Seattle pride parade a family event, participants say

SEATTLE – Seattle’s gay pride celebration has evolved from a political parade to a family event featuring bounce houses, free ice cream, and marching Boy Scouts and cheerleaders.

Organizers were expecting to draw nearly 500,000 Sunday to watch a parade through downtown Seattle and participate in a picnic and family-friendly entertainment at nearby parks.

Kevin Kroll, who brought his 4-year-old to enjoy the festivities, said the event is just about fun and games for her.

“(She’s) way too young to understand,” Kroll told KING-TV. “We haven’t gone into any of the real detailed motivations for the parade. It’s really about rainbows and having fun and getting dressed up.”

David Haack has been coming to pride events in Seattle for 24 years and has seen a lot of changes in Washington and at the event.

“Pride used to be more of a march, and we still have a political activism stance to a certain degree. But it’s about family now,” Haack said.

“Whoever thought it was going to be like this?” asked Hugh Charest, who attended his first Seattle Pride event in 1986.

He knows many of the young people won’t ever fully grasp what it took to get where they are today.

“We don’t expect any of them to. I don’t expect them to understand what it was like. Unless you lived through it, you can’t understand it,” Charest said.