Several hundred activists gathered on Saturday at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill — a site with deep symbolic meaning for the LGBTQ community. The park is named for Cal Anderson, the first openly gay legislator in the Washington state legislature, and is located in the heart of Seattle’s historic LGBTQ district that Capitol Hill has been since the 1960s. For decades the park has served as a venue for protests, Pride events and public gatherings, underscoring the current march’s roots in the movement for equality. Participants carried signs reading “Trans rights are human rights!”, waved flags and chanted demands. Those gathered ranged in age from 26-year-old Logan Hodge, holding a transgender flag, to 76-year-old Maride Bonadea, who played drums made from plastic buckets. Activists said taking part in the rally gives them a sense of unity and support in a difficult time.
The march was organized by the Seattle Trans and Intersex Mutual Aid Network together with the Movement for Gender Equity. The “Mutual Aid Network” is a grassroots organization operating on the principle of mutual aid: it directly connects transgender and intersex people who need resources (housing, legal support, medical care) with community members willing to provide them. Unlike traditional nonprofits, the network emphasizes solidarity, decentralized governance and the absence of bureaucratic barriers. The rally was prompted by a letter from the city’s LGBTQ Commission sent to Mayor Jenny Durkan last week. The commission urged declaring a civil emergency in the city to provide assistance to transgender people forced to leave their home states with conservative laws, such as Texas, Tennessee and Idaho. According to the commission, Seattle is already seeing an influx of refugees fleeing hostile laws and discrimination. The Mutual Aid Network is actively involved in supporting these people: the organization provides emergency financial assistance for relocation, seeks temporary housing with host families in Seattle, offers information on local social services, helps with employment and paperwork reflecting gender identity in Washington state systems. Special attention is given to transgender people fleeing states with repressive laws, for example bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
In a response letter Mayor Durkan agreed that a coordinated approach is necessary but declined to declare an emergency. Instead she pledged to form a working group this summer to assess needs for housing, mental health care, food, transportation, legal counseling and violence prevention. Activists, in turn, say these measures are insufficient and are calling for immediate funding to community organizations.
Although the march was not directly connected to the May 10 killing of University of Washington transgender student Juniper Blessing, that tragic event heightened anxiety in the community. Police have not yet found evidence that the student was killed because of her transgender identity, but many rally participants said they fear for their safety. “I’m here to show how many of us there are, and that we’re scared and angry,” said 23-year-old trans woman Mossi, who declined to give her last name.
Based on: Trans rights supporters rally in Seattle, march on City Hall