Seattle, WA (KCPQ) — Seattle’s gay pride parade is Sunday, but there will be no rainbow-colored flag atop the Space Needle this year. Or at least that’s what Space Needle management was saying Wednesday.
The Space Needle released this statement: “As we don`t raise any flag but the American flag on a regular basis, there are no plans to raise the Rainbow Flag again this year. We will continue to support equal rights and actively foster these causes as we have in the past.”
Last year, the Space Needle also said it would not raise the flag, but then issued a challenge – raise $50,000 for LGBT charities and the Pride Flag would be raised. The money was raised, and the flag went up.
In fact, the flag has been hoisted atop the Space Needle on Pride weekend for the past two years.
“It brought me to tears and it brought a lot of people around me to tears,” rights activist Stuart Wilber, 73, said the flag-raising. “It was an affirmation that I was part of the community.
“I respect the fact that it`s (the Space Needle is) a private corporation,” Wilber said, “and they have a right to fly anything they want to on the Space Needle. I wish they were flying the Pride Flag this weekend but I hope they will use this as an opportunity to come up with something even more exciting than just flying the flag.
“I would challenge them to do a challenge for (the same-sex marriage lobbying group) ‘Washington United for Marriage’ and help them win the battle for marriage equality,” Wilber said.
A vote on same-sex marriage will be held on the state ballot in November.
