With photographs by Ananya Mishra and Lisa Hagen Glynn

Against a backdrop of a nation’s eroding civil rights, Seattle came to Capitol Hill to celebrate freedom Saturday. The return in full of Pride celebrations in the neighborhood was also a celebration of doggie drag and cooling stations.

With bright sun and the first truly summer-like temperatures of 2022 in Seattle, thousands partied on Broadway at the street festival and in Pike/Pine at bar and restaurant celebrations and beer gardens as Pride weekend took its rightful place in June.

In 2021, concerns over the continued spread of COVID-19 pushed Capitol Hill celebrations into September. In 2020, the celebrations in the first months of the pandemic gave way to online gatherings and continued protest during a summer of demonstrations over Black Lives Matter and police violence.

There were many happy returns on the day. Saturday night, the Seattle Dyke March rallied for the first time in years at Seattle Central’s plaza and marched through Pike/Pine and Broadway again after going virtual during the pandemic.

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With heightened worries about efforts to erode civil rights at the federal level, and amid an ever-present threat of violence — or, at least, annoyance — Capitol Hill’s big day in Seattle’s annual Pride schedule didn’t skip a beat and, along with the city’s celebration of Juneteenth earlier this month, provided a healthy continuity to the days before the current constitutional crises and pandemics.

CHS reported here on the big leap and big hopes for Capitol Hill venues like Queer/Bar and The Wildrose as well as organizers like PrideFest and its street festival and AIDS Memorial Pathway Plaza skate party in putting together 2022 events after the challenges of recent years.

Seattle’s 2022 Pride celebrations culminate with Sunday’s downtown march, celebrations at Seattle Center, and continued good times at beer gardens across Capitol Hill and the city.

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