-All right. Good morning, everybody.
Thank you for being here on what will be
and is a very exciting announcement and celebration.
I'm only going to introduce --
we have several stars that are going to speak,
and I'm not referring to myself.
The first star will be Nakita Venus,
the executive director of Seattle's LGBTQ Center.
Thank you for welcoming us to your home
where all the action happens for our advocacy.
Many of you know Nakita has extensive experience
in community advocacy
and organizational leadership and community engagement
and is truly committed to this fight
that we're all in together.
And so I'll take it over after Nakita.
But, Nakita, welcome us -- welcome us to your house.
-First off, thank you so much, Mayor Harrell,
for that introduction,
and thank you to everyone here
today for joining us at Seattle's LGBTQ+ Center.
And I am honored to welcome you all here today
and joining us in our space and the place we like to call home.
The Center has been supporting local 2SLGBTQIA+ community
for 30 years now.
We are lucky to be located in Capitol Hill
with a lush legacy of queer and trans
activists who made the city what it is
and continue to be a place of belonging for so many of us.
The Center started with individuals providing
HIV testing at the height of the AIDS epidemic
when our government would not.
We expanded our services and reach to what you see today,
a community center and clinic
with over 12 programs dedicated to centering the needs
of our most marginalized, namely,
trans Black and Brown adults and youth.
And, over the next 30 years,
we will continue to grow in our services,
meeting the needs of more unhoused folks,
more sex workers, more trans people.
This ordinance signifies that our work
and the work of so many others is supported
and to be protected by our local government.
While I am not surprised by the continued
widespread political attacks on our queer and trans community,
I am anxious, angry, and tired.
I am tired that our community has to be this resilient,
this consistently for this long. But we are,
and we will continue to make it through all this next set
of challenges the way we always have,
by being in community with one another.
We know our queerness and our transness
deserves to be honored and celebrated.
We know our joy is beautiful.
And we know our rights are worth defending.
In contrast,
I am surprised by the local institutions
that have stepped back in their commitments
to protecting and serving our communities out
of fear of repercussions.
The reality is that we need people to fight
for this healthcare.
I hope that those who claim to be our allies
take this moment as an opportunity to be loud
in their support for queer and trans people
and be courageous in their actions to fight
for this life-saving,
gender-affirming healthcare and reproductive healthcare,
signaling to not only those who live here
but those who are in need of a safer place
to call home or services
that this city,
that Seattle has a robust community ready
and waiting to serve them.
For this reason, I am thankful to the City of Seattle,
to the mayor's office,
and to everyone who have fought so hard to pass this ordinance.
This ordinance takes the first step in protecting our rights
and protecting the healthcare providers
who worked tirelessly to ensure
that everyone has access to reproductive services
and gender-affirming care.
So thank you again all so much for being here in our space
and in our home
and for showing your support time and time again.
And I am excited to hand it back off to Mayor Harrell.
So thank you all.
-Thank you, Jessica.
I told Jessica to pass the bowl around for donations after.
We always try and raise money. Thank you, Jessica, very much.
A few thank yous before I get into the substance
of what I'd like to say,
I want to thank -- she doesn't -- Jessica doesn't know this,
but Jessica McHegg is standing with us.
She's an employee
at the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection
who wrote my office about the dehumanizing impact
of federal action as a transgender woman that --
that, quite honestly, Nakita spoke eloquently about.
And she's here with her wife, Karen.
And I sometimes say,
where do you find inspiration to do whatever you do?
Where do you find it?
Sometimes it could be a song, a poem, a speech.
And it was your email to our office
that inspired many of us to,
as you say, the theme for this year's pride parade is loud.
Be loud. Be loud. Be loud. Be committed.
So I want to also thank
that we have council president Sarah Nelson here
and council members Solomon and -- why are you standing behind?
Joe, you -- politicians,
you've got to be where everyone could see you.
Hollingsworth here.
You've got to be -- used to be right here.
And we have one-third of the Council here,
so I don't think we're breaking the OPMA quite, quite yet.
I want to thank in addition
to Jessica the Seattle LGBTQ Commission,
whose members collaborated with our office
clearly on this bill
and for their tireless advocacy for a more inclusive city.
They are doing above and beyond what they get paid to do.
They don't get paid anything as commissioner,
but we're going to double that. We're going to double that.
-I'm holding you to that.
-But, in all seriousness,
they do this because it's a -- it's a passion.
It's a love.
It's the -- it demonstrates their commitment.
And, of course,
I want to thank again everyone associated
with the LGBTQ Center, formerly known as Gay City,
for hosting us today and for building joy and resilience
in Seattle's LGBTQ community for I believe over 30 years now.
I want to ground us in a quote.
It is not our differences that divide us.
It is our inability to recognize, accept,
and celebrate those differences.
It's Audrey Lord, an American author and activist
who was self-described
as a Black lesbian mother warrior and poet.
So we're very proud to be here on the Trans Day,
Transgender Day of Visibility
to sign this important piece of legislation.
Again, as Nakita stated, this is a city
where diversity is celebrated and not just accepted
but embraced and protected.
And I will address why this is so critical.
We all know what we saw last week in the University district,
a heinous,
extremely disturbing crime against a transgender human
being that, to some extent,
is a sign of what we're dealing with right now.
I'm glad that our police department made a quick arrest,
and we're still looking for more people capable
of inflicting such pain and joy and pain and -- pain and hurt.
But I have to say this, that that's a physical altercation.
That's -- that's violence.
And sometimes the pain inflicted on individuals
is not seen with a scar.
It's seen with the emotional wear and tear on a human being.
And so, when we talk about accepting
and embracing members of a community,
we have to talk about protecting, as well.
-That's right.
-And that's what this codifying the Shield Law
into our municipal code is intended to do.
We will make it clear
that we will protect people seeking gender-affirming
and reproductive care in our city
from prosecution and arrest.
We do not hide the fact --
We do not hide the fact that we love our LGBTQ community.
Not just embrace. We love. That is part of our DNA here.
-Thank you.
-The egregious attempts from the Trump administration
to target and dehumanize LGBTQ+ people,
particularly transgender people,
there seem to almost be proud of this hate.
And I think Nakita said --
using a lot of your speech in my speech, by the way.
It wasn't in my notes.
She's -- Nakita said they're surprised
when some corporations take suit and act based on this fear.
Well, I'm surprised too.
And I'm angered. We will be loud.
This is our opportunity.
And so I just want to be crystal clear that LGBTQ+ people
and anyone seeking --
seeking protected healthcare services
deserve to be treated safely with dignity and respect.
And here in Seattle,
at least, we will not accept anything less.
-That's right. -Speaker 2: Absolutely.
-I'm sort of seasoned in this young group of people here,
older. I call it seasoned.
But I'll tell you that some of what we see now,
I don't know what to compare it to.
And what I have to tell people in many demographics is this.
2025 has to be our year. We have to look at this
as an opportunity to sometimes articulate
that which we believe in,
in almost an unprecedented level of intensity.
Maybe we have been asleep at the wheel a little bit.
Maybe we have taken certain rights and
protections for granted.
Not this year. -That's right.
-So this legislation --
and I again stand proudly with at least three members
of the Council,
but I know they represent all nine members
when they come here.
And got the President here was nodding her head.
So together we are going to be loud.
And during our great pride parade --
and you're going to hear from Patti;
think it's our last speaker -- we're going to be loud,
and we're going to show this country
how we get down here in Seattle.
All right. All right.
Next, you're going to hear from Kody Allen,
the cochair of the Seattle LGBTQ commission,
who makes a grand salary in this position of zero
with this leadership,
which means Kody does it because it's the right thing to do.
Kody is a social worker for YouthCare,
which celebrate --
just celebrated the ground breaking in
the Constellation Center last week here in Capitol Hill.
And I was so proud to be a part of that.
Kody's passionate about making a positive difference,
difference in the lives of LGBTQ youth and marginalized groups
and very grateful to have Kody's service to our city.
Kody Allen. -Thank you, Mayor.
And good morning, everyone.
I'm honored to be here this morning as one
of the cochairs of the Seattle LGBTQ Commission
and as someone who's had the privilege of working
alongside so many in our community
who are fighting every day to survive,
to be seen, and to be safe.
I'm also speaking from the space of being a program manager
for a young adult LGBTQ shelter here in Seattle at YouthCare.
It's called Isis, I-S-I-S, transitional living facility.
It's a place that should be a haven, a space
where our people can catch their breath.
But lately what I've been seeing
and hearing from our clients is fear.
It is panic.
It is a growing sense that their future,
our future is being stripped away piece by piece.
Young people come to us terrified about their safety,
about access to healthcare,
about simply existing as themselves in public safely.
Every day they ask me, Is it getting worse?
And a lot of days the answer feels like yes.
But today, here,
the answer feels a little bit more like hope.
This ordinance passed by the Seattle City Council
protects access to gender-affirming
and reproductive care,
ensuring that we are a welcoming city in more than just name.
This is not just policy. This is life-saving.
This is dignity.
This is giving power back to the people
who have felt powerless for far too long.
This tells our community that you belong here.
We will fight for you, and you are not alone.
Today, Seattle is taking a stand,
not just for the queer people in the city
but for everyone whose rights and identities
are under attack across this country.
And we are doing it together, and that matters.
I want to take a moment to talk about the commission itself.
For the first time in a long time, we're nearly full.
Our seats are filling with passionate,
brilliant queer folks and allies,
people who are stepping up, ready to serve,
ready to organize, ready to fight.
That tells me something.
That tells me that our community is ready.
We're done sitting down on the sidelines
while our rights are debated.
We are showing up, and we are not backing down.
Knowing that the City of Seattle, our council members,
our mayor is willing to stand beside us
in that fight has reinvigorated the Commission in a way
that I haven't seen before.
There's energy again. There's momentum.
And, most importantly, there's partnership.
I want to recognize council member Rinck in particular
for meeting with the Commission, for listening,
for engaging with us
in meaningful conversation about what this bill means
and what it makes possible.
The Commission is proud to stand in this moment,
not just as witnesses to this progress but as collaborators.
And I can promise you that we are just getting started.
This ordinance is a huge step in the right direction,
but it is not the final step.
Our hope is that this is the beginning of something bigger,
that this is the start of a new era of collaboration
where the city and the community stand side by side against hate,
transphobia, homophobia, and all forms of oppression;
that it reminds us
that there is still a future worth fighting for
because I work with the future every single day.
And let me tell you.
It is bright, it is powerful, and it is queer.
We are not going anywhere.
We are valid. We matter.
And we deserve to live, to thrive, and to be free.
And so I want to say again thank you to Mayor and City Council
for this vital step forward.
I know that the Commission stands behind you,
and this step has really reinvigorated us
to continue moving forward.
So thank you. -Thank you, Kody.
Thank you very much.
Our next speaker will be Patti Hearn.
Just by way of background, many of you know, of course,
Patti is the executive director of Seattle Pride since 2023.
She's lived here in Seattle for over 30 years
and indeed a leader in the LGTBQ community,
passionate about education,
formerly the founding head
of Lake Washington Girls Middle School --
I shared a little information about that earlier --
self-welcoming environment for girls and gender
nonconforming youth in our city.
Welcome, Patti Hearn.
-Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Mayor Harrell.
My name is Patti Hearn, she/her pronouns.
And I have the honor now of serving
as the executive director of Seattle Pride.
Today, I'm really excited to be here in community with you all
as we take this important step forward together.
And, you know, I think this ordinance speaks
to so many of us because whether you grew up here
or you lived here for a long time, fled here,
as I did, over 30 years ago,
Seattle is a haven for so many queer and trans people.
The sad reality is we shouldn't need a haven.
We shouldn't need a shield.
But the reality is that our rights are under attack,
coordinated attack across the country.
And we must defend those rights,
and we must defend our communities.
It's particularly notable as we honor Trans Day of Visibility
and we honor all of the leaders who paved the way
for us to be here, made it possible for us to be here,
who continue to lead today
and who are facing attacks on their very existence.
And, you know, they need dignity,
and everyone needs dignity without condition
and without question.
And that's what this ordinance is about.
Visibility matters.
But, more than visibility,
we need protection, affirmation, action, and advocacy.
Those must follow.
And, as you heard the theme for Seattle Pride
for 2025 is louder, we mean a lot of things by that.
One of the things we mean is that we cannot afford
to be quiet, and we cannot afford to stand by.
We cannot afford to wait and see.
We will not be silenced. We will stand up.
We will speak up, and we will fight back.
And we will do it with love and joy and community
and solidarity,
as you have heard from everyone here today.
And so I'm looking forward to getting loud with you
all this year in 2025, as Mayor Harrell said.
And I'm grateful to all of you who made this day possible.
Thanks. -Go, Patti.
-Thank you very much, Patti.
So, in closing -- and we're going to sign some legislation,
pass out some pens --
I was recently asked a few weeks ago
about being a welcoming city.
And many of you might have seen the mayors Johnston and Johnson
and Adams and Wu speak in DC.
They were summoned into DC to defend their status of Denver,
Boston, New York -- and what am I missing?
Chicago -- being a welcoming city.
Clearly we are on that list.
But I, in talking to folks,
said it's important to mean what you mean by that welcoming.
And, when we looked at the LG -- you know,
I haven't had a day off in 21 days.
So sorry I'm a little -- I'm not on my A game this morning.
It's Monday. Okay. Thanks, Jessica.
I'll take it, I'll take it.
When I said in reference to this legislation
of course we welcome everyone, our LGTBQIA+ --
see, I could go all the way if I want because we're proud.
It goes beyond just welcoming.
This is who we are. So we're not going to back down.
We will be louder, Patti, because, again,
this country is starving for leadership on this issue.
It's incredible what we're seeing right now.
We will fight together. We will be louder.
We will keep this. We are playing the long game.
And, when we see this hate
that we saw in the University district,
that reminds us that it's not just hugging one another;
it's protecting as well.
So with the City Council's leadership;
with my administration;
but, most importantly, with this community we are following --
as politicians, we follow your lead.
Make no mistake about that.
You are leading the way.
We have to be humble enough to accept that.
Okay. I'm getting too serious now.
So, having said that, the fight continues.
I'm going to sign this legislation.
I'm going to give it -- how many pins do I have?
Uh-oh.
I'm going to give it to the four closest people
standing next to me when they get it.
And we are on our way, Seattle.
We are on our way. Thank you very much.
We'll do some questions after.
-I didn't know you had such pretty handwriting.
-Yeah. You're still not getting a pen.
Give one to Patti, our speakers.
Tony -You got a pen.
-Can I give this one to a non-speaker?
-I'm a speaker. Yeah. -Well, no, Nakita.
I gave it to you, though. I did give it to you.
-Thank you. -I'll get it back.
I'll see if there any questions from the press.
All right.
Are there any questions before we take some more pictures?
Yes.
-From a young person who lives in the University district.
-Yes.
-A reporter for the Seattle Gay News.
Do you have any recommendations for
how we can make an impact online?
And it's busy every single day, right?
We all have busy lives.
But what can we do
that you would do just maybe a little bit every day,
even just something to think about
to really make a difference
and try to make Seattle more welcoming in the every day?
-Yeah.
And I really appreciate that question
because we have to remind ourselves
that some of the greatest political movements
in this country were done by the youth.
You look at them. They weren't old like me.
They were in their 20s, sometimes their teens.
So organizing, being part of this community here,
being loud, giving us information.
Sometimes the street talk
when we're trying to go after bad actors,
just being part of what we're trying to do politically.
And, again,
as I said here in this particular community
up on Capitol Hill, this is your community as well.
And even though at the University district
you're geographically somewhat further away,
this is your community as well.
So coming together.
Work with -- we have some great -- we have,
I think -- I don't sometimes brag about this.
But we have, I think,
one of the strongest community based organizations
in the country right here in Capitol Hill.
So being part of that would be phenomenal as well.
And our LGBTQ Commission is, bar none, one of the best.
And I talk to mayors all the time about that.
So we have an infrastructure for you to join in and,
again, be louder.
Thank you for the question.
Yes, sir.
-Do you think this puts a target on Seattle's
back from the Trump administration?
-I don't know.
Is there something -- with this community,
we are prepared to fight in an unprecedented way.
We are already a target.
People here, they've been targets their whole life.
We're not afraid to be a target.
But I don't like the term being a target
because that assumes someone's pointing at you,
and you're losing the ability to proactively do
something instead of running. We're not going to run.
We're not going to stand still like a target.
We're going to fight. So I'm not worried about that
because I have this community
and this greater Seattle community behind this 100%.
Yes, ma'am. -Hi. Jillian from KIRO Radio.
I've heard get loud.
I've heard lots of calls to action.
And this may be a question from Mr. Mayor
or maybe some people with a center or YouthCare.
What do you want people to do?
What are you --
what calls to action are you asking people
to take in their everyday lives?
And for the people
who have addressed institutions and businesses
that maybe have backpedaled on things like DEI
and other protections, what do you want them to do?
That was a broad question.
Interpret it as you will.
-Great question.
I would take a little prerogative here
to say maybe Patti you could talk about I think
why this particular pride parade is going to be
so special in terms of what you're doing.
Maybe Nakita could hum a few bars about the information
you're getting, what you want to do with it.
So I'd like to relinquish,
if I may, up to Patti and Nakita.
Is that a possibility?
-Yeah.
Very appreciative for that question.
The first thing that people can do
is start speaking up in their like, communities,
in their neighborhoods, to their neighbors,
to the person across the street or at the other dinner table.
When you hear bigotry,
when you hear hate, to interrupt it,
to let the people around you know that you are a person
that they can come to,
that you are a safe person and safe place,
to be more involved in your local organizations.
This is only a handful of the resources
and the people that are here really willing
and ready to fight for our community.
So find where we are. Find those people.
Provide those resources.
If you have the money, money is really important right now.
Our funds are being taken away from us.
They're being threatened.
So any amount that we are able to provide
or give is so much appreciated.
There is so much that individuals can do,
especially when it comes to all of the different organizations
that are pulling back their resources
and their DEI initiatives.
Show them what the consequences of that are.
Refuse to work with them. Refuse to speak on their behalf.
Find other organizations, other places
to give your resources and your time and support to.
Let them know that that's not something
that you will stand with.
Be the annoying person on the phone calling every day.
These are things that are easy
that we can do in our day-to-day lives.
So thank you. -Thanks, Nakita.
-Nakita said so many things I would say.
But, as you heard, I was an educator for a long time.
And in those spaces we talk about bullying, right,
and that how important it is to interrupt
that bullying immediately at the personal level
with love and care and support
so that people can stop doing it.
And that's how we deal with children.
And the things that we're seeing
are just like that bullying, right?
So I think that same thing
that Nakita was saying about interrupting it
immediately is absolutely necessary,
and every single person is able to do that.
I think the other things that I would echo
are absolutely your -- you vote with your dollars.
It's the biggest power so many of us have.
So think about where you're spending that money.
Think about where you're donating that money.
Give it to the causes that need it
and that are doing good work with it.
I think make the phone calls, do all the things,
show up where you need to show up.
But most of the time we're showing up,
and we're having the biggest effect at the people --
with the people who are closest to us.
So just think about how you're showing up with those folks.
That's what I've got.
And then, of course,
like, the big visible support is the -- is June and the parade.
And absolutely come and cheer and rainbow
explosion all the way.
We're in for that. Thanks. Yeah.
-Thank you, Patti. Thank you, Nakita.
Thank you, community, for standing up once again.
We're going to be standing together a lot this year.
As I said, we're going to show this country
how we get down here in Seattle.
Thank you very, very much. Everyone make it a great Monday.
Thank you.