Nearly 300,000 spectators view Seattle Pride Parade

SEATTLE — Hundreds of thousands of people showed off their Pride, lining Fourth Avenue for the state’s largest Pride parade.

Organizers of Seattle Pride say nearly 300,000 people watched the parade in person, which is back to pre-pandemic levels. The parade lasted for four and a half hours.

Each one is special in its own way. Most special of all, interviewing those who spend this day marching or sitting and waiting here on 4th Avenue.

Seattle showed off its Pride in all its rainbow glory.

“It’s amazing,” said Morgan Perry from Ann Arbor, MI. “Yeah. It’s so beautiful to see so many people and so much love.”

Seattle 2023 Pride Parade

Seattle Pride Parade 2023 (KIRO 7 News)

Seattle Pride Parade 2023

Pride Parade 2023 courtesy: Sarah McGarr

“Here for my beautiful son,” said Michael Copeland, a former Seattle resident now living in Palm Springs, CA, “and to show him that love is love and he can be anybody he wants to be. Not my first pride, but his first pride.”

“It’s just good for them to see all different kinds of people and have fun with all different kinds of people,” said Jenni Keniston of Renton, there with her young children.

The Seattle Pride parade bills itself as a safe place for everyone. It was the 49th pride celebration and the 47th parade since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the festivities online for two years in a row.

There were 267 entrants before parade time — a record — and perhaps more diverse than ever, too.

From a church pastor:

“We are in the Pride Parade every year because it is important, knowing how mishandled people have been by the church,” said Rev. Dr. Kelle Brown, senior pastor at Seattle’s Plymouth United Church of Christ. “It is our time to say God is queer. God is trans. And God loves all of us.”

To the sports community:

“When we have Megan Rapinoe and Quinn, two players that are going to the World Cup,” said Steph Hirsch, OL Reign. “We are extremely proud of them and all of our players at OL Reign.”

And for so many, it’s just for the love of this special Sunday in June.

“This is my first Pride Parade in Seattle,” said Nina Jacquez, SeaTac. Why this year? “Because I just want to show support and love. I mean love is love. And we’re here for that. And yeah, let’s have some fun while we’re at it!”

And fun, it surely was. And as far as we can tell, there were no incidents all parade long.

It was moving so fast, it ended about 40 minutes early.