Pride celebrations across WA start this month, including flag at state Capitol
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- Officials, state LGBTQ Commission raised a Pride flag at half-staff outside the Capitol.
- Gov. Bob Ferguson posted about WA ranking No. 12 in an LGBTQ+ business climate report.
- Multiple Pride events are scheduled statewide, including Tri‑Cities, Olympia, Tacoma.
Washington state is celebrating Pride Month in a variety of ways this June.
The state’s LGBTQ Commission hosted a Pride flag-raising event outside the state Capitol in Olympia at noon on June 3. A large Pride flag was raised to half-staff, coinciding with Gov. Bob Ferguson’s order to fly all flags at half-staff at state agency facilities to honor the 11 people killed during the recent implosion at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview.
Leiyomi Preciado, co-chair of the state’s LGBTQ Commission, said that as a “proud Mexican, Filipina, Indigenous trans woman,” this year’s Pride holds major significance. Ahead of the flag-raising, she spoke of resiliency in the face of adversity.
“We are so lucky and blessed to live in this great state where we are afforded rights and liberties, safeties and protections that may not be afforded to other individuals in other states,” Preciado said during the June 3 ceremony. “But it goes without saying that even here in the great state of Washington, we still have so much more work to do.”
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On June 2, Ferguson posted on social media about a report from Out Leadership, a global LGBTQ+ business network, showing that Washington ranked No. 12 in its annual state LGBTQ+ business climate index.
Ferguson said during the June 3 event that he’s working to uphold the state’s values and defend residents’ rights despite what’s happening at the federal level.
“There is zero chance at any moment in time that Washington state will ever back down from that, that we’ll ever give in to the hate from Washington, D.C., that we would ever bend the knee to what we see back in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, who also spoke at the event, has filed LGBTQ+-related lawsuits against the Trump administration, including one last year over the federal government’s efforts to cease funding for gender-affirming care.
House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, a Tacoma Democrat, pressed the importance of the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community amid broader hostility.
“It’s more important than ever that we are standing up, that we are standing out, but more than anything else, that we are standing together — not just as a community of queer people, but aligned with so many others who are under attack,” she said at the June 3 flag-raising ceremony.
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Here are some other events happening in Olympia and around the state to commemorate Pride.
Washington Pride events 2026
Tri-Cities Pride is hosting its 2026 festival on Sunday, June 14 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Memorial Park in Pasco. The free and family friendly event will feature food vendors, local organizations and entertainers, according to Tri-Cities Pride’s website.
In Olympia, the Capital City Pride Festival kicks off its three-day celebration with a block party on Friday, June 26, per Capital City Pride’s website. The festival advertises itself as working to transform the capital into a celebration of LGBTQIA2S+ unity, resilience and pride — from Olympia’s downtown to Percival Landing and The Port Plaza.
The city of Olympia also announced last week that contractors would be installing transgender flag markings at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Washington Street.
Tacoma’s major Pride event happens next month. On Saturday, July 11, the Tacoma Pride Festival will be held at Wright Park, according to the festival’s website.
The Tacoma Pride Festival coordinates with other South Sound Pride festivals so that participants have choices throughout the season, according to the fest’s website. The site noted that though June is often honored as Pride Month, different LGBTQ+ communities around the globe host their celebrations at various times of the year. The city of Tacoma rings in Pride during the month of July.
Bellingham’s main Pride event also takes place that month. Pride in Bellingham’s website says that its events are scheduled July 11 and 12, including a parade, festival and cocktail garden and after-party.
This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Pride celebrations across WA start this month, including flag at state Capitol."
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