SGN: Seattle Gay News 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

It isn’t a stretch to surmise that in this year’s three statewide ballot measures, MAGAed-align billionaire Brian Heywood and his PAC Let’s Go Washington — along with the Washington State Republican Party — were desperate to interject divisive culture-war issues. Read the full endorsement at sgn.org

On May 2, 2026, electrologists at the Real You Electrolysis (RYE) clinic in Vancouver, Washington, formed a union that consists entirely of Transgender workers, under the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Read the full article at sgn.org

Trash Panda Go Kart is a name that creates a funny mental image of a couple of raccoons piloting a go-kart, one with its paws on the steering wheel while the other pushes the gas and brake pedals. For Zinnia Su and Selena Kane, the name perfectly captures their silly and whimsical nature... sgn.org

The feminist organization Women’s March designated October 8, 2026, a day of action, for rallies, campus walkouts, and other protests nationwide against sexual violence and the institutions that allow it to continue... Read the full article at sgn.org

I am a Transgender elder, and I have lived long enough to know that being down is not the same thing as being finished. I have also lived long enough to know that simply telling people we are hurting is not enough. Read the full op-ed at sgn.org

Today is Local LGBTQ+ Media Giving Day. Your donation will help 18 LGBTQ+ newsrooms across the US continue to report on the stories, people and issues that shape our communities. Support your local LGBTQ+ newsroom today 🏳️‍🌈 givebutter.com/LGBTQMediaGi...

I was introduced to Pregnant Dad at Chop Suey in February at the first-ever Trans Music Showcase. They say to save the best for last — but the host, May Graves, introduced them as: "This band is absolutely terrible. Their music is offensive to anyone with ears.” Read the full article at sgn.org

According to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, from April to August 2026, Let's Go Washington had paid a collective $22,236 to Amiee Staudt, parent to 17-year-old Tumwater High School student Frances Staudt. Read the full article at sgn.org

To start off LGBTQIA+ history month, we are highlighting the life and legacy of the SGN’s longest serving publisher and staunch LGBTQIA+ community advocate: George Bakan, who would have turned 85 years old today.

Reporters, photographers, copy editors, and others members of the Seattle Times newsroom took to downtown streets on Sept. 30, just a block from the newspaper’s new office, to demand wage increases, as well as proper protections against AI replacing them and their colleagues. Read more at sgn.org

On September 26, Stone Soup Crew held a community resource fair at Cal Anderson Park. The event included food, a DJ, and booths staffed by several organizations. “It has been amazing,” said codirector of SSC Elle Cree. Read the full article at sgn.org

On September 10, in the aftermath of the Bite of Seattle shooting, over 30 major companies, business leaders, and associations in Seattle signed a letter urging officials to take stronger action on public safety, in part by increasing SPD funding... Read the full article at sgn.org

Nine percent of Transgender people in the United States have been displaced from hostile states to bluer ones, or even out of the country entirely (according to the Movement Advancement Project). Read the full article at sgn.org, or in our October 2026 issue out Thursday!

The WA DOH has required the Seattle LGBTQ+ Center’s HIV/STI testing program to ship its blood samples to a federal facility in Texas for testing, which may raise questions about the risk of personal data collection of Trans and Queer Seattleites. Read the full article at sgn.org 📰 🏳️‍🌈

When I phoned Seattle community organizer and filmmaker Sophie Amity Debs to chat about the second Seattle Trans Underground Film Festival, known as STUFF, taking place October 15–18 at the Northwest Film Forum, I admittedly didn’t know what to expect. Read the full article at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️🎥

Seattle has become the next US city to recognize and protect nonmonogamous relationship structures, after the city council voted unanimously on Tuesday, Sept. 15 to pass CB 121278. Read the full article at sgn.org

Walking into a frame shop with an original, irreplaceable piece of art is nerve-racking. Frame Central made it easier than I expected. The staff took their time with me — no rushing, no vague reassurances. Read the full article at sgn.org

Fatal Femmes have been turning heads and making the rounds in Western Washington’s punk music scene. Having performed at the Vera Project, The Cave in Bellingham, the Punk Rock Flea Market, and the Capitol Hill Block Party, this band has shown no signs of slowing down. Read it at sgn.org 🏳️‍🌈📰

Day one of Bumbershoot 2026 had a phenomenal, multi-generational lineup of queer and femme talents! 🤘🏳️‍🌈 [1] Lucy Dacus, [2-3] Peaches, [5] Bikini Kill, [6] Die Spitz, [8] Pixel Grip, and [9] Sera Cahoone 📸 Lydia Brewer

Now, 20 years later, it seems that wrestling (particularly the local, independent kind) is making a resurgence across the US. But this time, it is being fueled in part by the passions of Queer and Trans performers and their fans. Read the full article at sgn.org, or in our 2026 "Fall Arts" issue!

I became familiar with Shame Banger while covering the Trans Music Showcase back in March of this year. My overall impression was that they were a hardcore punk band with a “sharp political edge.” I found their vocalist, Rowen Chamberlain, to be a captivating presence. Read the story at sgn.org

For many LGBTQIA+ people, the outdoors holds a complicated history. Outdoor communities often center cisgender, heterosexual norms, while cultural narratives frame Queer identities as unnatural. Queer Nature was founded to interrupt that pattern. Read the full article at sgn.org

I-638 could force girls to undergo invasive, medically unnecessary genital exams just to play school sports. @sgn.org writes, "Instead of encouraging girls to take part in a cornerstone of growing up, schools could be asked to police children’s bodies." Vote NO on I-638 in November. #NoHateWAState

We’re not New York, not Chicago, not even San Francisco, but despite its size, Seattle’s Queer comedy community holds its own. Read the full article at sgn.org, or in our “2026 Fall Arts” issue out now!

Seattle is home to many fun and creative artists, but no scene is as colorful or multifaceted as indie burlesque. Read the full article at sgn.org, or in our "2026 Fall Arts" issue out now!

Burlesque, drag kings, comedy, theater, wrestling, you name it! The SGN 2026 Fall Arts issue has got a little bit of everything for your fruity viewing pleasure 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Check it out hitting shelves tomorrow both around the city and across the Puget Sound!

The path to queerness isn’t always straight. That’s the message at the core of Seattle-based filmmaker Kaylie Connors’ upcoming project, Summer of Eden, a Queer coming-of-age feature film cowritten by Connors, starring an impressive cast of local talent. Read the full article at sgn.org

An actress, musician, entrepreneur, and beloved icon in the LGBTQ+ community, 80-year-old Dolly Rebecca Parton has passed away on August 25. Read the full obituary at sgn.org 🏳️‍🌈 🗞️

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced last night her team was able to secure an additional $250,000 of city funding for LGBTQIA+ organizations. Mayor Wilson also notified the room that an upcoming article in the press regarding Seattle Interim Chief of Police Andre Sayles. Read the story at sgn.org!

Barely a week after the US Supreme Court decided that states may ban Transgender girls from participating in girls’ school sports under Title IX, the Heritage Foundation quietly released a report calling for something far more sweeping: the destruction of Title IX itself. Read the op-ed at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️️

Yesterday, Seattle City Council listened to over 100 public comments made by those both in favor (and against) two bills: a budget amendment to set aside $300K of funding for the Trans refugee crisis, and a ban on "junk" rental fees. Read the full story at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️ 🗞️

I spend a lot of time thinking about collective liberation, as I imagine many of us do as community advocates, organizers, and leaders here in Seattle. We talk about collective and Trans liberation all the time. It’s in our mission statements... Read the full op-ed at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️🗞️

In an unanimous vote, Seattle City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 11 approved a budget amendment that will see $300,000 worth of city funding put towards local LGBTQIA+ organizations to address the influx of Trans and gender diverse refugees coming to the city. Read the full article at sgn.org 🏳️‍⚧️ 🗞️

NEW: Seattle Police had "increased staffing assigned to the Seattle Center and surrounding neighborhoods" on the July 26 Bite of Seattle shooting according to an SPD Incident Action Plan I obtained:

Just 5 days away from the August 4th election, and our 2026 Primary Endorsement Guide (and August 2026 issue) is in-print and out now! 🗳️🏳️‍🌈 Read our full endorsement's list online at sgn.org or in-print across the city.

I was so proud to see your article shared at so many of the queer spaces I spend time in. It was really special to see your reporting reaching the communities it speaks to. Thank you for the work you do.

We love new endorsement drops! We just incorporated endorsements from Seattle Gay News @sgn.org into the tool www.instagram.com/p/Da5qQ1NIcKi/

Puget Sound is rich in quality progressive media. I've created a BlueSky feed "Puget Sound's Only News" so we can follow them. Stop feeding the reactionary Seattle Times or the defanged Stranger. Details of who's included & support links at bit.ly/4vHTccZ Subscribe via the # or More Feeds links

This and Tennessee which started a registry for doctors supporting trans people... and Starbucks said - let's move there... If there is a fund, let me know. While that's not a long term solution, what the fuck... www.sgn.org/story/166221... @sgn.org

In the last year I've learned that communities need to tell their own stories, not beg for coverage from MSM or gatekeepers, so I really appreciate @zodiacthemaniac.bsky.social covering SPD's attack on me and my friend for @sgn.org www.sgn.org/story/166624

Anthony D’Alto is nurturing a lively haven, nestled in the heart of Seattle, where humor and horticulture come together seamlessly. Known online as “Saint Planthony,” D’Alto, 31, has transformed a modest Capitol Hill plant shop into a viral sanctuary... www.sgn.org/story/162574...

BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Today at King County Council, a motion put forward by councilmember Teresa Mosqueda was approved by an unanimous vote of 9-0 that strongly demands the end of current U.S Border Patrol and ICE deployments. #seattle #citycouncil #ICE #politics

BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Today at King County Council, a motion put forward by councilmember Teresa Mosqueda was approved by an unanimous vote of 9-0 that strongly demands the end of current U.S Border Patrol and ICE deployments. #seattle #citycouncil #ICE #politics

BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Today at the King County Council, a motion put forward by councilmember Teresa Mosqueda was approved by an unanimous vote of 9-0 that strongly demands the end of current U.S Border Patrol and ICE deployments. #seattle #citycouncil #ICE #politics

January SPD LGBTQ Advisory Council meeting recap: “That question is well above my pay grade.” In one form or another, this was how Seattle Police Department East Precinct Capt. Jim Britt, joined by his deputy captain and the SPD’s LGBTQ liaison Haden Barton, among... www.sgn.org/story/162294...

let women be losers!!! I talked to @sgn.org about how important it is to me that dudes aren't the only characters who get to suck. harper, the protag in TWO THOUSAND AND LATE, is a total girlfailure. and havoc, the demon inside her, is a total demonfailure. I love them both very much

Read the entire interview with @laurenshippen.com and @sgn.org here! www.sgn.org/story/158550...

It’s Wednesday and you know what that means: another issue of Real Change is hot off the press! ✨ In this week's print paper: @guyoron.net breaks down local election results, @glentalk.bsky.social covers Israeli ties to Seattle's government (c/o @sgn.org) & more!