Seattle celebrated its first Gay Pride Week in June 1974, with a variety of festive activities at private and public venues around the city. The largest event, a day of celebrations at Occidental Park, drew a crowd of about 200. Three years later, Mayor Wes Uhlman officially endorsed the city’s pride celebration, declaring June 25 to July 1, 1977 to be Gay Pride Week in the City of Seattle. More than 2,000 supporters of gay rights turned out for the city’s first Gay Pride March.

This image, taken at the 1993 Pride parade, shows a group of US military veterans marching in uniform. About 75 veterans marched that year, led by retired Navy Captain Lee Kramer (visible here at left wearing white uniform and peaked cap). At the time, Kramer was the highest-ranking officer to have openly marched in a Seattle Pride parade. In 1993, only heterosexual people were officially allowed to serve in the military and any LGBTQ+ service members had to hide their sexual orientation or face discharge, usually being denied pensions and other benefits. Allowing LGBTQ+ people to serve openly in the military was being debated, but the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rule remained in place until 2011.

Caption information source: "Gay Navy man's journey from Vietnam to Seattle Pride Parade," by J.R. Stone, Seattle Gay News, retrieved at https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=SGN19930709.1.7&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------