Seattle’s LGBTQ community members say they hope that this Friday’s World Cup “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is criminalized, can be an opportunity to change minds.
Seattle, WA
Geno on Seattle Seahawks' new-look offense: 'Great things coming'
At this point in his career, learning a new offense certainly isn’t a new thing for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.
Salk’s Observations: What we saw at Seahawks’ first open OTA practice
As he prepares for his 12th season in the NFL and potentially his third as Seattle’s starting QB, the 33-year-old Smith is getting set to play under his seventh different offensive coordinator. The new man in charge is Ryan Grubb, who came across town to join first-year head coach Mike Macdonald’s staff after a success-filled two-year run as the UW Huskies’ offensive coordinator.
The Seahawks are still in the early stages of installing their new offense, but Smith already feels like Grubb’s system is a good match for his skill set.
“I feel like I’m a dropback passer, and I feel like this is a dropback offense – an offense that’s gonna spread the ball around (and) trust the quarterbacks to make the right decisions pre- and post-snap,” Smith said Wednesday after Seattle’s second OTA practice. “And I feel like that’s something that I’m really good at.
“I think Grubb has a great system,” he added. “It demands a lot from the quarterback pre- and post-snap, and he has a great way of giving us some answers. And so the thing we have to do is just be really disciplined with all of our reads, reading our keys, and then obviously getting out there and making the plays when they come about.”
During his time at UW, Grubb oversaw one of the most prolific offenses in college football. Led by Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and a trio of top-100 NFL draft picks at receiver, the Huskies carved up opposing defenses on their way to the College Football Playoff national championship game.
With the Seahawks, Grubb will be tasked with elevating an offense that dropped from 10th in the league in scoring in 2022 to 17th in 2023. A slew of injuries along the offensive line undoubtedly played a major role in the decline last season, but there’s hope that Grubb’s scheme can be a better match for Smith and the talented receiving trio of DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
“He’s a really detail-oriented guy,” Macdonald said of Grubb. “He knows exactly what he’s looking for. He’s very precise. As a team, we want clarity in everything we’re doing. We want the guys to know exactly what the expectations are, exactly what’s being asked of them, and he has that. He’s a very clear communicator.”
Smith feels good about where the offense currently stands in the installation process. He said he’s spent a lot of time studying and having meetings with the various offensive position groups.
“I feel like we’re in a really good spot, honestly,” Smith said. “I feel like personally, I have a really good grasp of the offense. I know there’s still things that I have to learn, but from the installs that we’ve done, really sharp with those things.
“I think there’s gonna be great things coming for us,” he added. “… Grubb’s doing a great job, and it’s our job to make the plays come alive and make it all look good.”
Seahawks challenging Geno
After spending six seasons as an NFL backup, Smith resurrected his career in Seattle with a breakout 2022 campaign. Smith received AP Comeback Player of the Year honors that season after leading the NFL in completion rate, finishing seventh in ESPN’s QBR metric and throwing for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Smith’s stats declined last year, while playing behind an injury-depleted offensive line and missing two games himself with a groin injury. His completion rate dropped five percentage points, he fell to 14th in QBR and he threw for 3,624 yards, 20 TDs and nine interceptions. However, he closed the year strong, posting a league-best 81.4 QBR over the final six weeks of the season.
“He’s highly competitive,” Macdonald said. “I love how Geno works. We’re pushing him to take the next step as a football player and as a leader, and I think he’s answering the call. Really excited about Geno, just getting to know him. Just really such a respect for how hard this man works at his craft.”
Geno, Howell building rapport
After acquiring 23-year-old quarterback Sam Howell in a trade with the Washington Commanders in March, the Seahawks now have two quarterbacks on their roster who were full-time starters last year. Howell, a fifth-round draft pick in 2022, started all 17 games for the Commanders last season. He finished 24th in QBR, while throwing for 3,946 yards, 21 TDs and 21 interceptions.
Smith said he and Howell were among about 15 offensive players on the Seahawks who took an offseason trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
“We’ve been hanging out, we went to Cabo, we got some golf in, developing our relationship,” Smith said. “Sam’s a really, really talented young player. He’s played a lot of football (for being) that young. He put a lot of great things on tape. And I think for me, the whole starter-backup thing, I don’t ever wrap my mind around it. The quarterback group has gotta be a collective unit. Whoever goes in the game has gotta have the support of the other guy. So for me, it’s always about us learning and working together and pushing each other together, and that can only provide us with an excellent chance to get better.”
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SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a shooting that left a 17-year-old boy injured early Thursday morning in the High Point neighborhood.
At about 12:48 a.m., dispatchers received multiple reports of rapid gunfire near Sylvan Way Southwest and Southwest Morgan Street.
Officers arrived and found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip area. Medics transported the teen to Harborview Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Before officers located the victim, they found a car that had crashed and become disabled near Sylvan Way Southwest and Delridge Way Southwest. Police said multiple suspects were seen running from the vehicle through a nearby Home Depot parking lot.
Officers cordoned off the area and searched for the suspects with assistance from the K-9 Unit, but were unable to locate them. Police recovered the vehicle and impounded it for processing.
During the incident, gunfire struck at least three vehicles and two buildings. No other injuries were reported.
Officers processed multiple nearby scenes and recovered evidence before clearing the area. Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit will lead the investigation.
Seattle, WA
Council eyes street barricades in fight against violence, sex trafficking in north Seattle
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is expected to vote next week on a plan that would give the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) the authority to close off street access for public safety reasons.
The proposal comes after months of outcry from residents in north Seattle who say sex traffickers and sex buyers are looping through the streets surrounding Aurora Avenue North.
The street-closure proposal passed the council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday and is expected to be voted on by the full council next week.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say the crime has gotten much worse, much more violent, and much more predator,” said District 5 councilmember Debora Juarez. “I think that we do have the authority to shut down a street for bullets flying and endangering the lives of those who live there.”
Frustrated neighbors have installed their own homemade barricades after a spate of gun violence between sex traffickers in May.
RELATED | SDOT removes street barricades near Aurora Ave; neighbors doubtful of temporary measures
Councilmember Bob Kettle says street closures will help tamp down sex buying in certain areas, but he emphasizes it must be accompanied by an increase in outreach and enforcement.
“We have to have a sustained effort,” Kettle told KOMO News. “My concern is for every action, there’s a reaction. We need to take this flex and then really attack it … because if we do just a bit and our attention wanders, we could have this conversation three months from now and we’re talking about the same thing.”
A 15-year-old boy was shot near 95th Street and Aurora Avenue North around 10:45 p.m. last night. The teen initially claimed he had been shot while walking down the street, but investigators now say he was shot by a passenger in his car.
RELATED | Seattle police say ‘drive-by’ on Aurora Ave. was actually passenger shooting teen driver
Kettle credited the city’s Real Time Crime Center cameras with helping investigators quickly piece together the events of the shooting.
“Just as important to finding out what happened, the cameras help police determine what did not happen,” Kettle said.
According to Seattle police data, reports of shootings and shots fired in the north precinct area are at their lowest levels since 2021.
Through the end of May, there were 48 total reports of shootings or shots fired, with one fatal shooting and seven nonfatal injury shootings.
That’s down from 63 total reports of shootings and shots fired – one fatal and seven injuries – in 2025; and 64 shootings or shots fired reports – one fatal and 17 injuries – in 2024.
At Tuesday’s committee meeting, councilmembers pointed out residents are calling for a new police precinct to be built on Aurora Avenue.
Ten years ago, a new North Precinct building was slated to be built at 130th Avenue and Aurora Avenue North to replace the existing precinct building, which was decades old and did not have enough space for the department’s needs.
Led by former councilmember Kshama Sawant, the “Block the Bunker” movement successfully got the North Precinct replacement project killed in city council.
Kettle said the city’s current financial issues make it essentially impossible to bring back a project similar to the one the previous council defeated.
“We have to connect the dots back,” Kettle said. “If we want to know why we are where we are today, we have to look at decisions made over the last two councils.”
Seattle, WA
Iran and Egypt to play in Seattle ‘Pride Match’ despite earlier complaints | The Jerusalem Post
Seattle revels in its reputation as a welcoming place and Pride flags are visible all over the city, all year round. Its June Pride weekend is one of the biggest in the United States.
So, ahead of December’s World Cup draw, it was only natural that local organizers designated the June 26 match to be held in the city as a “Pride Match.”
Then the draw happened — and the two teams scheduled to play the game were Egypt and Iran.
Egypt’s Football Association urged global soccer governing body FIFA to prevent any Pride-related activities, arguing such events clashed with the Muslim-majority country’s cultural and religious values. The governing body in Iran, where same-sex relations can carry the death penalty, filed an objection with FIFA.
Some in Seattle have doubts over the teams in the ‘Pride Match’
But in Seattle, there is no question that the Pride Match will go ahead as planned.
“The World Cup is going to come and go in three weeks,” Hedda McLendon, from Seattle’s local World Cup organizing committee, told Reuters. “The Pride celebration … has happened on this weekend for 50-plus years.
“It is going to happen this weekend, it is going to happen long after the World Cup.”
Some in the city’s LGBTQ community had mixed feelings given the participants, said Jon Cairns, 49, manager of local LGBTQ+ club Kremwerk.
Cairns, however, said his own view was that it provided a platform to promote acceptance that only the world’s biggest sporting event could offer.
“My reaction is let’s have them,” he told Reuters. “International sports is one of the biggest brokers historically of social change and individual rights and freedoms worldwide, including in the U.S.”
He cited black U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens’ four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised-fist protest in 1968 as moments where “only international sports could reach that big of an audience.”
“They’re not going to turn off the World Cup on state television in Iran or Egypt to block out a Pride flag in the audience,” Cairns said.
The Pride Match is “a host city initiative” and separate of FIFA, a spokesperson for soccer’s governing body told Reuters.
Seattle’s LGBTQ community sees an opportunity
Egypt and Iran’s involvement in the Pride Match is not the first time the World Cup has grappled with stark differences in attitudes between hosts and visitors.
In 2022 World Cup host Qatar, the emir said visitors should “respect our culture” when asked about gay people attending the tournament.
FIFA threatened yellow cards for captains wearing the “OneLove” armband, citing its rules against political slogans. Teams including England and the Netherlands that had been planning to wear the armbands to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships abandoned the plan.
For Ryan Webster, a 40-year-old lifestyle manager who was at Kremwerk the weekend before Pride, Seattle’s “Pride Match” was an opportunity to show solidarity with people in countries where their sexuality was outlawed.
“I’m choosing to believe that this is our moment to allow the members of the LGBTQ community that come from those countries to have the opportunity to celebrate themselves in totality that they might not have otherwise,” he said outside the club, which will host a watch party for Friday’s game.
Inside, ‘Venus Fengz’ lip-synced to Cher’s “Believe” before introducing fellow drag performers to the stage, clapped and cheered by a raucous crowd.
Fengz, who only wanted to provide their stage name, said Pride coinciding with the World Cup would bring increased visibility, anticipating perhaps some new audience members.
“I think it’s always great for us to be able to share space and share places with people who don’t have the same experiences as us,” they told Reuters.
“Sometimes you just have to be the bigger person and show grace where you can and know that everyone is a human learning (from) different experiences, but also it can get hard — because you’re on the shorter end of the stick, always trying to have to explain yourself around people who don’t grow up with the same worldview.”
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