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History of the LGBT community in Seattle

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speakers and performers of music, poetry, and standup comedy. The MC, wearing a black fishnet bare midriff top and leather motorcycle jacket ripped the current edition of alternative newspaper The Stranger in half, deriding the cover story which provocatively asked if the Queer identity had, with social improvement, become obsolete. The gathering of about 200 people took place on a rainy June day across the street from Seattle Central Community College on Broadway, atop the Capitol Hill neighborhood. This event distinguished itself with an explicit anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, and eco-feminist political call to action. An accompanying essay titled "Shades of Gray & Sunlight" ran in the official Pride guide.
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legal consequences themselves. Seattle city officials believed that the city was not doing enough to enforce laws discriminating against homosexuality and feared that eventually it would be as openly acceptable as in cities such as San Francisco. As a result of the political upheaval regarding Seattle gay bars, the Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board sent fourteen gay establishments letters threatening to bar them from military personnel. In 1966, the Seattle police chief suggested restrictions on gay bars such as withholding their liquor licenses.
24:, opened in 1934, may have been the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States until it closed in December 2015. On 19 November 1958, an injunction instructed the city police not to question customers of gay bars unless there was a "good cause" in connection with an actual investigation. In the 1960s, Seattle came to be seen as providing an accepting environment, and an increasing number of gay and lesbians were drawn to the city. In 1967 322:. Life Long organizes services for people living with AIDS and is simultaneously active in the LGBT community by holding support groups and awareness events such as Gay Bingo. Shanti/Seattle was created to train volunteers to understand the emotional stages of HIV/AIDS. Another key organization is the Dunshee House which was originally born from Seattle's first gay awareness group, the Dorian Society. Dunshee House 341: 228:. Entertainment included music and a "Gayrilla theater." Banners from the stage read "Proud to be lesbian, Proud to be gay." In the afternoon, activities moved to Volunteer Park and included roller-skating and a sing along at the top of the Volunteer Park Water Tower. That evening, a street dance was held in Occidental Park that featured music by Blue Moon and 312:
UP chapter also started organizing protests and doing work to get funding for AIDS care and research. In 1983 and 1984 the Chicken Soup Brigade (today part of the Life Long AIDS Alliance) was created by Josh Joshua. Chicken Soup became the backbone of the gay community with groups of volunteers cooking and caring for those who were ill with HIV.
224:. It was the first event in the region in which the gay community as a whole came out of its collective closet. On June 28, 1974, the Gay Community Center at 1726 16th Avenue E held a grand opening. On June 29, 1974, a Saturday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that about 200 attended a picnic at Occidental Park in 311:
The first person to publicly be diagnosed with AIDS in Seattle was James Flanigan. This diagnosis became somewhat of a wake up call for the rest of the gay community. In October 1983 men were writing the Seattle Gay News telling the community to wake up and start to protect themselves. Seattle's ACT
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cases all rose. A combination of effectiveness in anti-retroviral therapies and increase in use of intravenous drugs influenced a rise in sexually transmitted infections (STI). In early 1999, King County Public Health reported an "alarming" increase in sexually transmitted infections amongst men who
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In 1995, A new transgender rights organization called The T People created the first Transgender Pride party and demonstration in Seattle. Slogan: "MAXIMUM FUN & MAXIMUM FREEDOM for people of all genders or no gender at all." Individual volunteers secured permits, assembled local Trans political
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applied for a marriage license at the King County Administration Building in Seattle, not being keen on actually getting married but wanting "to make a point about having the same rights as heterosexuals." Their request was refused by then-county auditor (later County Assessor) Lloyd Hara. They were
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opened. In the 1970s vaudeville had changed and Seattle began the trend of courts, public drag clubs "with 'emperors' and 'empresses' where "lip –synching would remove the need for singing talent and open the way to any man who could dance, quip, or even just costume. Performances would change, with
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During the 1950s, when anti-sodomy laws were still in effect in the United States, gay bars, clubs and bathhouses became scrutinized. Owners of such establishments would frequently bribe law enforcement to ensure their survival as well as prevent harassment of their mostly gay clientele and escape
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was the most popular homosexual Seattle cabaret in the 1940s and 1950s. Regular vaudeville and drag shows were held there with singers dressed in drag. It was a hotspot in the post war period with service-persons, but in the 1960s the military made most gay establishments in Seattle off-limits. In
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Today, sodomy laws have been repealed by the Supreme Court, and Seattle has generally become more affirming of LGBT people. More recently, gay bars and clubs have enjoyed a central prominence for community organizing. In 1987 Life Long AIDS Alliance created the "Jars in Bars" program that allows
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on Union Street and 2nd Avenue, was a cabaret featuring female impersonators. Both were open to both gay and straight clientele during the 1930s. The Greyhound bus depot, Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill, and the restrooms in the University Plaza Hotel and at the University of Washington were also
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In an article, Michael Brown notes that the geography is intertwined with politics. Seattle's sexual playgrounds were all geographically concentrated and were open at times that other establishments weren't. Seattle's preventative efforts may also have been part of the issue.
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In the 1920s and 1930s, early establishments open to homosexuals were concentrated in areas of ill repute. Pioneer Square, also known as "Skid Road" or "Fairyville," with its bars, clubs, and cabarets probably was the center of early public gay life in Seattle.
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community volunteers to engage in education outreach regarding AIDS and enables patrons of Capitol Hill bars to donate to their cause. The Seattle mayor and other city officials have become more receptive to the gay community.
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In the beginning there was a lot of denial that Seattle would get hit by the AIDS virus but the community quickly organized and many activist say now that Seattle's gay community has one of the strongest HIV/AIDS networks.
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did a series on the gay community, which for the first time represented the community in a more positive light. Much of this positivity had to with the vigilant PR and work of the Dorian Society.
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The Washington Sodomy Law was adopted in 1893, and in the same year, a King County court sentenced Charles Wesley to seven years at hard labor for "intent to know" Eddie Kalberg, "a male person".
74:, opened in 1930 on the corner of Washington Street and 2nd Avenue, was known as "the only place on the West Coast that was open and free for gay people", and where same-sex dancing was allowed. 133:
to talk with religious leaders in the city. The first radio interview with openly gay men was broadcast on KRAB radio by members of that group. The Dorian Society was formed in 1967. The book
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have sex with men. The "watershed moment" occurred in 2003 when King County Public Health released a report saying that STI had increased in gay/bisexual men by 40% over the past year.
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In the 1950s and 1960s, Seattle's dance clubs served as important points for the gay community to meet and strategize, which according to Gary Atkins, author of
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neighborhood in particular is considered by many the "center of gay life" in Seattle, with gay-friendly businesses and nightlife, and a resource center.
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In the later 1990s and early 2000s media announced a dangerous sense of malaise and complacency in the gay community generally over safe-sex practices.
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organizes all levels and types of support groups for HIV seropositive people. Also, Bailey Boushay house is an AIDS hospice care center run through
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among the first same-sex couples in the United States to apply for a marriage license, causing a flurry of media coverage and leading to a lawsuit,
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begins with the Washington Sodomy Law of 1893. In the 1920s and 1930s there were several establishments in Seattle which were open to homosexuals.
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This article stated the Seattle police wanted to suppress the LBGT community, partially by removing liquor licenses at gay bars. In May 1967
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Center that featured "zany dress, general frivolity, carousing and a circle dance around the main International fountain."
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Despite the general atmosphere of tolerance towards the LGBT community in Seattle, there have been instances of
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ever-more flamboyant costuming, more energetic and choreographed dancing and even laser shows."
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Since 2011, Seattle Gay Pride Parade and Festival has drawn more than 350,000 people annually.
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laws. In response to their efforts a Seattle Times headline stated on September 21, 1966,
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From June 24 to June 30, 1974, Seattle's lesbians and gays celebrated the city's first
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about current issues and events in the gay community. The name was a reference to the
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Tolerant Reputation: Seattle homosexual problem reported to be 'out of hand.'
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Sexual citizenship, political obligation and disease ecology in gay Seattle
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was becoming more "normalized", risky sexual practices were increasing and
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The Dorian Society founded in 1967 by Nick Heer, a professor at the
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In 1965 a group of openly gay men were contacted by Rev.
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the 1960s and 1970s new gay Seattle hotspots such as the
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glamorous and the society was modelled on New Zealand's
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focused organization is likely Life Long AIDS Alliance
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Seattle's LGBT community is the second largest in the
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Political Geography. 25 (8), 874. 137:goes into detail about this group. 28:'s Professor Nick Heer founded the 14: 510:Sanders, Eli (October 20, 2005). 454:Lornet Turnbull (April 4, 2006). 411:Queer History in Seattle, Part 1 360:LGBT rights in the United States 339: 491:"Gay Marriage's Jewish Pioneer" 965:Washington United for Marriage 423:"Seattle History: The Mocambo" 1: 774:History of the LGBT community 489:Sanders, Eli (June 6, 2012). 1006:Seattle Queer Film Festival 743:Seattle Queer Film Festival 1086: 924:Washington House Bill 2661 365:Washington House Bill 2661 213: 908:Court cases, legislation, 1065:LGBTQ culture in Seattle 934:Washington Referendum 74 929:Washington Referendum 71 561:Brown, Michael. (2006). 532:"Seattle Gay Pride 2012" 142:University of Washington 26:University of Washington 970:Gay City Health Project 955:Equal Rights Washington 918:Andersen v. King County 603:LGBT culture in Seattle 355:Equal Rights Washington 327:Virginia Mason Hospital 193:On September 20, 1971, 820:Seattle Women's Chorus 466:on September 10, 2013. 148:and which published a 764:AIDS Memorial Pathway 384:Atkins, Gary (2003). 315:Seattle's most major 899:Domestic partnership 815:Seattle Men's Chorus 708:Purr Cocktail Lounge 693:The Comeback Seattle 642:Neighbours Nightclub 476:Gary Atkins (2003), 441:Gary Atkins (2003), 910:and ballot measures 784:List of LGBT people 748:Trans Pride Seattle 632:Julia's on Broadway 1060:History of Seattle 1013:Capital City Pride 879:LGBT in Washington 537:2009-02-25 at the 428:2011-06-06 at the 125:The Dorian Society 84:The Spinning Wheel 1047: 1046: 894:Same-sex marriage 846: 845: 789:Rainbow crossings 726: 725: 698:The Double Header 530:Collins, Andrew. 512:"Marriage Denied" 460:The Seattle Times 397:978-0-295-98298-4 76:The Double Header 22:The Double Header 1077: 980:Pride Foundation 873: 866: 859: 850: 837:Seattle Gay News 678: 596: 589: 582: 573: 566: 559: 553: 548: 542: 528: 522: 521: 507: 501: 500: 486: 480: 474: 468: 467: 462:. 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Index

The Double Header
University of Washington
gay rights
United States
San Francisco
Capitol Hill
The Casino
Garden of Allah
Mineo Katagiri
University of Washington
gay rights
newsletter
Doric
Hellenic
Ancient Greece
homosexuality
Dorian Society
sodomy
The Daily of the University of Washington
John Singer
Paul Barwick
Seattle Pride
Pioneer Square
Sue Isaacs
Seattle
homophobic
hate crimes
Volunteer Park
ricin
AIDS

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