SEATTLE — This weekend marks the start of the 50th annual Pride Month celebration in Seattle.
To kick off the festivities, thousands of people flocked to Capitol Hill for one of this month's largest pride events, Seattle's Pride in the Park.
"We want people to be accepted for who they are and no matter who you love and know it's okay to be your most authentic self,” said Versace Doll, one of the emcees of Saturday’s event.
An authentic welcoming for all people was on full display at the park.
"We'll able to be out here celebrating and letting people know we're not going anywhere,” said Doll. “It's the most important thing and that creates change for everyone out here."
It's change that started during the Stonewall Inn raid in New York in 1969. It's that rebellion officials with Seattle Pride said inspired and incited an LGBTQ+ movement that made its way around the world, eventually arriving right here in Seattle. Sparking the creation of "Seattle Pride," a nonprofit that's been going strong for the last 50 years.
"So grateful to the people who began Pride in 1974 and also we're excited to look ahead to the future for what it means for LGBTQIA+ people and our rights,” said Patti Hearn, the executive director of Seattle Pride. “And the theme 'Now' is also about embracing this very moment and joy and celebration."
The first pride event only had 200 people. Now five decades later, Saturday’s event had more than 12,000 people flooding Volunteer Park. "That want to celebrate everyone here and I feel like the more we're able to come together we can increase that from 12,000 to 15,000 to 20,000 and continue to do what we do," said Doll.
Pride in the Park is just the beginning to a month filled with 75 other pride celebrations in Seattle alone, capping off with the pride parade, one of the largest in the country.
“We see you and love you and I think this kind of event where can just see joy and celebration tells you everything you need to know about the LGBTQ community," said Hearn.