Seattle Gay and Lesbian Scene

(Seattle, Washington - WA, USA)

If you are out and proud, and looking to visit a city where you can find plenty of like-minded, friendly and welcoming people, then Seattle certainly ticks all of the boxes, especially when the simply enormous Pride Festival is in town.

The LGBT scene here is particularly large and there are plenty of enticing nightspots, the majority of which tend to be based around the Capitol Hill neighborhood. There are also a number of gay bars to be found within downtown Seattle, along roads such as Howell Street, where Re-Bar comes with a fairly packed events calendar and regularly hosts comedy gigs, which in the past have been attended by world-famous funny man Robin Williams.

For the best choice of LGBT bars, take a stroll along East Pike Street within Capitol Hill, where you will encounter the Lobby Bar, the Seattle Eagle, the Wildrose Tavern and the Unicorn Bar. Early happy hours with cheap drinks, corndogs and American cheeseburgers reliably draw punters to the Unicorn Bar, along with its classic video games and pinball tables.

Elsewhere in Capitol Hill is the Neighbours dance club on Broadway, the R Place on East Pine Street, and the traditional-style Madison Pub on East Madison Street, where cocktails, trivia games and a good choice of beers on tap are all good reasons to hang out here, not to mention the plentiful high-definition TVs screening sport.

Seattle Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Celebration

Seattle Pride attracts over 100,000 gay and lesbian visitors each year, being staged in late June. This annual event has its origins in the mid-1970s and is hosted by the local Out and Proud organisation. Most of the festivities take place around the spreading Seattle Center, which was constructed for the World's Fair of 1962 and is dominated by the city's most iconic of landmarks, the Space Needle.

The Pride Parade is not to be missed and always falls on the last Sunday each June, being followed by the Pride Parade Brunch at the Palace Ballroom on 5th Avenue.

Other gay and lesbian festivals and events:

• Seattle Queen City Cruise
  Held each year in August, this fun LGBT party takes place on Lake Washington.
• Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
  Staged towards the end of October since it began in 1996, this film festival lasts for around one week and screens many unusual movies, short films and documentaries. This event is now the biggest film fest of its kind in the entire Pacific Northwest

Useful local organizations:

Gay City Health Project
Address: 517 East Pike Street, Seattle, Washington (WA), 98122, USA
Tel: +1 206 860 6969

Team Seattle
Address: 1122 East Pike, Seattle, Washington (WA), 98122, USA
Tel: +1 206 782 7636

The Yoga Den
Address: 514 12th Avenue, Seattle, Washington (WA), 98122, USA
Tel: +1 206 355 4774

Seattle Gay and Lesbian Book Club
Address: 303 17th Avenue East, Seattle, Washington (WA), 98112, USA
Tel: +1 206 322 2437

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) Washington State
Address: 1605 12th Avenue, Seattle, Washington (WA), 98122, USA
Tel: +1 206 330 2099