by Nick Ardizzone - SGN Staff Writer

The world-famous Seattle skyline will be a little more colorful this Pride weekend. For the first time ever, a giant rainbow flag, 20' x 40', will fly from the top of the Space Needle in celebration of Gay Pride.

A small ceremony was held the morning of June 25 as the flag was run up the spire of the Space Needle.

The Seattle Gay News spoke with Ron Sevart, president and CEO of the Space Needle, about the historic decision to support Gay Pride from the top of Seattle's most famous landmark.

"It's been a big month, and it'll be a big weekend," Sevart said. "We've been talking at the Space Needle for quite some time about wanting to do this. & It's something we've been open to for quite some time, and we made the internal decision that this was the right time to do it."

The idea of flying the Pride flag from the Space Needle had been raised before, but there had never been adequate time to prepare. "When we were approached in the past," Sevart explained, "we weren't given enough time to turn it around - I think Pride was several weeks away at that point. Generally, flags take a lot longer to actually fabricate - you can't just go out and buy a flag like that, especially at that size - and that takes several thousands of dollars, and it takes some time to get it done."

This year, however, Sevart and the Space Needle staff were prepared for Pride. "We had enough time, and at this point, we felt like it was the right thing to do - and the right thing to do for our team members, as well."

"It's a big deal for some of our team members," Sevart said. "Such a big deal that when we told some of them, it was very emotional."

"We're as diverse inside the Space Needle as what is outside the Space Needle," he added.

"The Pride event takes place on the Seattle Center campus," Sevart said. "I think that being able to look up at the Space Needle and see that flag up there - I think it's going to be a very proud moment for a lot of people."

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