Dear reader,

It's Pride again.

If you've seen the news — which I assume you have, since you picked up this paper — you know the world's a mess. Another year spent figuring out the pandemic and fighting against forces of hate. It's exhausting, I know.

Now more than ever we need to stand together as a community and celebrate our differences. Sometimes, I think it's insane that they've lumped the entire LGBTQIA2S+ spectrum together under one umbrella. Other days, I think it's necessary. In a country that would sooner take away our right to be open about who we love and take away our right to bodily autonomy than condone a mass shooter, we need to have each other's backs. When we have each other's backs, we have hope. And, to quote Harvey Milk, "Hope is never silent."

In the back of this section of the paper, we've assembled a long list of events, parties, and parades in the area that are designed to celebrate Pride. In other words, to celebrate you.

The list is by no means complete, and the calendar changes daily, but the fact is this: We're not staying silent in 2022. The LGBTQ+ community in the Seattle area and beyond is staying loud and proud despite the world around us getting less friendly by the day. There are some smaller towns, like Woodinville and Anacortes, that are holding their first ever Pride events during these tumultuous times.

That takes courage. And that gives me hope. And I hope it gives you a little hope, too.

Happy Pride & keep up the good fight.

A.V. Eichenbaum
SGN Managing Editor & Acting Editor-in-Chief