SEATTLE - Thousands of people gathered Sunday morning for Seattle's Pride Parade, one of the largest events in the Northwest. This year's theme was "Be You. Be Proud. Express Yourself!"
Parade marshals included author Armistead Maupin, best known for his “Tales of the City” series and other bestselling novels; and Daniel Hernandez, an aide to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who is credited for being the first to help Giffords after she was shot in January 2011.
Just in time for the parade on Sunday, the rainbow Pride Flag was raised on top of the Space Needle. The corporation that owns the Needle caused controversy when it announced it wouldn't fly the flag like it did last year.
Amid the criticism, the Needle's owners offered to fly the flag if $50,000 were raised for charity. They then announced they would fly the flag even if the donation goal wasn't met.
The flag was raised at 8 a.m. Sunday. Representatives of the four beneficiary organizations: Greater Seattle Business Association; It Gets Better/the Trevor Project; Lambda Legal and Mary's Place attended.
