PRIDE: Space Needle Agrees to Fly Pride Flag if Community Raises $50,000 for LGBT Charities!

In a dramatic change of course, Seattle’s Space Needle has announced that they will fly the Pride flag again this year during Seattle Pride Weekend, if the community can help raise $50,000 for four organizations that support the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, according to Joe Mirabello on his Seattle P-I Blog. The news comes after 9,000 people signed a Change.org petition started by Seattle resident Josh Castle.
 

The Space Needle‘s $50,000 fundraising challenge will benefit four different organizations that support the LGBT community: the Greater Seattle Business Association (the GSBA) LGBT and allied scholarship fund; the It Gets Better Project, which supports the Trevor Project; Lambda Legal; and Mary’s Place, a trans inclusive women’s shelter in Seattle.

On June 3, the Space Needle told Seattle’s LGBT community they would not fly the Pride flag again as the organization did last year for the first time. Lifetime Seattle resident (and OUTview Friend) Josh Castle wanted to urge the Space Needle to change their mind, so he started a petition on Change.org asking the Space Needle to, “Please raise the Pride flag during Seattle Pride weekend.”

More than 9,000 people have signed Josh Castle’s petition. Four Seattle City Council members added their voices of support including City Council President Richard Conlin, and Council members Jean Godden, Mike O’Brien, and Tom Rasmussen.

“I could not be more excited about the Space Needle’s decision,” said Josh Castle. “The Space Needle chose four charities that I am proud to support. Now let’s all pitch in so we can raise the flag!”

The Space Needle has donated $5,000 towards the fundraising goal and is asking the community to raise an additional $45,000. Those interested in supporting the fundraising campaign can contribute through a fundraising tool on Facebook at the following link.