News Jun 22, 2022 at 10:38 am

Queer Groups Hold Out Hope That Harrell Will Do More

For the first time since he's taken office, Harrell's administration will sit down with the LGBTQ Commission to discuss the way the jail treats trans people and more funding for queer groups. CROUTON / LESTER BLACK

Comments

1

"...would show that he is truly committed to caring for his LGBTQIA+ constituency.”

Of course, our cringing self-centered LGBT(whatever) community will never acknowledge that he or any future mayor is every truly committed, even if they actually are.

2

Relevant: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EvNUgcQUYAY7Tli.jpg

Rainy you truly are a self loathing gay, eh?

3

First, Ed Murray did more for LGBTQ+ rights in Washington state than any other politician ever has or will: he obtained both full legal protection against all forms of discrimination, and full marriage equality. The Stranger unhesitatingly threw him under the bus when felonious con men told unsubstantiated stories about him for money. So, the Stranger should not be surprised if any current or future Mayor of Seattle pays absolutely no attention at all to what the Stranger claims to want for the LGBTQ+ community.

Second, the Stranger has demanded the resignation of every openly gay Mayor which Seattle ever had, so the Stranger's claim to speak for the LGBTQ+ community should not be taken seriously, not by the Mayor, and not by anyone else, either.

Now, onto the actual gripes the Stranger expressed:

'In the first three months of 2022, state legislatures across the country filed over 230 anti-LGBTQ bills. That’s up from 41 bills in all of 2018 and 191 bills last year, which earned 2021 the now-dated title of the “worst year in recent history for LGBTQ state legislative attacks.”'

What, exactly, can or should the Mayor of Seattle do about this dismal situation? Thanks to Ed Murray, there is no serious chance of any such legislation succeeding in Washington state, but no citizen of Washington state does (or should) have any standing to affect election results in any other state, Mayor of Seattle not excepted.

'But Marx from Seattle Pride said the increase in sweeps under the Harrell administration does not help queer people living outside. “Sweeps do nothing but further alienate folks who need vital services,” she said.'

Perhaps she needs to read the Stranger more often?

"Service providers from the Low Income Housing Institute, REACH, CoLEAD, and other organizations agree that the best way to find shelter is to get swept into it – and the Mayor’s office has ordered plenty of sweeps." (https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2022/05/24/73946179/the-hunger-games-of-housing)

"...combatting the growing number of incidents of homophobic harassment and violence. "

The link goes to a story about an arson in Brooklyn, and Florida's anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Again, what the Mayor of Seattle can or should do about these unpleasant events remains unclear.

"Though not completely floored by Harrell’s attention to queer issues, Marx did give Harrell kudos because his office asked Seattle Pride to partner on an effort to get queer and trans people to report hate crimes."

Oh, so the Mayor of Seattle has actually taken positive steps to help end violence against members of the Seattle LGBTQ+ community. (Good thing this post contained enough paragraphs so that this news could actually get squeezed into one of the later ones!)

"Toleman agreed that the primary issue plaguing the queer community was the lack of housing and the related homelessness crisis."

Really? Up to this point in this post, we've been led to believe that hate crimes and bigoted legislation in other places were huge problems. Turns out those are not, because, as it happens, queer persons in Seattle have exactly the same problems as everyone else in Seattle.

"However, given Harrell’s close ties to corporate Seattle, which fights against efforts to make the City more affordable, adequately addressing those issues might prove difficult."

"[C]orporate Seattle" has been building more housing in Seattle over the past decade than has even been built in any previous decade. The population of Seattle increased by an even larger amount, thus driving up the cost of housing. If the city pays developers to build more affordable housing, as it does from the Housing Levy funds, then corporate developers can, will, and do build more affordable housing. (Are we seriously supposed to believe they "fight" the city's efforts to pay them?) This is just the Stranger's usual blame, dressed up in drag for Pride.

4

@2: Au Contraire my dear. Read @3 to learn more.

5

God himself could come down from heaven, point to Bruce Harrell, and say “He is not completely evil”, and The Stranger would fill terabytes of text trying to point out that 1. God is wrong, Harrell is EVIL and 2. It doesn’t matter what God said, because He doesn’t exist.

6

Thanks to @3 for pointing out the inanity of this entire "article" (although I respectfully disagree with you about whether the allegations against Murray were true). I really thought Hannah had set the low bar for herself when she wrote "The People of Third and Pine" (https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2022/03/04/67776468/the-people-of-3rd-and-pine). That story generated an amazing 126 comments, 95% of which thought Hannah was trolling them. Well Hannah has surpassed the bar with this mess of complaints against Bruce Harrell that strain credulity to say they are truly LGBTQ+ issues or the Mayor has any control over. I'm not sure what the intent of this piece was but I can say it badly missed the mark.

7

@6: Respectfully, you and I do not actually disagree, as I offered no opinion on whether the allegations against Murray were true or not. I merely noted their sources, and how accepting this material uncritically from those sources negated the Stranger's self-arrogated claim to speak for the LGBTQ+ community in Seattle.

"...complaints against Bruce Harrell that strain credulity to say they are truly LGBTQ+ issues or the Mayor has any control over."

Indeed, had this been an actual news article, I would have thought his coordination with Pride to address hate crimes would have been the first point covered, but given the Stranger's animus toward Harrell (see @5), I'm surprised his concern about hate crimes made it into this article at all. As with Murray, the Stranger's willingness to deny most of the LGBTQ+ experience negates the Stranger's claim to speak for this historically-victimized population.

(I thought her article on "The People of Third and Pine" was amazing "gonzo" journalism at its finest. It completely contradicted the Stranger's long-standing position on homelessness in Seattle. Instead of portraying the persons there as helpless innocents, heartlessly driven into desperate survival on the streets by Big Evil Amazon, the cases she depicted were of a habitual drug user who sells stolen merchandise to support his habit; a person who lost her publicly-subsidized housing due to mental disorder; and an illegal immigrant who should be deported for his criminal acts. It was such the complete opposite of what the Stranger normally claims, it felt as if typical right-wing rantings about 3rd & Pine had been taken for literal truth.)

8

@7 thanks for clarifying, totally with you on the handling of Murray. I don’t disagree with you about the actual outcome of the Third and Pine article but I seriously doubt that was Hannah’s intent when she wrote it. No doubt she thought she would be able to garner sympathy for the heavy handed policing instituted there and instead provided justification for the crack down. It was amusing to behold.

9

The mayor doesn't get it. You don't actually have to do anything. The vapid progressives will be happy with some performative B.S and some accolades directed at ( insert my identity here). You've got to up your performance dude


Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.