Seattle, WA – On Saturday, May 24, Seattle’s LGBTQ community and their allies protested an anti-queer, Christian evangelist rally at the Capitol Hill neighborhood’s Cal Anderson Park. They protested the rally that was called by the group Mayday USA, which aims to classify transgender people as mentally ill and to legally define life as starting at conception.

Although the Seattle community outnumbered the reactionaries, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) wasted no time in acting as the reactionaries’ personal armed guard.

In total, 16 protesters were arrested by the time the police were walked out of the block by protesters.

Members of the Seattle community began gathering at the park at noon, with a long lineup of bands forming a DIY punk show. Protesters gathered at the site where the stage being set up. Around 1:30 p.m., Seattle Police intentionally forced their way into a large group, indiscriminately shoving and pepper spraying protesters.

This invited resistance from the pro-LGBTQ crowd, which the police then further escalated into several arrests. This resolved the rest of the community to action, with a short skirmish between the community and SPD following. Eventually, the police withdrew with the arrestees but were forced into a temporary retreat in order to do so; all while the community yelled “SPD, KKK, IDF, they’re all the same!”

The protesters wasted no time in taking advantage of SPD’s time-out, marching their picket line into the reactionaries’ event space and kettling them. The protesters were further aided by spontaneous technical issues with the right-wingers’ sound system, killing the speakers’ momentum and intensifying the confrontation.

The reprieve from the police was unfortunately not permanent. The Seattle cops rallied backup and forced their way between the two fronts. The police defended the reactionaries and forcefully regained about half of the distance forfeited.

After creating space, they established a wall of metal barriers. At multiple points when the SPD relaxed, protesters pushed through the walls, leading to police dragging out community members by the arms and legs while friends and allies attempted to recover them. Many Seattle police officers were spotted with body cameras turned off while they defended the barrier.

The event was scheduled to end at 4 p.m., but the right-wing speakers signaled that they were going to continue the event with no definite end, at which time the protesters took positions for the long haul. For an additional three hours the community continued the struggle, flying pride flags, picketing with signs, and chanting to the tune of “Trans rights are human rights!” while the local police department was reinforced by SWAT officers and Washington State Troopers.

After five long hours, the reactionaries relented and began tearing down their attendees left the park and protesters chanted to get out of their home. The fight was not yet over, however, as the police had yet to leave.

The SPD lunged to arrest one more protester before the crowd broke down the barriers to march onto the former event space and corner the police at the edge of the park.

Forming a wall of bodies to prevent them from regaining ground, the community endured pepper spray and multiple escalations of force before the cops realized the futility and began trying to bargain. They promised to leave if the people ceded 15 feet of distance, but the police officers were the only ones taking orders. United and defiant, the people held their ground and even gained territory during the standoff, shouting “Go home!” in unison.

Eventually, the last of the cops began to flee, tails between their legs, loading onto their bikes and into their vans. The triumphant crowd followed them into the streets, walking them down and out of their neighborhood to a victorious chorus of “A-C-A-B. All cops are bastards!” The galvanized demonstrators returned to reoccupy their park, enjoy the continuing punk show, and disperse for rest, recovery and food in celebration of a hard-won struggle.

#SeattleWA #WA #LGBTQ #Trans