#caphillpsa poster by Greg Lundgren

Seattle City Council member and District 3 candidate Kshama Sawant has announced an upcoming forum on LGBTQ-related hate crime on Capitol Hill.

The forum will take place on March 3rd at 7:00 PM in Broadway’s All Pilgrims Church.

Councilmember Sawant’s Town Hall Meeting – End Hate Crime against LGBTQ People! – Find Real Solution on Capitol Hill
WHEN Tuesday, March 3, 2015, 7 p.m.
ADDRESS All Pilgrims Christian Church, 500 Broadway E
Town Hall Description: There has been an alarming spate of hate crimes on Capitol Hill against LGBTQ people. This is outrageous! Our community has long been a bastion of the LGBTQ struggle – not a place where we can’t even feel safe walking home at night.

Join Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant as she hosts a Town Hall, where we’ll hear testimony from those directly affected on the Hill. The discussion will bring LGBTQ activists together with human service providers, housing justice advocates, and public safety representatives. The goal? To find bold and lasting solutions to address the crisis.

“[I]t’s not about drawing blame, but about addressing the fundamental causes of what’s changing on the Hill,” Sawant said. “We’re going to have speakers outline various solution-based points,” said Sawant as she announced the forum at the Capitol Hill Community Council Thursday night.

With statistics and anecdotal accounts pointing to an increase in bias crime incidents and the disturbing, higher profile attacks like the Neighbours arson and the Ahmed Said and Dwone Anderson-Young murders, the are more concerns along with more awareness of the issue. Police increased their presence in Pike/Pine late last summer to address an overall increase in street crimes in the area. Some efforts like the #caphillpsa poster campaign have been formed to also bring more attention to keeping Pike/Pine and Broadway safe for LGBTQ people. Organizers from Social Outreach Seattle say they are also planning a weekend shuttle described as “the most obnoxious, gay van you’ve ever seen in your life.” CHS reports on hate crime incidents can be found here.

Sawant will be on the panel, discussing the economic side of the changing face of Capitol Hill, along with the community council’s vice president Zachary Pullin.

Sawant said that there will be “collective testimonies” from the LGBTQ community — specifically from racial minorities — about hate crimes and safety on Capitol Hill.

“The solutions can’t always be legislated,” Sawant said, “they have to also be something that ordinary people, working people take charge of.” She said that while she and others are organizing the event, she would like the solutions to come from those who are most affected by the issue. The council member also said she wants some “concrete” and “immediately doable” services to be identified to help better serve the LGBTQ community, particularly the trans community, so that public funding appropriations can get underway.