Tag Archives: lgbtq

Charlie’s Queer Books is expanding to Capitol Hill with a new shop and cafe on E Pike

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A recent Charlie’s author event (Image: @grandmajoysroadtrip)

(Image: Charlie’s Queer Books)

A scene from the 2025 fire

A neighborhood tragedy that left a valued Pike/Pine business space critically damaged is giving way to a happy new story.

Charlie’s Queer Books will open a second location on Capitol Hill this November, expanding to E Pike to join a community of businesses including the Wildrose and Elliott Bay Book Company, The Stranger was first to report.

The new Capitol Hill Charlie’s is under construction just west of 12th and Pike in the building where the Post Options business center and mailbox service was damaged in a destructive 2025 electrical fire.

Just over a year later, work on the new Charlie’s Queer Books is creating a new space, fully ADA accessible and roughly double the size of the Fremont original. Plans include a 50-seat event space, a coffee shop, and a wine bar, with robust plans for open mics, silent book clubs, and author readings.

Owners Charlie Hunts and Madeline Burchard told The Stranger adding a second store addresses shelf and event space limits at the flagship while expanding access to LGBTQ+ literature during a national surge in book bans and restrictive legislation. The couple noted that serving as a queer community anchor on Capitol Hill brings real responsibility, particularly for young trans patrons looking for a welcoming third space, while crediting Stephen Romano at 12th & Pike St. Associates with offering manageable lease terms.

Hunts started Charlie’s in 2023 as a mobile pop-up, hauling curated queer titles in a “disco”-tiled cart across Seattle Pride events. Later that year, the operation established its brick-and-mortar storefront on N 43rd N 36th in Fremont. Continue reading →

Council notes: Algorithmic grocery pricing ban, call for Pride flag over Denny Blaine, Bruce Lee Way, Wilson ‘recall’ legal costs

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(Image: City of Seattle)

As Mayor Katie Wilson prepares to unveil her administration’s first budget proposal, the Seattle City Council will also be wrapping up some other legislative business Tuesday:

  • Grocery ‘surveillance pricing’ ban: The bill to to ban algorithmic-based pricing on groceries and essential items in the city is up for a final vote. Wilson has championed the grocery industry ban, calling for restrictions on surveillance pricing in Seattle. Under the bill co-sponsored by Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster, a Seattle “Fair and Transparent Pricing” policy would prevent large grocery chains and delivery platforms from using personal consumer data to charge different prices to different shoppers. The ban would apply to businesses with 20 or more locations globally. Baseline prices must be posted and publicly available. The ordinance prohibits using electronic shelf labels to display prices dynamically modified through personal data algorithms. However, the bill permits standard business practices, including manufacturer coupons, storewide promotions, and group discounts for seniors, veterans, students, or employees. Grocers can also offer loyalty discounts based on purchase history if savings are organized into standardized customer tiers rather than individualized prices and are not merged with external behavioral data. The Department of Finance and Administrative Services will oversee rulemaking with a $175,000 budget, while the City Attorney receives subpoena authority to investigate and prosecute civil violations. The proposal also establishes a private right of action, allowing consumers to sue. Council members will consider a raft of amendments prior to Tuesday’s vote: Continue reading →

Seattle City Council takes up bill to protect consensual non-monogamy and diverse relationship structures

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A proposal would extend civil rights protections in Seattle in areas such as housing and employment to individuals who are pansexual, asexual, or in consensual non-monogamous relationships, while also extending protections to those in multigenerational households.

The Seattle City Council’s Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee meets Wednesday afternoon to consider the bill from Alexis Mercedes Rinck proposed to expand civil rights protections to cover diverse sexual orientations and relationship structures. Continue reading →

Seattle Parks shaping new rules for Denny Blaine nude beach

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Seattle Parks and Recreation is opening public review on proposed Supplemental Use Guidelines for Denny Blaine Park following a recent court decision shaping the public shoreline at the historically recognized LGBTQ+ nude beach.

The community group formed to protect Denny Blaine says now is the time “for the people who actually use and love this park to make their voices heard.”

The public process includes a community meeting on Tuesday, September 15th at 6 PM at the Miller Community Center, located at 330 19th Ave E. Seattle Parks representatives will gather community feedback during the session before the guidelines are finalized.

A virtual public meeting will follow on September 17 at 6 PM and an online feedback period will remain open through October 5 to capture written public input.

While specific park configurations remain constrained by the court’s ruling, advocacy organization Friends of Denny Blaine say they have met with city officials to help ensure park users shape the final policy. Priority areas targeted for public input include improving physical accessibility, installing screening to protect visitors’ privacy from unwanted surveillance, and adding thoughtful landscaping, signage, and amenities. Community advocates are also urging the city to officially recognize Denny Blaine’s history as a queer and clothing-optional gathering place.

The guidelines also must comply to the court’s rulings, the city says: Continue reading →

Seattle ‘Trans & Queer Community Stabilization’ investments grow

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Seattle has announced $550,000 in new investments dedicated to supporting local 2SLGBTQIA+ populations as city leadership including Mayor Katie Wilson say they are responding to calls for an emergency response for the city’s Trans communities.

Developed with recommendations from the Trans & Queer Community Stabilization Interdepartmental Team, the funding package is hoped to deliver immediate relief and critical services across the city.

It follows a separate $300,000 emergency funding package approved last month specifically directed to LGBTQIA+ and transgender support organizations via a budget amendment passed unanimously by the Seattle City Council and comes after criticism from advocates that Seattle City Hall was not acting quickly enough to address increasing social service needs. Continue reading →

From takeout to queer POC nightlife, Spice Bliss expands across Broadway with Spice Bar & Bites

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Broadway Indian takeout favorite Spice Bliss isn’t moving anywhere but its new sibling across the street is establishing a home base for neighborhood queer people of color.

“It’s culture, and it’s building itself. All you have to do is give it a space,” manager Keith J says about Spice Bar & Bites.

The new hangout has hopes of growing on this stretch of Broadway between Pike and Pine as a bar and a space for “dance nights & events with seasoning on ‘em.”

You will also see some familiar faces from other venues who are banding together to make Spice Bar their own.

“Seattle nightlife has become this monotonous, the same song played in every bar on Capitol Hill for the past five years,” Keith J says. “You give people a place that actually lets them dance, and they’re like, ‘Finally!'”

The hopes around Spice Bar are growing. Continue reading →

Under new owners, Queer/Bar getting summer refresh

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Burleskaraoke (Image: Queer/Bar)

The new ownership at Capitol Hill’s Queer/Bar is reshaping the 11th Ave club with a July makeover.

“This isn’t a remodel, it’s an opportunity to reorient the bar to create a more adaptable space for events and performances, while providing a more comfortable patron experience,” new co-owner Scott Walent said in an announcement of plans for the venue.

The Capitol Hill gay bar staple is making changes this summer as long-time venue patron Dustin Akers and queer nightlife entrepreneur Walent take over as co-owners. Continue reading →

Judge rules Denny Blaine Park can stay open — and nude — but with new limits

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Defenders of the right to be nude in Denny Blaine Park are cautious in victory this week as a King County Superior Court judge has denied a bid by a group of neighbors and nearby property owners to close off the public shoreline at the historically recognized LGBTQ+ nude beach.

In his decision, Judge Samuel Chung sided with the City of Seattle and the Friends of Denny Blaine community group in keeping the two-acre park on the shores of Lake Washington open — and nude — calling Denny Blaine “a limited natural resource that must be shared by the residents of the neighborhood and the Park’s visitors.”

While it will keep the park open, the ruling will put new pressures on Denny Blaine as it has become a center in debates over public space, community use, and personal expression in Seattle.

The ruling also cements some key elements for neighbors: property values.

The judge cited the King County Assessor’s Office’s designation of “thirteen properties as being negatively affected by ‘nuisance’ from the Park and decreased the assessed land value of these homes by at least ten percent” as a key element in his ruling.

Chung’s decision comes with caveats after several findings that, he said, justified the neighbors’ claims around lewd acts and criminal activity at the park. In the ruling, the judge said the city must implement and manage a previously approved abatement plan, and “develop and implement a park specific user plan and code of conduct to address overcrowding, safety, and prohibited and acceptable behaviors.” Continue reading →

Capitol Hill man charged in Pride baseball bat attack on ‘America First’ livestreamers

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A scene from one of the livestreams that captured Saturday’s incident

Livestreamers were busy around the Hill during Pride including Friday night’s Trans Pride event in Volunteer Park

A 39-year-old Capitol Hill man has been charged with second degree assault for swinging a baseball bat as he was hit by pepper spray during a tangle with livestreamers provoking crowds in the middle of the neighborhood’s Pride festivities Saturday night.

CHS reported here on the incident just north of Cal Anderson Park as groups clashed with the “America First ” livestreamers amid reports of tossed eggs and assaults against officers.

Police reported the melee under control within minutes.

Prosecutors have charged Hunter Hancock with second degree assault in the case.

“Disagreements, no matter how significant, do not justify the use of potentially deadly force,” prosecutors write.

In its records, SPD reports the livestreamers were causing discord amid the festivities.

“While people were trying to celebrate Pride a second group arrived and antagonized the group at Cal Anderson,” one report reads.

Another SPD report describes the baseball bat incident:

Police interviewed witnesses including the reported victims — two men, aged 44 and 37 — but gathered the most important evidence from video of the fight:

Prosecutors say the Capitol Hill man was ordered held on $35,000 bail. Records show he is currently free on bond. Police say Hancock has no criminal convictions in the state. He has not yet entered a plea on the charge.

The incident marred a weekend of celebration across Capitol Hill and Seattle as an estimated 300,000 people celebrated Pride.

 
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CHS Pics | 100 more scenes from Capitol Hill Pride 2026

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Seattle’s 2026 Pride added to a summer of celebration in the city.

In a year that marked 20 years since the Pride parade outgrew Broadway, city officials say some 300,000 people celebrated across Seattle and on Capitol Hill through the weekend including somewhere around 30,000 on Capitol Hill Saturday for the PrideFest street festival and events like the annual Dyke March. Continue reading →