This article is shared by the Seattle Office for Civil Rights on behalf of the Seattle Women’s Commission (SWC). It is authored by Sonia Hitchcock, a Get Engaged Member of the SWC. 

Seattle is regarded as a queer-friendly city, with nearly 11% of residents identifying as LGBTQ¹. In recent years, however, challenges from increasing housing costs² to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation³ and rising hate crimes⁴ have threatened many of the spaces that make our city so special.

Navigating tense and uncertain periods can pose unique difficulties, but examining local history clarifies opportunities to center hopefulness and community-led support. This Pride Month, we are excited to draw inspiration from the many women who have shaped our LGBTQIA+ spaces. 

The three women below are among the countless who should be celebrated for their incredible contributions to the City of Seattle. Their work, alongside that of a multitude of local leaders and organizations, has ensured that Seattle’s communities can thrive and remain resilient.

Lou Graham

The transcendent legacy of Lou Graham is accompanied by a widely misunderstood history. After immigrating to the United States from Germany in the 1800s, Graham, affectionately known as Madame Lou, became a successful businesswoman with a lasting impact on the city.

In her role as a madam, Graham employed BIPOC women in her brothel, including Indigenous women, which was not legal at this time⁵. In addition to maintaining a safe space for sex workers, she provided above-average wages to the women working at her business⁵.

Outside of her work, Graham was known as a prominent civic activist. She wrote letters to advocate for sidewalk expansion outside of her building, acted as a parental figure for local children, and invested her wealth in reconstruction after the Great Seattle Fire in 1889⁵.

While she became a well-established member of the community, she never completed the formal process of becoming a naturalized citizen. Consequently, the division of her assets after her death in 1903 led to the development of case law with respect to immigrant property ownership⁶.

Teams Furthering Graham’s Efforts to Sustain Safe Spaces for Sex Workers

While the Belltown venue Madame Lou’s commemorates Graham by name, many local organizations are thoughtfully focused on her values of supporting sex workers. Green Light Project, for example, was founded to address the systemic disparities that QTBIPOC2S experience, especially in the sex trade. The nearby Aurora Commons provides complimentary services, including a People’s Kitchen, health clinics, and arts programs to community members. In the Capitol Hill neighborhood, the Gender Justice League offers numerous resources for sex workers, including housing assistance, support groups, and financial and legal aid.

Sherry Harris

As an activist, engineer, and politician, Sherry Harris is a woman with many notable firsts. In 1991, Harris became the first Black woman appointed to Seattle’s City Council, and, simultaneously, the first out Black lesbian elected to a United States public office⁷.

As Councilwoman, she advanced local progress on the Transportation and Utilities Committee, and as chair of the Housing, Health, and Human Services and Education Committees⁸. She sponsored initiatives protecting the LGBTQIA+ community, and fought ordinances that did not⁹.

During her term, Harris amended the Women and Minority Business Enterprise Ordinance to advocate for women and people of color in contracts with the city⁷. Additionally, she co-founded the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Caucus National League of Cities¹⁰.

While her re-election bids were unsuccessful, Harris went on to found Spirit Mind Body (SMB) Educational Resources. She works to support others by “empowering people to wake up to their true potential… and achieve the personal, political, and business results that support that vision.”

Teams Aligning with Harris’ Legacy by Working to Elect LGBTQIA+ Candidates 

Harris was the first candidate endorsed by the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, an organization with a mission to increase the number of LGBTQIA+ elected officials. She was also closely involved with the Northwest Women’s Law Center and the Greater Seattle Business Association. Since her term, many other organizations have formed to increase accessibility for women and LGBTQIA+ candidates, from Seattle’s Electing Women Alliance to the national She Should Run. The City of Seattle’s LGBTQ Commission, further, is a volunteer-led team analyzing issues and recommending policies impacting our local communities to the Mayor and City Council.

Storme Webber

Through her poetry and interdisciplinary art, Storme Webber has carried both history and beauty into her activism. A descendant of Sugpiaq (Alutiiq), Black, and Choctaw ancestors, Webber comes from a family with two-spirit members throughout multiple generations¹¹.

Born and raised in Seattle, Webber has exhibited her visual work in galleries from New York to San Francisco¹¹. In her 2017 exhibit at the Frye Art Museum, “Casino: A Palimpsest,” Webber centers the community her family found in Pioneer Square prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots. 

Using family photos, documents, stories, and poetry, Webber’s first solo exhibit is uniquely personal, historical, and hopeful. Alongside the Frye curator, she maintained an “Indigenizing” approach to her exhibition to prioritize Native values¹¹.

Webber’s art simultaneously speaks to her family history and advocates for communities, such as missing and murdered Indigenous women¹². She describes her work as “a… conversation, touching upon ancestral stories and secrets, survivalisms, and visions for transformed futures.”¹³

Teams Accompanying Webber’s Work to Advance Advocacy through Art

While her installation at the Fry Art Museum concluded in 2017, Webber’s poetry collections can be found in Diaspora and Blues Divine, and she was featured in the documentaries Venus Boyz, What’s Right with Gays These Days, and Living Two Spirit¹⁴. The team at yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective has supported her work as an organization striving to “improve Indigenous well-being through art-making, community building, and equitable creative opportunities.” Activism-focused art is also conducted locally and taught through Gay City’s arts programs, Path with Art, and the grassroots-led 350 Seattle.

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Sources

1. More than 10% of Seattle residents identify as LGBTQ+ — on par with San Francisco. (2020, October 10). The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/more-than-10-of-seattle-residents-identify-as-lgbtq-on-par-with-san-francisco/
2. Ishisaka, N. (2023, June 23). As Seattle changes, is it still an LGBTQ-friendly city? The Seattle Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/as-seattle-changes-is-it-still-an-lgbtq-friendly-city/
3. Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures in 2025 | American Civil Liberties Union. (2025, May 17). American Civil Liberties Union. https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2025?state=WA
4. Li, W., & Lartey, J. (2023, March 25). New FBI Data Shows More Hate Crimes. These Groups Saw The Sharpest Rise. The Marshall Project; The Marshall Project. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/03/25/asian-hate-crime-fbi-black-lgbtq
5. Olsen, H. (2022, August 9). Lou Graham, Seattle’s Misunderstood Madam. Seattle Met. https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2022/08/lou-graham-brothel-madam-seattle-history-underground-tour
6. Olsen, H. B. (2024, June 2). What We Lose When We Tell False Histories. Medium. https://hannabrooksolsen.medium.com/what-we-lose-when-we-tell-false-histories-4e0a1e91eafc
7. Sherry D. Harris – NBJC Ubuntu. (2018, February 27). NBJC Ubuntu. https://beenhere.org/2018/02/27/sherry-d-harris/
8. Anders, T. M. (2013, March 29). Sherry D. Harris (1957- ) •. Black Past. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/harris-sherry-d-1957/
9. “I am more than my race, more than my gender and more than my sexual orientation.” (2022, July 25). Stonewall Youth. https://www.stonewallyouth.org/blog/i-am-more-than-my-race-more-than-my-gender-and-more-than-my-sexual-orientation
10. Sherry Harris – Hall of Fame Member | Pride & Progress. (2025). Prideandprogress.org. https://www.prideandprogress.org/hall-of-fame/sherry-harris
11. Nguyen, M. (2017, December 4). Storme Webber. ARTnews.com. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/storme-webber-62432/
12. Dornfeld, A. (2018, October 25). Seattle’s LGBTQ history that isn’t all white, all middle class, all male. Kuow.org; KUOW Public Radio. https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattles-lgbtq-history-isnt-all-white-all-middle-class-all-male/
13. Storme. (2025). Storme Webber. Editions Studio. https://www.editions.studio/storme-webber
14. Ancestors Know Who We Are. (2016). Ancestors Know Who We Are | Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. https://americanindian.si.edu/ancestors-know/artists/storme-webber/

The Seattle Women’s Commission is a group of community volunteers that advise the Mayor, City Council, and City departments on issues that impact the women of Seattle. The commission works together to identify areas of concern, recommend equitable policies, and serve as a liaison between the women of Seattle and City government. www.seattle.gov/womenscommission