Everything Is Political … in South Seattle: Right-Wing Rabble Rousers Rally

Big Trouble in Little Gayborhood

On May 24, the City permitted a rally for a right-wing group called Mayday USA. Instead of Victor Steinbrueck Park near Pike Place Market, which the group had initially requested, the City authorized their little provocation prayer circle for Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill, the heart of Seattle's LGBTQIA+ community. The rally drew a crowd of about 500, hailing from all over the region. It also drew perhaps more counterprotesters, rightfully irked that what appeared to be a gaggle of rejected extras from The Righteous Gemstones were bringing their megachurch, fearmongering nonsense to a lawn usually reserved for lesbian makeouts, smoking pot in circles, and that weird game people play with the trampolines.

Counterprotesters set up a punk show to compete with the churchgoers' stadium speakers, hoping to drown out their hate speech. They also assembled around the event's perimeter to, well, counterprotest. Naturally, a brawl ensued. SPD, which had set up barriers to protect the obviously (and, I would argue, intentionally) controversial event, arrested 23 counterprotesters in brutal fashion. The Stranger's Hannah Murphy Winter (HMW) put together a really good play-by-play if you're interested, but suffice to say, the whole thing was kind of a disaster.

Thing is, we all knew it would be. The event was well-advertised for weeks. The cops clearly planned ahead for its protection. But why permit this particular event in that particular park at all? Why not send them somewhere less likely to cause a clash?

That's where this gets political. Mayoral candidate Katie Wilson, in the aftermath, posted a scathing tweetstorm criticizing Mayor Bruce Harrell's handling of the whole thing.

"The mayor's primary job is to keep people safe, and that means taking action to prevent dangerous situations & violence before it starts. A fundamentalist, anti-trans 'family values' protest never should have been permitted in the heart of Seattle's historic LGBTQ neighborhood," she wrote.

Now, is this the big scandal Wilson is ginning it up to be? If you're a free-speech absolutist, which not everyone is these days, the "why" of the rally's permitting should be a nonissue: They got the permit because we as a society must allow anyone to express their viewpoint, no matter how abhorrent. What Wilson would like you to focus on here is really the "where."

But while it's obvious that the event should never have been permitted for Cal Anderson, of all places (Anderson was the first openly gay politician to serve in the State Legislature), I think what should really worry us as residents of Seattle is that our mayor took this as an opportunity to punch left. While he issued a cursory condemnation of the rallygoers, admitting it was an obvious attempt to poke LGBTQIA+ people in the eye, he went on to blame the people whose eyes got poked.

"When the humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized is questioned, we triumph by demonstrating our values through our words and peaceful protest — we lose our voice when this is disrupted by violence, chaos, and confusion," Harrell wrote in a statement. "Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did."

I'm sorry, but … what a crock. Have we not heard that one enough? Is anyone falling for the "antifa agitators" bit in 2025? While I tend to fall more in the "don't give them oxygen" camp than the "beat them bloody" camp, which may have a lot to do with my privilege in being a very straight-passing queer, I can absolutely understand why other queer folk would feel more directly threatened. And would react accordingly. Calling them agitators is a lazy, callous way of dismissing their very legitimate concerns.

Anyway, the right-wingers themselves were also upset by Harrell's statement, but for predictably right-wing reasons. In a press release announcing a second, similarly obnoxious "Rattle in Seattle" rally, this time to be held in the plaza abutting City Hall, they accused Harrell and the Seattle City Council of "religious bigotry."

The people who are actively trying to stoke hate and bigotry against trans and queer people feel, surely very genuinely, like they are the real victims in all of this, and wrote that they would rally on Tuesday, May 27, to demand "both an apology and retraction from Bruce Harrell for his disgusting comments aimed at bringing harm to the faith community." 

"If the Mayor won't apologize, it's time for him to resign in disgrace," they added.

When I stopped by around 5:15 p.m., police had barricaded Fourth Avenue between Cherry and James Streets, and one counterprotester had already been arrested. The stadium speakers were back, and rally participants waved signs calling for Harrell's resignation while Christian rock music blared loud enough to be heard several blocks away. A woman stationed at the plaza's southeast corner held a large black flag that simply read, "Jesus." By the end of the event, eight counterprotesters had been arrested, and Harrell had not resigned. Or updated his response at all.

District 8 Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck (AMR), who I ran into outside of the barricades, is currently the only elected to have anything of substance to say. While we couldn't really chat with all the racket, we managed enough communication to find ourselves in agreement about one thing: This all creates a very stupid distraction.

"From what?" you might ask. I'm so glad you did!

The Ethics Bill Is Still On

Yes, that's right. It got voted out of committee, so now it's going in front of the council. It wasn't up for a vote this past Tuesday, but it's on the agenda for the full council's June 3 meeting. Is it going to pass? Probably, as Council President Sara Nelson, District 5's Cathy Moore, District 4's Maritza Rivera, and District 2's Mark Solomon are on board. But it might not stand!

According to AMR, Harrell has said he'll veto it if he can, which means it needs a six-vote supermajority to stick. AMR, District 6's Dan Strauss, and District 7's Bob Kettle are against the thing, with District 3's Joy Hollingsworth being the only question mark. AMR is, she assured me, doing everything she can to help Hollingsworth land on the right side of history here. However, if Hollingsworth sides with the landlord lobby, there's probably no stopping this council from gutting tenant protections before we vote these councilmembers out of office. That's why this matters so, so much. Please: If you live in District 3, remind your councilmember who she works for. Put the fear of God, or at the very least a lost election, into her.

Speaking of Lost Elections

Is Harrell in for one? Besides Wilson's positive poll numbers, she now has a lead in another important category: democracy vouchers. She's got the most democracy vouchers of any campaign, including his, according to a recent press release from her campaign. And that's got her feeling extra optimistic:

"Bruce Harrell has been entrenched in City politics for 18 years," she wrote. "He's got name recognition, deep-pocketed donors, and a machine behind him. We have something stronger: people power."

Indeed, unlocking "people power" was the whole point of the democracy-voucher system. But, as Wilson acknowledges, money still brings advantages. And, democracy vouchers be damned, Harrell has more of them. Like $434,400 to Wilson's $256,318, according to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) website. Even though Wilson says she has more vouchers, SEEC data shows Harrell ahead in voucher income, at $271,700 to Wilson's $218,775 (each voucher is worth $25). But the SEEC website is notoriously slow to update numbers, which might explain why it shows Harrell leading this category. While it's safe to take Wilson at her word, the fact that Harrell is beating the pants off of her when it comes to in-kind contributions is noteworthy.

Furthermore, while the democracy-voucher program prohibits candidates from spending above set limits, it does not prevent independent committees from spending on "independent expenditures." Historically, these have arrived in the form of attack ads and dubiously truthful mailers in the waning weeks of a campaign.

Got something *political* I should know? Tell me about it: Tobias.CB@SeattleEmerald.org.

Editors' Note: On May 30, the day after this article was published, Seattle City Councilmember Cathy Moore pulled the ethics bill from consideration. And we corrected an error that identified Councilmember Rob Saka as a supporter of the now-withdrawn bill.

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The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the contributors on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the Emerald or official policies of the Emerald.

Tobias Coughlin-Bogue is a writer, editor and restaurant worker who lives in South Park. He was formerly the associate editor of Real Change News, and his work has appeared in The Stranger, Seattle Weekly, Vice, Thrillist, Thrasher Magazine, Curbed, and Crosscut, among other outlets.