LGBT Seattleites to Space Needle: Fly the Pride Flag!

Seattle's iconic Space Needle made history last year by hoisting the Pride flag for the first time ever. It was a symbol that the Emerald City and its LGBT inhabitants are in sync. In short, it was one of the happiest moments the community has experienced.

That was then.

Seattle Out and Proud, the organization responsible for the annual Seattle Pride Parade, officially announced to the community (quite by accident) on June 3 that the Space Needle would not be flying the Pride flag this year. And the community was in shock.

SO&P's Adam Rosencrantz and a team of board members met with Mary Bacarella, vice president of brand management for the Space Needle, on May 26. Rosencrantz said that SO&P initially asked the Space Needle Corporation to be a grand marshal in this year's Pride parade as a 'thank you' for flying the flag in 2010.

"From that invitation, a meeting request was made to talk about alternatives to being a grand marshal," Rosencrantz told EDGE. "At this time, it was suggested that the flag would not fly this year and there were a few ideas on the table about what to do with the flag from 2010."

SO&P officials say they asked the Space Needle representative if the flag was going to fly or not. "The answer we got was a recently-created company flag policy which talked specifically about flying flags more than once and the common idea of 'diluting the brand,'" said Rosencrantz. "They had suggested that we take the flag from 2010 and cut it into small swatches and auction it off or sell it for charity."

Rosencrantz said at the time that a Space Needle representative said the corporation would sponsor an on-site LGBT fundraiser in the fall. Bacarella added the corporation would create a program "that would take the flag on tour" and use it as "an education and inspirational message."

SO&P has yet to release the details of exactly what that fundraiser would entail.

At no time did SO&P make the assumption that a private company-and not the city that many incorrectly assume owns the Space Needle-would automatically be required to fly the flag every year. But a majority of the LGBT Seattleites sure did. And SO&P and the rest of the nation would soon find out.

Flag Tour Has "Great Potential"
"We felt that their gesture in 2010 was a great symbol for the community and we did not want SO&P to seem ungrateful for them having flown the flag in 2010. Instead of letting it sit in a closet somewhere, taking them up on their offer to tour the flag nationally and hopefully internationally and allowing it to hang or be flown in other cities is something that has great potential," said Rosencrantz. "At no time did SO&P feel that the Space Needle was snubbing the community, in fact, the Space Needle stepped into a void last year that hasn't been since filled by the owners of any tall buildings in Seattle."

Rozencrantz added SO&P wants nothing more than to see the Pride flag fly again. "We are concerned that having such a negative angle on the story doesn't take into account the positive actions of either organization," he said.

The Space Needle is a trademarked image.

"Ask any local photographers and filmmakers who have shot footage of the Needle, and they'll explain what the Space Needle's policies are," said Rosencrantz. "SO&P was given a single opportunity to work with the Space Needle, with permission to take the flag off-site and use the inspiring story from 2010 to give hope to other communities. Of all the choices Space Needle had available to them regarding the flag, what made us confident that they 'remain committed' was the idea that they supported the concept of a national tour that is associated with their brand name.

SO&P has already fielded a request from a Maui organization's representative who expressed interest in raising the flag or marching with it in their 2012 Pride event (their Pride event for 2011 has already passed.)

At the May 26 meeting, a Space Needle official indicated to SO&P that "this is your flag." The flag still remains the property of the Space Needle-a Seattle landmark now scoffed at by many in the community because of the snub.

"We don't feel that SO&P owns the flag, we have simply been granted guardianship from the Space Needle for the community and take that very seriously," concluded Rosencrantz.

Space Needle: Raise the Flag for Seattle Pride
Word of the Space Needle's refusal to fly the flag caught on like wildfire.

Activist Josh Castle immediately created a petition on Change.org and Seattle-based blogger Joe Mirabella, who is organizing manager for Change.org, began to lobby the Space Needle to once again fly the flag.

More than 1,500 people had signed the petition less than 24 hours after Change.org posted it. The petition currently has nearly 10,000 signatures.

"The Space Needle is an amazing place and a symbol of all that's right with Seattle," Castle told EDGE. "It's in the middle of a gorgeous city that values diversity. They should reflect Seattle, and value it too."

Castle added the only thing people are going to remember is the Space Needle didn't raise the Pride flag on a weekend dedicated to LGBT pride.

"They just need to pull out last year's flag and raise it for Pride Weekend," he said. "If they don't have the money for a rainbow flag, we'll hand them the biggest damn rainbow flag the city has ever seen and even help them hoist it."

Bacarella said the corporation would not fly the flag again. She said the corporation doesn't normally fly flags on top of the Space Needle. In fact, Bacarella said the corporation makes an effort "not to fly any flags on a recurring basis."

The list of flags they do fly is lengthy, which led many LGBT Seattleites to cry foul on the branding and "no flag flying" argument.

"It's a big deal for some of our team members," Space Needle CEO Ron Sevart told Seattle Gay News last June after the Pride flag was raised. "[It was] such a big deal that when we told some of them, it was very emotional. We're as diverse inside the Space Needle as what is outside the Space Needle. The Pride event takes place on the Seattle Center campus. I think that being able to look up at the Space Needle and see that flag up there - I think it's going to be a very proud moment for a lot of people."

A Community Responds
SO&P is not the only organization that has weighed in on the controversy.

Egan Orion, festival director of PrideFest, acknowledged the Space Needle is a private corporation. He added, however, the iconic building is a "beacon for residents and visitors alike, and what flag the Space Needle flies does matter to Seattleites."

"It seems to be more of a public relations mess for the Space Needle than anything else," said Orion of the controversy. "They flew the flag for the first time in 2010, much to the delight of the local LGBT community. Once that gesture was made, the community, it seems, feels betrayed that it has been unmade. It is unfortunate, for sure, as it sends a signal of support for Pride weekend and unifies the city in affirming the LGBT community."

Although the flag is being released to SO&P to be used in the 2011 Seattle Pride Parade, Orion said he's "a little ambivalent" about using it at PrideFest.

"In a way, I feel like it's taking the scraps from the Space Needle and trying to make a nice little Pride picnic out of it," he said. "We're unveiling a giant Pride flag of our own this year to match the size of the Space Needle flag-look for it as the last float in the parade and it will also have its own grand entrance at the festival at the main stage. No Space Needle scraps, but something funded by our own community and made specifically for us, not as some empty public relations gesture."

The group that has been asked (and accepted the offer) to march with the Space Needle Pride flag is none other than the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Abbey of St. Joan.

Public relations nightmare or not, the Abbey said it is "delighted and honored" to march with the flag.

"If the Sisters want to march with the Space Needle flag in the parade, I say do it," added Orion. "Big, beautiful rainbow flags make a statement and I'm sure everybody will appreciate that particular flag being put to good use this year."