State leaders raise Pride flag at half-staff, honor Juniper Blessing and Longview victims

Sam Fennell, operations and policy manager for the Washington State LGBTQ Commission, opened an afternoon ceremony at the state capitol to raise the Pride flag and to remember those lost to violence. He asked attendees to join a reception and framed the event as both celebration and remembrance.

"May it be so," Fennell said as he delivered a land acknowledgement and called for a moment of silence for Juniper Blessing and other transgender people lost to violence. The program featured remarks from legislative leaders, commission members, Attorney General Nick Brown and Governor Ferguson.

Attorney General Nick Brown told the crowd his office would continue legal defense of state protections. "We will not back down from that challenge," Brown said, thanking community members who provided declarations and testimony in court. Brown also described past litigation his office joined to defend access to transgender health care.

Governor Ferguson announced an executive instruction placing Washington state flags at half-staff in the days following the Longview industrial tragedy, which he described as "the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern state history." "I ordered the flags in Washington state to be placed at 0.5 staff throughout this week," the governor said, and he led the audience in a moment of silence for the 11 workers who did not come home.

Speakers emphasized visibility and solidarity as both celebration and resistance. Speaker Lori Jenkins said that "visibility is not a neutral act," and Senator Jamie Peterson urged attendees to remain vigilant as threats to LGBTQ people persist. The program concluded with instructions for the public flag-raising and an invitation to the reception in the Helen Summers Building.

The event moved from speeches to the flag-raising on the capitol grounds; attendees were invited to participate in cranking the flag and to join the Commission's reception afterward.