New Petition Demands City Keep Bigot Rally Out Of Seattle's Gayborhood

Almost 500 people have signed a new petition demanding that the City relocate the August 30 “Revive In ‘25”, another Christofascist group’s attempt to piss of queer, trans, and allied locals, so they can cheer on the cops as they bash their skulls, and then go home to the suburbs and play victim on social media. The City has already said it wants to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s rage-bait rally by punting the group’s permit outside of the gayborhood, but with pressure from the chuds and the watchful eye of President Donald Trump trained on Seattle, broad, sustained support for the rally’s relocation could ensure follow through. You can sign here. 

The petition is explicitly not calling for the City to shut down the event — “As with all groups, Revive in ‘25 and similar groups are entitled to their First Amendment protected free speech,” the petition reads. Instead, the petitioners ask the City to “do what they do for all event requests on public property: evaluate the suitability of an event for the requested space.”

“We believe that the fallout of the May 24th event indicates that deliberately provocative events aimed at the LGBTQIA+ community are not a good fit for Cal Anderson Park,” the petition read.

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Last weekend, as you know, was fucking nuts. A right-wing group called May Day USA set up a freaky little concert in Cal Anderson, a park named for Washington’s first openly gay state legislator in the heart of Seattle’s historically queer neighborhood, Capitol Hill. The choice of location set the stage for a tense afternoon, not to mention a large police presence with the license to whip out their “less lethal” weapons on any rowdy queers they saw fit. In the end, the Seattle Police Department arrested 23 people with charges of assault and obstruction, including a kid. 

Following the event, the petitioners “have serious concerns about a copycat event” hosted by right-wing zealot Sean Feucht in Cal Anderson on August 30. The petitioners suggested that, to safeguard all sides, the City should permit the rally for Magnuson Park instead. A former military base seems a much more appropriate venue for the fascists than the CHOP/CHAZ block of the gayborhood.

The City is on board for a relocation of some kind. A spokesperson for Seattle Parks and Recreation told Capitol Hill Seattle Blog yesterday that they have not permitted the Revive In ‘25 event for Cal Anderson. They are working with organizers to permit it elsewhere. 

But public trust in the parks department took a hit this week, so active demands for a relocation seem necessary. Initially, many assumed that the right-wingers picked Cal Anderson with the specific intention to provoke queer people — even Mayor Bruce Harrell levied that accusation. But, as the Seattle Times reports, the zealots actually wanted to rally at Pike Place Market, which event organizer Ross Johnston, of Ross Johnston Ministries, called “antifa’s headquarters,” showing just how out-of-town he really is. Pike Place Market, the Parks Department determined, could not accommodate the group. In an email, a parks employee suggested they host the rally at Cal Anderson and South Lake Union parks instead.

So yes, the zealots didn’t originally pick Cal Anderson — the City did. And now that same City says it's working to move the next one. However, it may be the case that anywhere the bigots go, right-wing newsfluencers, counter-protesters, and the dreaded "anarchists," will follow. And in that case, the issue may be less about where fascist congregate and more about how the City deploys its army to defend those fascists, escalate tensions, and ultimately brutalize lefty counter-protesters.

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