Finding My Queer Joy in the Shadow of Seattle
Have you ever felt like you're the only queer person in a sea of tech bros and suburban families? That was me three years ago when I moved to Bellevue for a job opportunity that I couldn't pass up.
My Bellevue Beginning
I still remember walking through Downtown Park, surrounded by beautiful landscaping and zero visible queer people. The Microsoft and Amazon employees hurried past in their casual-professional attire, while I stood there with my purple hair and pronoun pin, feeling like a rainbow fish in a beige pond.
The Invisible Community Struggle
Finding community here wasn't like Capitol Hill where queerness is celebrated openly. In Bellevue, the challenges were unique:
- Dating apps showed profiles 30+ minutes away
- The quiet "we're tolerant" vibe that falls short of true inclusion
- Explaining to coworkers why I needed to cross the bridge for "my events"
- Feeling exhausted by being the "token queer" in social settings
Creating Queer Space in Unexpected Places
What changed everything was stopping looking for what Seattle had and starting to build something uniquely Eastside:
- Found our own micro-community at Third Culture Coffee shop
- Started a monthly queer book club at Bellevue Library
- Connected with the surprisingly active PFLAG chapter
The beauty of creating queer community in Bellevue is that we get to define it ourselves. It might be smaller, but it's ours.
Remember, you're never truly alone—sometimes our community is just waiting to be uncovered or created. What has your experience been like finding queer community in suburban spaces?