Please forward widely…

Seattle LGBT Equality Weekend October 10 – 11, 2009 

Seattle OUTProtest hasbrought togethera grassroots coalition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and straight people and organizations to organize a series of solidarity events to coincide with the National March for Equality this October. 

March and Rally

Forty years after the Stonewall Rebellion, we march in solidarity with our brothers and sisters and allies in Washington, DC to demand equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states and to show our public support for the Approval of Referendum 71 here in Washington state.

Sunday, October 11

2:00 pm:  Volunteer Park, 10 Ave E & E Prospect

5:00 pm:  Rally, Federal Courthouse, 7

Thinking Queerly:  Community Workshops on LGBT Issues

Community organizers and activists will present a series of workshops on a range of issues affecting the lgbt community including Stonewall and lgbt movement history,...

Wondering where your pals are? Downtown, kid. You might recall the November protest started with a rally on Capitol Hill in Volunteer Park. If you're feeling energized, stop by Cal Anderson on your way home tonight for the Community Council's Candidates night.

Despite the fact that it is but one of a handful of Hill restaurants that serve the dish, 12th Ave's Lark is the target of an ongoing animal rights protest against foie gras. The Northwest Animal Rights Network has pledged to picket Lark every Friday night until fatty goose liver has been removed from its fancy pants menu. This has been going on for weeks but things have were stirred up considerably this weekend by a series of Slog posts about the protests. The Slog's position: NARN should focus on larger abuses in the agribusiness industry and that the geese, relative to other animals like factory processed pigs and cows, aren't suffering to produce the expensive delicacy. The comments, predictably, are a mix of seemingly robot-produced comment SPAM in support of NARN with a good representation of the 'boy are Seatte liberals stupid' crowd mixed in.

Lark is reportedly digging in and holding its foie gras ground -- and, Slog says, foie gras sales on Friday nights are actually up. Olivar's Philippe Thomelin must...

Head over to Central District News for coverage of today's march against school closures and rally at Garfield Community Center.

Busy and fun weekend on the Hill. Here are a few links to catch you up and getting you moving forward.

• CHS coverage of the Prop 8 rally in Volunteer Park
• Seattle Gay Scene says police underestimated Prop 8 protest crowd size. My estimate was smaller too -- 4k -- but I was guessing the crowd on the green in Volunteer Park. The ranks definitely swelled when the marching started.
• Summer of love? Seattle's autumn of Don't Stop Believing.
• cap to the hill discusses the fine balance between admiration, stalking when it comes to appreciating your neighborhood classical musician.
• SPD has details of the Friday night/Saturday morning assault incident we reported earlier with a little help from Twitter.
• Feds agree to pitch in $813 million for Capitol Hill light rail construction and the University Link project.
• Tonight is Blogsgiving 2008.

Thanks for adding all the great shots from today's rally and march to the CHS flickr pool. Here are a few of our favorites.

Also, most interesting flickr Prop 8 Seattle photos:

I'm heading out to check out the rally in Volunteer Park soon. Stay tuned for pictures and updates from the scene.

If you're looking for inspiration this morning before heading over to the park, here are a few ideas. We'll be broadcasting a live thread from the scene later. See you out there.

Lots of you will be taking the #10 this morning -- it's a good route that takes you directly to Volunteer Park. But it's also probably going to be crowded and as the main route to the park, will likely face delays with all the activity in the area. Better than parking. But also consider another solution -- the humble Route 43.

The #10 route

Below you'll find a link to the Google map for taking the 43 from downtown to the eastern borders of Capitol Hill. From there, it's a brisk stroll to the park. Shouldn't take you more than 10, maybe 12 minutes. Good warm-up for marching.

The 43 route

A note on Facebook alerted us to this incident reported in a Livejournal thread over the weekend:

A couple of guys were on Broadway this evening with signs that stated "Jesus Hates Sin" and were reportedly telling people passing by that "god hates fags" while standing in front of Broadway Grill. One would think that a couple of anti-gay bigots on a Saturday night standing in front of a bar in the gayest part of gay Capitol hill would get a serious -kapow- to the nose! Instead, they managed to upset a number of people who yelled at them that they should get the hell out of the neighborhood. The bigots were undeterred until a young man walking by gave one of them a shot of pepper spray in the face. What exactly did the anti-gay bigot say to deserve such a reaction? I don't know but those fukkwads deserved what they got. I congratulate the anonymous pepper-spray hero.

Talked to Seattle PD this a.m. -- they confirm officers responded to a nearby incident Saturday night at 8:11p. Report says a male was maced by an...

According to Slog:

Seattle, as part of a national day of action, is planning one big protest of Proposition 8 and the bigoted Utah church behind the measure: Festivities begin in Volunteer Park on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., a rally begins at noon, the march leaves at 1 p.m. and then heads down to Westlake Park for more protesting, rallying and speechifying.