In case you haven't heard, the organizers of Seattle's Gay Pride Parade have announced that elected officials, politicians, and political organizations must pay $1,200 to march in the parade this year, while businesses need only shell out $700. Which is to say, Seattle Out & Proud (SO&P) for some reason believes that people who are in the trenches fighting to pass and uphold marriage equality should pay $500 more than for-profit businesses that want to use the parade like a billboard.
What the hell?
On their website, parade organizers say they're hiking the fees for elected officials this year due to "increasing cost associated with putting on such a large event." Reached by e-mail, SO&P president Adam Rosencrantz would only elaborate by saying that the group "needed to be proactive in our fundraising and to increase parade fees was one of our options." He added, "We are maintaining the current pricing structure."
But what's the logic in targeting political leaders for extra money? Rosencrantz refused to explain, saying, "I clearly answered that question."
Clearly, that's an unsatisfying answer—and not really any answer at all.
A handful of legislators worked their asses off to pass same-sex marriage earlier this year, and in November, we're likely to be defending it on the ballot. So this year's Pride should be all about marriage equality, not to mention the political leaders who went to the mat for it. But state senator Ed Murray, the Seattle lawmaker who orchestrated the six-year legislative strategy to pass marriage equality, wasn't asked to be the parade's grand marshal. Nor was state representative Jamie Pedersen, who sponsored the house version of the marriage bill. Instead, they have to pay to enter a parade that they should be leading—and pay $500 more than some goddamn real-estate agent, bar, or burger joint (and I'm thankful to those businesses, don't get me wrong, but they're not in Olympia hustling to pass landmark legislation like Murray and Pedersen).
"It's like a tax on being a supportive candidate," Pedersen says. The fee for Pedersen and other elected officials went up $530 since last year, he points out, while businesses saw only a modest $30 rate hike.
"They are basically saying, 'We don't want candidates or elected officials in the Pride Parade,'" Pedersen says.
Several other LGBT leaders also have terse words for Pride organizers. Gay-rights activist Thomas Pitchford has created a Change.org petition that accuses the parade of "bilking candidates and office holders" (but it doesn't suggest any illegal activity). Even Louise Chernin, president of the Greater Seattle Business Association, the local LGBT chamber of commerce, says that if the fee discourages participation of those in the political trenches, "that is a serious problem."
Meanwhile, Equal Rights Washington's Josh Friedes says that elected officials "deserve thanks, and we need to be raising money to get them reelected, not taking their money."
On top of all this, the theme this year isn't even about marriage. Pride's asinine theme: "The Many Faces of Pride." SO&P explains that theme—inscrutably—as "your collective individualism on parade even as you stand in place."
What the fuck does that even mean?
Look, I know that Pride organizers need to welcome many faces and need to charge most folks who want to march. (After all, we chastise SO&P when it runs a major debt.) I also agree that it's obnoxious when a flotilla of campaign shills with signs come trawling for votes. So here's my proposal: If some gay-friendly politicians want to march for their election campaigns, charge them—but charge them the same amount as a business. Fair's fair.
(This concludes The Stranger's annual bitchy article about the Gay Pride Parade.) 
