From Seattle Pride
Seattle Pride is launching a new month-long Vote with Pride campaign in an effort to grow LGBTQIA+ voter registration and participation in the upcoming general election.
Beginning at noon on Sunday, Oct. 4, on the Seattle Central College campus (at the corner of Broadway & East Pine Street) on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, LGBTQIA+ advocacy group Seattle Pride (organizers of the annual Seattle Pride in the Park and Seattle Pride Parade) will host the first of five weekly pop-up events in which people can register to vote and receive free Vote with Pride yard signs, window signs and campaign stickers.
“The LGBTQIA+ community has made great strides in recent years, but now human rights in all forms are being challenged at every turn – so we need to come together with a powerful voice, and it comes in the form of a ballot,” said Seattle Pride Executive Director Krystal Marx.
The event will observe all COVID-19 safety protocols with volunteers provided with personal protective equipment. Signs will also direct people to a drive-up, contact-free option for those who wish to drive into a reserved section of the street and simply pop their trunk so volunteers can distribute the signs without people having to leave the comfort and safety of their vehicles.
Seattle Pride volunteers plan to be at the same site from noon to 4 p.m. each Sunday through Nov. 1 distributing the Vote with Pride campaign materials – along with “Pride Packs” provided in partnership with promotional partner MOViN 92.5 and morning personality Brooke Fox.
Seattle Pride plans to distribute 1,000 signs throughout the five weeks of the campaign. “With these campaign signs we want our LGBTQIA+ citizens to be able to demonstrate their pride, and to have our neighbors take notice that collectively we are a sizable voting contingent,” added Marx.
“It’s an especially important time for the LGBTQIA+ community, BIPOC communities and others who have experienced a history of oppression and marginalization to mobilize and take action,” added Marx. “It’s why we are launching Vote with Pride, because all too often we find that our basic human rights are under attack, and we can’t afford to sit back and let others decide our rights for us.”
According to the Human Rights Campaign, LGBTQIA+ registered voters vote at a higher rate than the general public, unfortunately one in five LGBTQIA+ adults is not currently registered to vote according to a national Williams Institute and Ipsos/Reuters poll – which Seattle Pride is attempting to improve with its voter registration push as part of its Vote with Pride campaign.
“With more than five percent of adults in the state identifying as LGBTQIA+, our collective voice can be quite powerful so it’s important that we get as many within our community as possible to register,” added Marx.
Throughout the five weeks of the Vote with Pride campaign, the public is invited to submit their election-related efforts online at www.SeattlePride.org for a chance to win pair of Alaska Airlines tickets to be awarded each week, plus a grand prize which also includes a Fjällräven Kånken Rainbow Pack, $100 Nordstrom gift card, and more. To enter, people simply complete actions within three categories – voter education, get out the vote, and advocacy. Each question, or task, will be worth points – the more points a participant accumulates during the week, the more times they are entered into the week’s prize drawing to be announced at the end of the five-week campaign.
About Seattle Pride/Seattle Out & Proud Foundation
Seattle Pride is a 501c(4) not-for-profit organization which produces the Seattle Pride Parade, Seattle Pride in the Park and other pride-related events and promotions, as well as, year-round statewide advocacy in support of diversity, inclusivity and equal human rights for all.
The Seattle Out & Proud Foundation is Seattle Pride’s 501c(3) non-profit foundation which provides grants and sponsorship support to community-based LGBTQIA+ organizations statewide, educates members of the public about the LGBTQIA+ community and the rights of its members, to eliminate discrimination against and further the civil rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and to connect, inspire and strengthen the LGBTQIA+ community by promoting the arts and supporting leadership development.
To learn more about the Seattle Pride and Pride-related events, grants and advocacy visit www.seattlepride.org, subscribe to its e-newsletters and advocacy alerts, and follow on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn @SeattlePride and on Twitter @OurSeattlePride.
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