One thing to think about is the inadvertent audience a downtown parade brings. Particularly as the parade travels right by Westlake, there are going to be a significant number of tourists, out-of-town Washingtonians - some from the non-pro-GBLQT cities/towns/neighborhoods you speak of - and others who wouldn't touch a gay pride parade with a 10-foot pole, suddenly finding themselves face-to-face with an, erm... 10-foot papier mache pole.

They probably won't have any idea that it's Pride, and react with an "Ooh! Parade! Let's go watch!" response, especially from their kids. Who knows how long they may get to watch before mom and dad catch on, or possibly even have their minds changed a little bit. Even the kids who get dragged away are going to leave with an increased exposure that may leave them more open to similar cultural expressions down the road, and the only upset they feel is toward being dragged away from an awesome parade.

Magnolia is non-pro-GBLQT? Is that a subtle differentiation from being anti-GBLQT? And the U-District? Mag may vote a shade of pink (if not red) but is hardly a hot-bed of right wing "family values" or any such other crap.

Broadmore, to my understanding, is entirely private property (a gated community) and not a suitable location.

While I am a poor representative of the GBLQT community I would say there is nothing wrong and a lot right about having some sort of real celebration among and with people of like minds. Celebration for the sake of celebration for the GBLQT is an overtly political act in and of itself when set in the context of the level and kinds of discrimination and state sponsored terrorism the community has endured in the past. A lot of gays of yesteryear were killed/beaten/tormented/ostracized/etc so that the gays of today can throw it down with out fear. Sometimes. In some places. It's the community's duty to have a big gay ass celebration to honor all those went before.

Have fun.

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If the goal is to win acceptance then you don't shut down a residential neighborhood and run a protest rally through it. You can't force people to accept the gays. Minds are changed by exposure to roll models and good behavior. We need more carrot and less stick if attitudes are going to change.

That's why it moved into the downtown area. But parades through more residential neighborhoods are a colossal pain in the ass for all concerned; it's much harder to route traffic around a gigantic parade in a neighborhood with one arterial than it is in downtown.

What I wish is that the small suburban towns in the area would start to have their own Pride Parades. Kent Pride, Auburn Pride, Lynnwood Pride. Seriously. I know Tacoma has one, but I'll know there's been real progress when I see Chehalis Pride. Yelm Pride.

The simple answer is that Broadmore isn't homophobic. Your premise that only Broadway is "PFLAG" hood is not only unfounded, it borders on homophobia. I am politically active in the local and nation LGBT scene and live in the suburbs. I just don't see the "unfriendly turf" you talk of.