The first time I imagined the future, I was a seven-year-old boy sitting on an airplane, thumbing through the pages of a kid’s science magazine. Inside, the writers offered a glimpse of what life would be like when I was 40. Their world had flying cars, medicines that healed wounds instantaneously, robots, and, inexplicably, bodysuits. No futuristic vision is complete without rubbery, skin-tight clothing. I totally believed them, but now, 11 years away from my 40th birthday, I’m seriously doubting much of that vision will come true.

But that’s fine. The writers didn’t say “being gay would be cooler now” or “new generations are living gayer lives” or “The L Word will return,” either. As I turned out to be a woman who writes about gay people for an alt-weekly, I’ll take this alternative.

Gay and trans people talk about the future a lot, but they talk about the more immediate future with great concern. Why wouldn’t they? Authoritarian-minded freaks are introducing anti-LGBTQ bills in every legislature in every state in this country. They’re crusading against drag and trans rights and probably coming for marriage. The Supreme Court doesn’t exactly fill me with hope. The election looks bad. It bums me out.

But queer people didn’t get where we are today because people were cool about us. When the first Seattle Pride parade marched 50 years ago, the cops were still raiding bars. (Though if the events in January told us anything, it’s that old habits are hard to break.) AIDS would’ve killed even more people if activists hadn’t come up with safer sex practices and bullied the government into caring. I do not believe the arc of history bends toward justice, but I do think we’ve won too much ground in the American court of public opinion to live in the shadows ever again. However hard the reactionary far-right tries, they’ve lost. Their efforts will only create temporary setbacks.

So when I imagine the future at 29, it looks pretty good and very gay. (Too bad about flying cars though, which probably won’t happen—and that’s probably for the best.) 

Given Seattle Pride’s 50th anniversary, in our first print Queer Issue since COVID-19, The Stranger decided to focus on that future rather than dwell on our past.

Adam Willems explores the future of Seattle’s drag scene with local queens Betty Wetter, Lavish The’Jewel, and This Girl. Musician SassyBlack writes about finding her superpowers in her own Black, queer intergalactic universe. Nathalie Graham picks up pom-poms and learns to fly with Cheer Seattle. Lindsay Anderson profiles Charlie’s Queer Bookstore, a shop that almost exclusively stocks books by and about queer people. Rich Smith asks queer luminaries to divine the future of Capitol Hill. He also writes about Dave Upthegrove’s campaign to become the first gay state executive, while Hannah Krieg reveals the limitations of representation in her piece on the gays who have slayed us and the gays who have betrayed us. 

Also, a trans tech worker, a trans powerlifter, a trans comedian, a trans writer, and a trans musician tell their past selves how much better the future is. Ky Schevers comes clean about misrepresenting himself when The Stranger interviewed him for 2017’s “The Detransitioners: They Were Transgender, Until They Weren’t.” And I wrote about what’s next for Denny Blaine, the future of HIV medication, and protections for trans athletes in Washington.

Plus, check out our calendar for all the gay shit happening this month.

Happy Pride! Don’t let the fuckers get you down!

Vivian McCall, Staff Writer and a Queer Issue Editor 

Can Seattle Drag Afford to Stay Weird?

Rising Costs, and Fewer Beginner-Friendly Venues, Are Sanitizing Seattle’s Drag Scene

Letters to Our Younger Trans Selves

What We Wish We Knew

The Future of HIV Treatment Is Injectable

Promising Drugs Could Expand Treatment—If We Get Out of Our Own Way

What’s Next for Denny Blaine?

Maybe New Rules, but Certainly Fewer Thorns

Out of This World

Forming the SassyBlack Universe

The Books of Love

Charlie’s Queer Books Is a Welcoming Space for Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Lit Nerds

Dave Upthegrove Wants to Save the Trees

…And Become Washington State’s First Gay Executive While He’s at It

The Gays Who Slayed and the Gays Who Betrayed

Not Every Queer Politician Is an “Ally”

The Futures of Seattle’s Gayborhood

An Architect, an Urban Planner, a Documentarian, an Academic, and a Business Owner Imagine What Capitol Hill Will Look Like in 50 Years

What Do New Title IX Rules Mean for Washington’s Trans Athletes?

State Law Protects Them, but Title IX Protections Would Be Cool

Getting High with Cheer Seattle

A Very Queer Edition of Nathalie Graham’s ‘Play Date’ Column

The Reality Behind the Story I Told The Stranger

I Said I Was Detrans, but Really I Was Struggling