While one small organizer has stirred up local conservative media with its plans for a march, major Pride organizers including downtown parade producer Seattle Pride, and important Capitol Hill events like the Seattle Dyke March will host virtual, online-only celebrations again in 2021 as the city emerges from months of pandemic restrictions and nears the June 30th state deadline for a full reopening. Celebrations for later in the summer and early fall are also planned on Capitol Hill and across the city.

Here is what is happening around Capitol Hill through June. Happy Pride.

• June 6th: Help celebrate Pride and neighborhood pride on Saturday, June 6th by taking part in the annual Cal Anderson Park clean-up:
  

  Taking Pride in Capitol Hill
  Sun Jun 6, 9 am – 1 pm
  For over a decade now, spring means volunteers taking to the streets and sidewalks of Capitol Hill for a little spring cleaning. Six years ago, PrideFest became a partner and we converted the event to a pride kickoff. We’re rebranding to better reflect the event but it’s the same event you’ve come to love! We may have to limit numbers depending on what public health requires but at the very least we expect masks will be required. We provide breakfast, lunch, and cleaning supplies and we’ll tell you where you and your team will go.

• Rainbow and BLM mural clean-up: The city says it is cleaning up the rainbow crosswalks and the Black Lives Matter mural on E Pine just in time for Pride.
• All month: Bars and restaurants are increasing service options as full reopening nears. For now, officials and most venues are asking that patrons remain masked when possible when indoors. CC Attle’s is the first to begin removing restrictions as it requires proof of vaccination for entry.
• No cops: The spunky crew behind Capitol Hill Pride  lost the city’s support for producing the annual Broadway street festival five years ago but that hasn’t stopped the folks who also used to operate Broadway’s Museum of the Mysteries from returning to the neighborhood every year to be part of Pride. This year, with the city recognized major organizers deciding to keep large June events online-only, the grassroots Capitol Hill Pride group has said it plans to continue its plans for a “march and rally” on Broadway during Pride weekend. The city hasn’t said yet whether it will permit the events. Meanwhile, the museum folks have drummed up a lot of attention by making a decision many have called upon the larger Seattle Pride organizations to do — ban police:
  To the safety and courtesy of the LGBTQ and diversity community as well as the general public our responsibility is to present a safe event and is dedicated to creating an atmosphere free of fear or harm for members of the community. As such, Capitol Hill Pride is announcing a ban of police at the event and will continue to request police to stay at the perimeters.
• Pride pop-up: New E Pike newsstand shop Big Little News will add a special Pride pop-up “featuring an array of hard-to-find and carefully curated books, zines, and tote bags, the Pride Shop will remain a staple at BLN long after Pride Month.”
• Seattle Pride — June 26th and 27th: Annual parade organizer Seattle Pride made the call early, announcing in January that its citywide celebrations would move online again in 2021. The details of the online Pride celebration are now out, with “virtual stages” including performances by Big Freedia, Mary Lambert, Perfume Genius, and mxmtoon, and experiences with community leaders and LGBTQ electeds. You can learn more — and download the app — here.Meanwhile, the Seattle Dyke March says its June 26th event will also be virtual. You can watch seattledykemarch.com for details.
• Looking back: In 2020, organizers responded to the risks around large gatherings with an April decision to move the energy from the annual parade and celebrations on Capitol Hill and Seattle Center to online gatherings and virtual events. CHS reported here on 2020’s Pride Weekend happenings and efforts around BIPOC Pride in a summer of Black Lives Matter marches and activism.
• Later this summer: Capitol Hill’s PrideFest, organizer of the annual Broadway street fair and Pride festival activities in Cal Anderson Park, is planning a two-day, in-person event on Capitol Hill later this summer once it is safe to fully gather again. “If it can be done safely, we will be doing it,” PrideFest head Egan Orion told CHS. Meanwhile, October will bring an “All Together Now” event from Seattle Pride.

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