The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog: Visual Art - Seite 4 
Poolin' Around
"Seeing all the different sea life and the millions of different ways that life exists beyond our human structures is really affirming." by Madison Kirkman This story originally appeared in our Queer Issue on June 4, 2025. Photos by Madison Kirkman When I go out to low tides around Seattle, my gaydar pings incessantly. Am I imagining it? Is it wishful thinking? Or are there actually a lot of queer folks at low tides? I asked fellow queer low-tide enthusiasts, like Wendy Elisheva Somerson, who goes by Wes, if they also noticed this queer phenomenon. “Oh, yeah, I do,” they confirmed. “You’re not making it up. There is 100 percent a connection, and there are always gaggles of queers down there.” Nearshore worker and low-tide diehard, Orian Grant, has seen the growing trend in their 12 years of tide pooling. “At low tide, I’m seeing more queers showing up in groups than I’ve ever seen before.” Orian also mentions, “I think the sciences in general demand a certain kind of attention to yourself, and I think that might invite more people who are open-minded or who have a queer identity, just naturally.” They also point out the lack of physical accessibility in the intertidal zone “really excludes a lot of our comrades.” It’s the only thing Orian doesn’t like about tide pooling. Hill Ossip has also clocked this queer presence. “It’s an unspoken thing,” says Hill. “Seeing all the different sea life and the millions of different ways that life exists beyond our human structures is really affirming. Because there is no one way to be.” Perhaps the most desired low-tide find in the PNW is an octopus. The Puget Sound is home to several species of octopus, including the Giant Pacific Octopus (GPO), which can grow up to 14 feet long on average. The juvenile GPO seen here is small enough to fit in your hand. Hill studies a leather sea star in the sand. They feel like the shared excitement at low tide “creates a really safe space to just show up without the pressure of needing to be something or fit into something.” Does this count as cruising for leather daddies? A group gathers around to look at two moon snail egg collars, which provide shelter for smaller animals like baby sea stars, nudibranchs and their eggs, flatworms, and more. There is no shortage of life on the beach—the closer you look, the more you’ll discover. Tem delicately searches a small pool by a dock post, a lively spot for nudibranchs. Tem points out that intertidal life reminds them of queer “code-switching,” and what it’s like to navigate two very different worlds. “It’s also interesting how their physical forms and presentations have to change so much to endure and survive,” says Tem. OMG, the intertidal zone is trans! Wes (left) and Hill wade into the receding water to carefully check the moon snail egg collars for any nudibranchs and sea stars. Wes celebrates the diversity of nudibranchs, “especially as a non-binary person,” they say. “You know, there’s just lots of different ways to be! You can have sex in all kinds of different ways.” Moon snail egg collars may look like industrial garbage, but they are actually an incredibly smooth, round, uniform structure made up of tens of thousands of tiny eggs, finely sifted grains of sand, and sticky snail mucus. The diameter and size of the egg collar can tell you how large the moon snail was that left it. Be gentle with them!
Fremont Fair and Solstice Parade, Georgetown Pride, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15 by EverOut Staff Happy first official day of summer! Take advantage of the extra daylight this weekend at cheap and cheerful events from the Fremont Fair and Solstice Parade to Georgetown Pride and from South Lake Union Saturday Market to the Camp Long Mountain Fest. For more suggestions, check out our top event picks of the week. FRIDAY SHOPPING Black Night MarketIf you need a quick refresher, Juneteenth commemorates the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 (it was signed two years earlier!) in Texas at the end of the Civil War. The day was officially declared a federal holiday in 2021 and modern celebrations spotlight Black excellence and community, which is just what this Black Night Market aims to do during the two Fridays on either side of Juneteenth. Head to Pier 62 to shop from BIPOC vendors, hear from artists and entrepreneurs, and grab dinner or dessert from local food trucks. SHANNON LUBETICH (Pier 62, Downtown, free)
Slog AM: Dirty Grape Juice, Homemade Fireworks, Trump Complains People Weren’t Working on Holiday Celebrating the End of Slavery
The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Vivian McCall Weather: Commenters have noticed I like whining about the rain. I’m sorry, but I can’t change for you people. I am who I am. So I’m a little bummed about the showers and thunderstorms rolling in around 5 p.m. on the summer solstice. Expect rain on and off through the weekend. Seattle Police Negotiating With Barricaded Suspect: Police say when they responded to the call of domestic violence at a home in Washington Park this morning, they found a woman shot in the front yard. When they tried to take her from the scene to a hospital, a man fired from inside the house. Officers shot back, say police, who have closed off Madison Street between 32nd and 33rd Avenue. This is a developing story. My Favorite Cocktail: Mary Ann Bliesner, 83, of Sunnyside was sentenced to three years probation and she and her former company, Vally Processing, ordered to pay a judgement of more than $742,000 for selling some seriously rank grape juice. In 2018, a Food and Drug Administration investigation of her facilities found visible mold, animal pee, animal poop, and rotting animal corpses in juice products. One inspector photographed a juice tank with a moldy crust so thick a rat was walking on top. The company admitted to blending the old juice and concentrate it stored outside for years with fresh stuff and selling that tainted product. It went to school lunch programs and elsewhere around the world for almost five years. Don’t Try This: Investigators believe a 42-year-old man in Oak Harbor was killed by his own homemade fireworks on Tuesday. According to The Seattle Times, Mark Fakkema had been dismantling commercial fireworks in his kitchen to make his own in a workshop next to his parent’s. Fakkema didn’t have a license to do this. The explosion that killed him and reduced his shop to smoking ruins only took 1.5 to 2 pounds of pyrotechnics. He had 25 more pounds of “illegal explosives” at his house. ICE’s New Rules For Congresspeople: Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants 72 hours notice before they visit ICE facilities. Under federal law, members of Congress can drop in for a site visit whenever they want to. Nevertheless ICE persisted. It’s already turned away Democrats from field offices in California, Illinois, and New York. Sen. Chuck Schumer accused Trump of a “fear of accountability” and says that Dems will keep showing up “whatever Secretary Noem and her lackeys scribble on a piece of paper.” Strong language. For sure. Works every time. Dodgin’ ‘Em: Federal immigration agents wanted access to the parking lot outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles Thursday. The Dodgers said no. The team said the agents were with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but ICE denied being there. Sources familiar with the matter told NBC News the federal agents arrived with detainees in their vehicles, who they processed just outside the parking lot. Homeland Security said the agents were riding in Customs and Border Protection vehicles, but that the “incident” had “nothing to do with the Dodgers.” Appeals Court Rules that Trump Still Controls the National Guard in LA: The decision halts a lower court ruling that found Trump broke the law when he activated the guard against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom. According to the AP, this could have unspecified “wider implications” for the President’s power to deploy soldiers within the US. Not good. He’s Trying to Find the Guy Who Wanted This: President Donald Trump seethed about Juneteenth on Truth Social yesterday. “Too many non-working holidays in America. It is costing our [sic] Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all these businesses closed. The workers don’t want it either!” Totally, man. Cool cool cool. So in 2020, Trump promised to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. He also honored the holiday all four years of his first term and bragged about that. In addition to being an authoritarian threat to our democracy, Trump is such a fucking dick who is really showing off his commitment to racism here. Seattle Celebrated: People gathered in Seward Park, at the Northwest African American Museum's annual "Juneteenth Skate to Freedom Party" in Judkins Park, and the Africatown Community Land Trust's annual Summer of Soul celebration at Jimi Hendrix Park, and elsewhere. Our own Marcus Harrison Green talked to KUOW about the celebrations and the cultural significance of the holiday. Juneteenth celebrates the end of chattel slavery in the US and marks the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned they were free, more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Big Think: President Donald Trump says he’s going to mull over this whole war with Iran thing for a minute, but we can expect him to decide whether we will fight with Israel sometime in the next two weeks.
Ticket Alert: All Time Low, Noah Cyrus, and More Seattle Events Going On Sale This Week
Plus, LE SSERAFIM and More Event Updates for June 19 by EverOut Staff We’ve rounded up all of this week’s event announcements in one handy place. Pop-punk band All Time Low brings their Everyone’s Talking tour to Seattle this September. Noah Cyrus will hit the road after releasing her sophomore album, I Want My Loved Ones to Go With Me. Plus, don’t miss out on next Wednesday’s ticket drop for K-pop quintet LE SSERAFIM. Read on for details. ON SALE FRIDAY, JUNE 20 MUSIC All Time LowWaMu Theater (Tues Oct 14) bar italiaNeumos (Tues Nov 11) Between Friends – Wow! TourThe Showbox (Sun Sept 28)
For the Love of Dog
Do you need to get something off your chest? Submit an I, Anonymous and we'll illustrate it! by Anonymous To the people who leave their dogs tied up outside of establishments, PLEASE stop. This frustration started by being woken up every Saturday and Sunday morning from dogs' nonstop barking outside of my window near a very popular bakery in Montlake. It starts as early as 8 a.m. and sometimes doesn’t stop until 12 p.m. While I love that they’re getting so much business, I like to sleep in on my days off. I understand that living in Seattle comes with noise, and I love dogs. But when you’re spending 15-plus minutes inside without them, the stress barking is too much. And it’s so unfair to the dog. This frustration quickly turned into anger/anxiety when remembering how busy the road is that they’re being tied up on. While the speed limit is 25, cars go much faster, and it only takes a couple of seconds for something to go wrong. Please just be responsible and either leave your dog at home or with someone trustworthy outside. Do you need to get something off your chest? Submit an I, Anonymous and we'll illustrate it! Send your unsigned rant, love letter, confession, or accusation to ianonymous@thestranger.com. Please remember to change the names of the innocent and the guilty.