and now has its own Pride festival. RIP to the Lumber Yard Bar. (UPDATE: We are fools and did not realize the Lumberyard has, at long last, reopened right across the street. Yay!)
Trans Pride Seattle: June 23
The Gender Justice League’s Trans Pride event is keeping it to a big fun festival at Volunteer Park this year, as doing a march would require them to hire cops. Boo, but it’s still a vitally important community celebration!
Indigiqueer Festival: June 23
This celebration of “the beauty and power of Indigiqueer/Two-Spirit people with food, music, drag, dance, and more all set against the stunning Salish Sea.” Not building anything on Pier 62 was maybe the best urban planning decision this city ever made!
PrideFest Capitol Hill: June 24
Ah yes, the big one. PrideFest closes down Broadway from Roy Street all the way to John Street/Olive Way, turning Capitol Hill’s busiest street into one big bacchanal. Easily Seattle’s messiest Pride celebration. They do another version of this at Seattle Center the following day (June 25).
Seattle Dyke March: June 24
The Seattle Dyke March, a tradition that dates back to 1994, is still going strong. This year, they’ll be celebrating during Pride Weekend as usual, with a rally from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Volunteer Park Amphitheater preceding the march.
Artsy events
The community is nothing if not creative. Name a medium, there is a masterful queer practitioner of it. This year, we’ve got everything from chorale singing to film to opera to — let me check my notes — Dungeons & Dragons in drag? That’s a natural 20 if we’ve ever heard of one!
Rainbow on the Eastside: all month
Take a trip to the Eastside sometime during June for a month-long art show for LGBTQIA+ artists, held at Redmond’s Centro Cultural Mexicano.
more than friends: a triptych on queer love through the ages: through June 4
The Lowbrow Opera Collective brings art down to our level, with three single-act operas celebrating queer love, from Emily Dickinson to Achilles.
The Seattle Men's Chorus’ Disney Pride in Concert: June 9-10
The Seattle Men’s Chorus is doing Disney songs and scenes, along with “solo performances and personal anecdotes that explore themes of love and acceptance.” Cute.
The Black Trans Comedy Showcase: June 10
Usually, the things we are hearing about Black trans people are upsetting, like that they are in constant danger. This event goes a different direction, with “a much needed night of laughter, community, and resistance while we fundraise for Black trans liberation!”
smARTfilms: Rainbow Reels: through June
The Bainbridge Island Art Museum is hosting a series of films on how LGBTQIA+ representation has evolved and changed since the ’80s for the duration of Pride Month.
Two Spirits: Non-Binary Genders in Native Communities: June 16
Same venue, different topic. This panel at the Bainbridge Island Art Museum focuses on Two Spirit-identified persons, a third gender/gender-variant identity unique to Indigenous cultures.
Dungeons & Drag Queens: June 16
“Queens play DnD LIVE!,” the @dndqseattle Instagram promises. Need we say more?
Family fun
Pride is absolutely for the kids, and anyone who tells you otherwise is weird. You probably don’t need to take kids to the aforementioned sweaty parking lot, but Seattle has a number of events that occur well before bedtime this year. There’ll be cute north Seattle community gatherings, voguing lessons at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) and even an ice-skating social at the Kraken Community iceplex.
First Thursday: Family Pride Fun: June 1
MOHAI is always free on the first Thursday of every month, but for Pride Month the museum has added some special programming, including voguing lessons from Ladie Chablis, screenings of queer films from Three Dollar Bill Cinema and a photo booth.
PhinneyWood Pride Rainbow Hop: June 3
Wander around Phinney Ridge from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. via the Rainbow Hop route, which includes a dance party and lots of fun LGBTQIA+ themed activities.
Taking Pride in Capitol Hill: June 3
As the name hints at, this is an LGBTQIA+ community cleanup event, also put on by the folks behind PrideFest. “Prepare the Hill for Pride month” with all the people you’re going to be tearing it up with later!
Pride Skate: June 11
Apparently hockey has quite the queer fanbase. Who knew? The event is put on by an organization called the Seattle Pride Hockey Association, which pushes inclusivity in hockey, so probably they knew! Anyway, there’s an All-Stars of Pride game followed by a free skate and mixer for the community. Sounds cool as hell.
Seattle Storm Pride Night: June 22
The Storm will take on the Indiana Fever for their annual Pride theme game.
The nightlife
Pride weekend (and every weekend in June, for that matter) tends to be one big daytime party. Who doesn’t love doing jello shots at 2 p.m. in the middle of Broadway, after all? But we all know the freaks come out at night. Find them all over, but especially at these fun evening events.
Lesbian Night at Kamp: every Monday
Kamp, a proudly lesbian-owned restaurant in Madison Valley, is hosting weekly theme parties from 9 p.m. to midnight on Mondays. They have, per the Instagram, always joked that Monday was an unofficial lesbian night. For Pride month, it’s official.
HYPER: A Queer Hyperpop Party: June 3
What is hyperpop? We had to Google it, but it’s exactly what it sounds like: “an exaggerated, eclectic, and self-referential approach to pop music,” according to Wikipedia. Representative artists include SOPHIE, Charli XCX and even Grimes. This event, at Kremwerk’s Cherry Complex, features not one but three local hyperpop DJs, as well as special drag performances (including the very talented Hoochie Papa).
The Men of Carnaval: June 17
Julia’s on Broadway will present a “sensual male revue and cabaret,” from 9 to 10:30 p.m. If you don’t mind rubbing elbows with a few bachelorette parties (visitors can preorder penis cakes for a reason), their offerings are always a hoot.
Kremwerk Pride Week: June 22 to 26
Okay, we know we already mentioned one event that takes place within the broader umbrella of Kremwerk’s offerings, but we also have to mention Kremwerk’s actual Pride Weekend festivities. They hours are listed as 9 p.m. on June 22 to 2 a.m. on June 26, which suggests a five-day nonstop party. With four separate spaces, five bars, a few patios and a mile-long list of DJs and performers, Kremwerk should have no trouble pulling it off.
WildRose Pride: June 23 to 25
Seattle flagship lesbian bar is hosting a big Pride bash as usual. This one runs the whole weekend and is chock full of DJs and performers. The Dyke March is hosting a special speed-dating-esque “Les Mingle” event on Saturday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m.
queer/pride festival: June 23 to 25
We love street closures, don’t we folks? The fine people behind queer/bar are shutting down their little slice of 11th Avenue, between Pike and Pine Streets, to hold a weekend-long Pride bash. Rumor has it several Real Change editorial staffers are going.
Somos Pride Reception: June 23
Billed as the “ultimate queer Latinx party,” this benefit for Latinx LGBTQIA+ organization Somos Seattle includes a 10 p.m. afterparty that features an undisclosed performer from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Mimosa time
This journalist and a friend were having a quiet glass of wine on the back patio of Saint Johns, being the only two patrons. A fashionable young man came back, surveyed the scene and apologetically warned us it was “about to get really loud.” He and a dozen companions, he explained, had just been to drag brunch, which kind of tells you all you need to know about drag brunch. No need to apologize, king!
Runway Pride Drag Brunch: June 25
Drag brunch, but make it outside! Taqueria Cantina, on Seattle’s Harbor Steps, will host a show that takes place in the main plaza of the city’s largest stairway. Ladie Chablis, the same voguing teacher from the MOHAI event, will be MCing this one.
Bursting with Pride Drag Brunch: June 25
If you’re doing the whole parade thing, this is the drag brunch for you. The W Hotel wanted to get in on the action, so Anita Spritzer is hosting a drag brunch that’s conveniently located along the parade route.
Rhein Haus Pride: June 24 to 25
While this does not bill itself specifically as a drag brunch, the first day is “Brunch and Bingo,” and the whole festival is a two-day series of daytime events with lots of booze and lots of drag performers. That qualifies.
Not-in-June
Yes, June is Pride month, but no law against being proud the rest of the year. This year, there are quite a few Pride events that fall outside the confines of June, including the very important, very cool Taking B(l)ack Pride celebration.
Seattle Latinx Pride: July 15
Seattle’s Latinx community will celebrate Pride at El Centro de la Raza with a free festival.
Taking B(l)ack Pride: Aug. 12
Taking B(l)ack Pride was born out of the historic Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 and creates a Pride space for BIPOC LGBTQIA+ people in Seattle. They haven’t said where that space will be this year yet, but keep an eye on their Instagram (@takingblackpride) for info.
Tobias Coughlin-Bogue was the associate editor at Real Change through October 2023.
Read more of the May 31-June 6, 2023 issue.