Seattle Pride – Photo: carterdayne via iStockphoto
Seattle’s local organizing committee for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is moving ahead with a first-of-its-kind “Pride Match” at Lumen Field on June 26, coinciding with the city’s Pride Weekend, even though the scheduled game will feature Iran and Egypt, two countries that criminalize homosexuality.
The Pride-adjacent branding was created by the host city, not FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, which has not endorsed the designation.
When FIFA was planning the match schedule, Seattle was in line to host either New Zealand versus Belgium or Egypt versus Iran on June 26. Vancouver ultimately received the New Zealand-Belgium game, leaving Seattle with Egypt versus Iran, reports Outsports.
Homosexuality is illegal in Iran and punishable by death. In Egypt, while same-sex relations aren’t explicitly outlawed, authorities routinely use public morality, anti-prostitution, and “debauchery” laws to prosecute LGBTQ people, with prison sentences ranging from three months to ten years.
Officials say the logistics of switching the match or rebranding another game as the “Pride Match” are extremely complicated.
Seattle is already hosting the U.S. Men’s National Team match against Australia on June 19, tied to the city’s Juneteenth celebrations. Other group-stage games on June 15 and 24 will feature either Egypt or Qatar, another country that criminalizes homosexuality and can impose prison sentences — and, under sharia courts, the death penalty for Muslims, though that has never been enforced.
The city will also host a round-of-32 match on July 1 and a last-16 match on July 6, but neither date aligns with a recognized holiday or existing Pride celebrations.
“The Pride Match has been scheduled to celebrate and elevate Pride events in Seattle and across the country, and it was planned well in advance,” a spokesperson for the Pride Match Advisory Committee said in a statement to Outsports. “It is a Host City-led expression of Seattle and Washington State’s commitment to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment where everyone belongs: players, fans, residents, and visitors alike.”
Both Egypt and Iran have filed objections with FIFA, demanding that Seattle’s Pride events be canceled and that the match be stripped of its “Pride” branding.
In a letter to FIFA, the Egyptian Football Association argued that the Pride Match events conflict with the country’s “cultural, religious, and social values,” warning that LGBTQ-themed activities could “provoke sensitivities,” according to Seattle NBC affiliate KING-TV.
The head of Iran’s Football Federation called the Pride Match branding “irrational,” saying the country had protested to FIFA and claimed it violates the organization’s longstanding tradition of political neutrality.
In spite of the objections, Seattle FWC26, the city’s organizing committee for the 2026 World Cup, is standing by its plans. The committee’s vice president of communications, Hana Tadesse, said it is “moving forward…with our community programming outside the stadium during Pride weekend and throughout the tournament, partnering with LGBTQ+ leaders, artists and business owners to elevate existing Pride celebrations across Washington.”
FIFA has operational control of stadiums on match days, and there are currently no plans to acknowledge Pride inside the venue.
San Francisco has named Per Sia, one of the first performers to read at a Drag Queen Story Hour event, as the city's new Drag Laureate.
Appointed by Mayor Daniel Lurie on October 29, the 44-year-old Per Sia is only the second person -- and the first transgender individual -- to hold the title.
D'Arcy Drollinger, owner of the Oasis nightclub, was San Francisco's first Drag Laureate. The position -- one of only two in the country, alongside West Hollywood's -- comes with a $35,000 annual stipend for a three-year term funded by the San Francisco Public Library, which also supports the city's Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate programs.
Lucien Bates, a transgender man, says security guards threatened to arrest him after he used the women’s restroom at a Round1 arcade inside the North Riverside Park Mall in suburban Chicago. Bates, an Indiana resident, was visiting the venue on September 28 with his fiancé and a friend to play Dance Dance Revolution.
Bates, who presents as alt-masculine with facial hair and piercings, had just arrived at the arcade when he needed to use the restroom. He chose the women’s restroom, a decision he often makes in public because he feels safer there and is less likely to be harassed.
The sudden turn from sunny early autumn to a wintry November left us feeling more than a little light-deprived. But one sure remedy to brighten these gray days is to plan ahead for the joyful whirl of the holiday season.
Should those plans include taking in a fabulous live show here in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, or beyond, it's best to start making your list now and checking it twice. We're here to help with a LGBTQ-focused rundown of the divas, divos, and drag queens who might be jingling your bells from now through December.
Gay Men's Chorus: The Holiday Show -- The GMCW's most popular show every year brings an extravaganza of holiday carols, high-kicking reindeer, and sparkling snowflakes, which sounds like a euphemism for something festive to accompany songs like "O Holy Night," "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," "Let It Snow," and "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (12/13-14, 12/20, Lincoln Theatre)
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